Editorial
In Defense
Let us make it perfectly clear that the paid
advertisement on the back page is the opinion of
Carl E. Gorton, library trustee and not the opinion
of The Observer newspaper nor its staff.
The library budget which is being submitted on
August 29 is not an increase over the original
budget submitted.
The Friends of the Farmingdale Public Library
are an arm of the library and if there is an ' austerity
budget' in schools, the PTA is considered an
exception and can meet in school buildings, so the
Friends of the Library had every right to meet in
the library, if they are in the PT- A category.
The library employs: library cleaning help on
an Individual basis not the contracting firm, as is
being contended.
Library Director Orrin B. Dow has submitted
reports about seminars. Professional improvement
is a legitimate expense and benefits the taxpayers.
The Library Board did not pass on obscenity or
non- obscenity of an article, but merely reaffirmed
its policy of the freedom of the right to read. A
professional librarian should be able to select
library book.
The firm of Brandon films has not been proved
as a distributor of Communist propaganda. The
films purchased by the library have nothing to do
with the subject.
The Friends of the Library have in the past paid
for ads with their own donations, not taxpayers
money as inferred in the ad.
Tliis back page ad did not come from the Friends
o^ the Farmingdale Library. % Friends of Farm -
. ingdale' is a Gorton group.
Master Plan
^ A Republican Town spokesman said that the
Townj Master Plan, recently presented to the
Board was not a plan but a series of recommendations.
Public hearings will first be held.
Taxpayers will present views and the Board
will then act accordingly. Any claims that the
report is not complete and that hearings will effect
further changes is nonsense, according to
the Supervisor. Under the terms of the contract
drawn by Stillman himself and never changed
by the Town Attorney, a complete Master Plan was
due the Town on May 31, 1967. It was not produced
as promised, Petito contends.
Letters To The Editor
Bay Problems
A long- awaited report on conditions in South
Oyster was unveiled this week by Nassau County.
The Wegman report, a 150,000- dollar study, confirms
the ecological problems of the bay with its
heavy growth of eel grass and algae blooms, and
it goes on to recommend the construction of an
East- West Channel across the bay to improve
conditions.
The cost of the channel however, has been placed
at $ 12,500,000 which has made officials pause to
consider. Supervisor Michael N. Petito, a longtime
advocate of the channel, says the figure is
too high and believes it can be done for ] much
less. There have been various sugguestions, including
a plan to seek a cooperative venture with
federal, state and surrounding local governments
to pay for a channel at a lower cost.
While officials wrestle with the problem, the
situation for boatmen, swimmers and fishermen
continues to be far from ideal . Its time for representatives
in local government to join forces
and meet this problem because in the background
is the continuing threat of complete pollution
for the entire South Oyster Bay.
Page 4
Dear Editor":
On Thursday, August 3,1 happened
to be present at the scene
of a fire caused by lightning
at 118 Plitt Avenue.
I watched the South Farming-dale
Fire Department fight this
fire in a most efficient and professional
manner. Under the direction
of Chief Kerrigan, the
fire was quickly confined and
extinguished, but even more outstanding
was the manner in which
the salvage operation was performed.
Canvas was used to cover all
furniture; surplus water was
pumped out of the house and
holes in the roof were quickly
covered.
This extra consideration is not
found in every community and
should be a source of pride and
comfort to the residents of Farmingdale.
The South Farmingdale Fire
Department is to be congratulated.
Eugene P. Timmons,
Lieut. Eugene P. Timmons,
New York City FireDept
• • . . I
To the Editor:
Orin Dow appeared on the.
Farmingdale Public Library
scene approximately 12 years ^
ago, when the Farmingdale Public
Library was located in a
small store on Main Street. We
now have a complete library
located in the Incorporated Village
of Farmingdale and an additional
library more centrally
located in the center of the school
district both of which are of
great pride to all the taxpayers
who know and use the services.
I was present at the Library
Budget Hearing on Tuesday, August
8th, and it appeared to me
that a certain member of the
Library Board tried to put Dow
on trial in front of the rest
of the audience in seeking his
own glorification. To my way
ot thinking, to try to degrade
a man of Dow's caliber is pure
ignorance.
In witnessing this library
meeting and being quite attentive
during the entire budget hearing,
I failed to hear Mr. Gorton,
as a Library Board member,
sitting on the Board, oppose
any expenditure in the current
proposed budget. Yet at
the end of the meeting, Mr. Gorton
proclaimed his disapproval
of the current library budget.
I still do not know what his
opposition is to this current budget.
As of August 8th, I was fully
in disapproval of this budget
being brought up for the third
time, and of its passing. But
by twelve midnight of the same
day, after hearing the Chairman
of the Board present this itemized
budget. I fully support this
budget on its own merits.
As a taxpayer I do not feel that
I can afford higher taxes, but
1 will vote Yes for the library
budget on August 29th, and I
urge every other thinking taxpayer
to do the same.
Donald F. Glascott
29 Park Circle North
Farmingdale
Dear Editor:
The wisdom of the framers
of the law which permits resubmission
to the electorate of
a defeated Library Budget has
been manifestly demonstrated in
the case of mis Community's
Library needs. I believe that the
Trustees of the Farmingdale Library
have fulfilled the highest
degree of responsibility in resubmitting
the Budget for our
consideration.
The excellence of the Library
system which the Community enjoys
has been made possible over
the years by the energies of the
Trustees, and the people of the
Community working in concert.
No doubt, in choosing to live in
mis Community, many families
considered, among other things,
the fine Library system in reach-ing
their decision.
I truly hope that it will not be
necessary for our Library to have
to curtail its services to the
Community. Defeat at the polls a
third time would be a Pyrrhic
victory - the Community the
real loser.
Albert H. Palmer
Rector, St. Thomas
Episcopal Church
u
Gentlemen:
A petition addressed to Congress
and circulated by The John
Birch Society, requesting the Administration
to stop giving any
aid in any form to our Communist
enemies has come to
tiie attention of the undersigned.
The petition, in essence, is one
that virtually all Americans will
agree with and will want to sign.
As chairman of Americans for
Victory in Vietnam, I fully endorse
the message contained in
this petition and have advised
my membership that they may
and should cooperate with any
other organizations interested in
the distribution of the petition.
We are, in fact, inviting all
the good citizens of this community
to assist and support this
project, regardless of political i-dealogies.
The boys dying in the
jungles of Vietnam are Democrats,
Republicans, Conservatives
and Liberals. They are
Christians, Jews, white, colored
and yellow. The enemies bullets
do not distinguish one from the
other.
At this writing, several of our
local young men already paid
with their lives in the struggle
for freedom inVietnam. If we can
convince Congress that the A-merican
people will no longer tolerate
giving the enemy the guns *
and bullets that are killing our
boys, we shall succeed in short-circuiting
the enemies' power
line and thus bring this ugly
and costly war to an early
and victorious end.
I wonder how many of us would
ever sleep another restful night
knowing that the life we could
have saved might have been that
of our own boy, nephew or grandson?
Richard C. Anelli, Chairman
Americans for Victory
In Vietnam
Dear Editor:
As a father of two children
who I encourage to use the library
facilities freely, I will vote
in favor of the library budget.
The continuation of the high
quality and varied services of our
library is essential as a collateral
source of learning for our
children as well as the adults of
the community.
I strongly urge the adoption of
the budget.
Norman Krasnovv
Dear Editor:
The Classropm Teachers Association
of Farmingdale hopes
that the trend toward common
sense exhibited by the residents
of Farmingdale by pas sage of the
school budget will be continued
in the forthcoming library budget
vote.
We feel that opportunities have
been denied the young people of
this community; this situation
must cease.
We urge that every eligible
voter in the Union Free School
District # 22 make it his responsibility
to vote in favor of the
library budget on August 29.
Kenneth J. Deedy
President of Classroom
Teachers Association
• M - i i t I ri i i ii
Dear Editor:
The Public Library and the
school are inseparable. To a degree,
the use of the library is one
indication of the effectiveness of
the school.
The benefits of the library
accrue to the community and to
the individual. Consequently, the
support of the public library is
both a community and an individual
responsibility.
Ignorance and apathy are the
handmaidens of misinformation
or a lack of information. The
support and use of the public
library lead to the formation of
an alert, intelligent and informed
community.
Joseph H. Goergen
Principal, W. E. Howitt
Junior High School
• •"
Dear Editor:
On Aug. 29th, I shall vote
" Yes" for the Library budget.
I sincerely hope every person
who is eligible to vote will give
their support by doing the same.
Mrs. Betty- Hawkes-
P. T. A. President
Parkway Oak School
Dear Editor:
It appears that the Director
and Board of Trustees of the
Farmingdale Public Library have
developed a new philosophy to
deal with Mr. Gorton in his efforts
to expose the manner in
which library business is conducted.
It's " If you cant fight
it on the issues, get the man."
Any person who attended the
public meeting held by the Board
on the evening of August 8, knows
just how ineffectively the Director
and the Board were able
to defend their questionable employment
practices, excessively
high rent costs, unnecessarily
restricted library services and
their position on not allowing
Mr. Gorton direct access to the
library files. If the whole community
had been able to attend that
meeting, there would not only be
an assured defeat of the budget,
there would also be a public
clamor for a reduction in library
funds.
Their most recent frantic efforts
involved having Mr. Gorton
arrested on an assault charge that
stemmed from his use of a tape
recorder while attempting to obtain
information on the functions
of an $ 8.00 an hour reading
specialist. I have heard the resultant
tape and can't help but
wonder who assaulted whom.
Nevertheless, it doesn't take too
curious a person to question why
there should be such reaction to
the use of a recorder in open and
above board conversation.
There is one thing that the
Board will have to remember,
and that is that there are many
others like myself who have no
affiliations with any special organizations
and who have no axe
to grind other than the one we
would like to use to cut out unnecessarily
high taxes, waste,
and objectional library policies.
We are not a highly organized
group as is often mentioned.
Many of us are working quite independently,
and it is this grass
roots effort that the Board and
Director will have to contend with
on August 29.
Walter J. Kooker
32 West Drive
North Massapequa
Jfotrmtngtmle © luamirr
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Vol. 4 No. 52
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, Farmingdale OBSERVER Thursday, August 17, 1967
