Verity Calls For Volunteers
To Supplant Bureaucrats
Nickerson Challenges
MCTA Bill To County
Austin W. Verity, of Massape-qua,
Conservative Party candidate
for Oyster Bay Supervisor,
has called for the restoration of
" genuine self- government as an
alternative to government by
bureaucrats, who consider the
ordinary citizen as qualified only
to pay his taxes."
According to Verity, " The
philosophy of the liberals in both
major parties has resulted in
total reliance upon bureaucrats
and professional spenders." The
solution, he continued, is " bold
new concepts calculated to reestablish
government by the
people."
A mere voice in the selection
of officials is not enough", Verity
added. " What we need is a town
administration which will encourage
responsible citizenship,
and persuade local residents to
volunteer their skills and talents
for the betterment of the community
they live in."
" Most citizens in Oyster Bay
are sufficiently dissatisfied with
town government to dosomathing
about it, and if elected as town
supervisor I propose to give them
the chance."
" For example, many agencies
and authorities, such as the town
housing authority and the
agencies handling public welfare,
would be considerably more efficient
and vastly less extravagant
if their functions were
supervised by civic- minded business
and community leaders instead
of professional spenders.
I am convinced that such leaders
could be persuaded to serve without
pay. Their function, as I see
it, would be to advise the town
board, which would retain the
final responsibility in each instance.
To my personal knowledge,
there are many promising
prospects for such service among
retired persons, many of whom
possess knowledge and experience
vastly superior to that
of the bureaucrats.
" By the same token, there
are virtually limitless possibilities
for volunteer public work
projects, to be organized and
whenever necessary supervised
by the town. Such suggestions
will, of course, be ridiculed by
• liberal' politicians, who have
long regarded pork barrel
patronage, boondoggling and graft
as their natural birthright. It's
the reaction of the people, however,
that I'm interested in hearing.
" Are there worthy citizens
in our town who, owing to financial
hardship, occupy substandard
housing? Our great-grand-
fathers would have responded
by organizing a community
building project, and persuading
local residents to donate
the labor and materials for the
job. I believe that people are
basically as noble as they ever
were, and that human decency
could be appealed to today with
the same results."
" All we really need, said Verity,
is a Conservative administration
to replace • liberal' officialdom,
which presumes that
nothing has value unless it results
from government compulsion."
County Executive Eugene Nickerson
this week defied the Metropolitan
Commuter Transportation
Authority over the $ 1.79
million it has billed Nassau County
to maintain 60 Long Island
railroad stations there.
Nickerson branded the claim
" unconstitutional on several
grounds" and offered to renew
the county's previous voluntary
contribution to the railroad of
$ 420,000 a year.
In a letter to Chairman Wil-liam
J. Ronan, Nickerson asserted
that section 1277 of the
Public Authorities Law restricts
Nassau's financial contribution
to passenger station
upkeep only and reiterated earlier
charges that the $ 1.79 million
bill is " unfair" as it is
made up largely of non- related
items.
Nickerson's opposition to the
MCTA charge is shared by Mayor
Lindsay of New York and
Suffolk County Executive H. Lee
Dennison.
The Nassau official wrote Ro-nan
that " A number of ( bill)
items set forth in your breakdown
are not properly included
and are not to be borne by
Nassau County."
At a press conference in his
office, Nickerson identified these
items, which include $ 203,394
for overhead on maintenance labor;
$ 64,004 for liability insurance;
$ 30,691 for police and
police rental sup. \ ez; $ 481,641
for station agents and clerks;
$ 19,286 for the railroad's information
bureau; $ 32,383 for
ticket stock; $ 22,759 for inter-lockers;
$ 29,675 ( operations) for
liability insurance; and $ 267,890
for overhead on labor operations.
Nickerson also ripped MCTA
charges of $ 1,432 for fire insurance;
$ 2,972 for flagging
crews; $ 7,667 for telephone calls;
and $ 3,487 for ticket agents' expenses.
Even if the statute were legal,
Nickerson said nearly $ 1.2 million
of the MCTA bill would be
The Redmen of the Massapequa American Legion Post 1066 are pictured as they led the Annual
Labor Day Parade held in Hicksville. Pokress Photo
We re new in Farmingdale, But
we've had many years of exper
ience to serve all y o u r t r a v el
needs.
Drop in to see us to discuss your future travel plans
large or small.
There's never a charge to y o u - - the happy traveler.
J oan Conde- June Bundow
Travel Consultants
Farmingdale Travel
MY 4- 4385
356 Conklin Street
Farmingdale, N. Y.
TIRES
$ SAVE $
CALL
( 516) 489- 6317
( 516) 486- 8910
or
justified.
Last June, Nickerson toured a
number of Nassau Long Island
stations for whose upkeep he had
been billed and found conditions
to be " shocking." Defaced walls,
broken windows, missing light
bulbs, and littered station waiting
rooms, as well as parking
lots pocked with deep ruts, characterized
many of them. To Nassau
commuters it appeared obvious
that the MCTA had not done
a proper job of station upkeep with
the funds prr ided by the county.
Nickerso charged the MCTA
had socked \ assau residents with
'• a thinly disguised fare increase"
in billing the county for
$ 1.79 million. On June 28, he
declared, " Instead of reaching
directly into the pockets of
180,000 commuters already paying
high fares for their tickets,
Ronan has made a grab for their
tax dollars."
' I f he can, Ronan will raise the
fares again, this time directly,
and try to pin the blame on Nassau
and Suffolk counties and New
York City," Nickerson warned.
In his letter to Ronan, Nickerson
wrote, " I am prepared to r e commend
to the Board of ( Nassau)
Supervisors that such a payment
($ 420,000) be made on ( a) voluntary
basis."
The payment would be made on
the condition that it would be
" in full satisfaction" of any
MCTA or L. IJU*. claim on Nassau;
that it would be understood
to be " voluntary"; that it would
be without prejudice to any claim
by Nassau County against the line
or MCTA; and that it would not
be construed as implying recognition
of the validity of the law
under which the MCTA has acted.
O. R. T. Slates Meets
The Bayview Chapter of O. R. T.
( Organization for Rehabilitation
through Training) will hold a
meeting on Wednesday, September
13 at 12 noon at the Mar-jorie
Post Community Park.
' 50°-° REWARD
if we can't repair your watch!
:' M> &
W.( j\
rkmmnihip, combined
electronic
tmtUfaction.
OAKWOOD DANCE
STUDIO
64 Oakwood Avenue So. Farmingdale
CH 9 - 7113
Instructions in Tap, Ballet)
Toe, Jazz and Acrobatics
Kinderdance for Four and
Five Year Olds
Special teenage Dance Classes in Jazz
Grace C. Leone- Member of Dance
Educators of America •
Would you Believe?
I t s The San'p Man!
LPSF WEIGHT AND
KEEP n OFF
AMAZING WEIGHT LOSS
SYSTEM
All yrfatchR AKTEED
411 WORK DONE
ON OUR PREMISES
• 2 Certified Watchmakers
•' All Types of Engraving
• Gold and Silver Charms Soldered
, • Crystals Fitted in 15 Minutes
• Rings Made Larger and Smaller
AUTHORIZE)
SALES & SERVICF
• ;\ UENC> FOR
' • OMEGA
DIAMOND
RINGS
Remounted
Restyled
Repaired
IN LATEST DESIGNS
fit% fsffaafes
• T1SSOT
• LONGIM S
o WHTNAl KR
• ArCTTROM
• BULOVA
t ELGIN
• CROTON
• TIMI X
• CARAVELLE
Mti
BAR HARBOUR SHOPPING CENTER
MASSAPEQUA PARK, L. I., N. Y.
LI 1- 7777
0PEI MOM.. THURS.. \ RV JlTES
Mb N. Main St.
Titaphoni
Kreeport, N. Y.
8b8--> 73l
Farmingdale OBSERVER Thursday, September 7, 1967 Page 5
