Read this week’s ‘Letters to the Editor’
BAITING HOLLOW
Look beyond the poll
In his Oct. 6 Guest Spot column, Peter Scalzo, owner of Bluegrass Raceway in Kentucky, uses a News-Review online poll of “residents” to bolster his argument in favor of a racetrack at EPCAL. In this poll, 83 percent of respondents picked “racetrack” with the remaining 17 percent split between open space, an industrial park and a casino.
I tend to shrug off results from non-scientific, opt-in surveys such as these, as they usually inspire only those most passionate about a subject to respond. Still, 83 percent is a large majority so I decided to spend a minute to review the online comments associated with the poll. In addition to a rather heated debate among a few individuals with polarized opinions what I found were numerous links to “tweets” from Twitter members asking their followers to vote for the racetrack “… if you are a Long Islander, or just a supporter of racing.” Who’s to know what other non-public get-out-the-vote tactics may have been used?
I don’t believe that a majority — let alone a large majority — of Riverhead residents supports a drag strip at EPCAL and polls such as these serve only to muddy the waters. I would be interested to learn how the volume of responses to this poll (over 2,000) compares with other News-Review online polls and — based on ISP location — how many of the respondents were from the East End.
Mike McLaughlin
CALVERTON
Come out of hiding, loser
Riverhead Town has been awash with campaign signs and billboards promoting the various candidates running for town supervisor. Recently, signs and billboards for Phil Cardinale have been defaced, destroyed or have disappeared. Not only is this a criminal offense, it is an act demonstrating tremendous fear, generally committed under cover of darkness by a despicable loser, whose desire to win an election at any cost overshadows the freedoms we hold so precious in America.
Linda Nemeth
AQUEBOGUE
Way to go!
I’d like to remark on Mr. Ozeri’s Aquebogue home. It is beautifully done, with the most beautiful artwalk, artifacts and more. I feel it is a great asset to our neighborhood. I walked through the house and property and was in awe! It is dedicated to humanity and God. And Victor is certainly grateful to both.
Victor is a lovely, happy man, and enjoys sharing his wonderful place with neighbors and friends. I can’t say this house is my taste, but my taste is rather mundane. Here is a guy with vision. He is also generous to everyone with all he has. As his neighbor, he has been extremely generous to our family on a personal level. I say, ‘Way to go, Victor!’
Pat and Ed Hocker
JAMESPORT
Phil’s my guy
Phil Cardinale’s overwhelming defeat of the tea party-like candidate in the Democratic primary last month was an important milestone for Riverhead.
Democratic voters were reminded of Mr. Cardinale’s work as supervisor, which included overseeing large fund balances and creation of the highest credit rating ever for the Town of Riverhead in its history. And on primary day, voters rejected the politics-as-usual campaign-by-ambush and empty rhetoric of Greg Fischer, who will still be on the ballot in November on outsider organization.
Fischer and Republican Supervisor Sean Walter will need to provide real-world plans for living up to the real and actual achievements of Phil Cardinale during his tenure at Riverhead Town Hall. To date, they simply have not.
Fischer’s grand plan is to somehow force taxpayers into creating a localized version of LIPA. Sean Walter may yet come up with a grand plan, if only he wasn’t overlooking $250,000 owed to the town from developers. Are Greg Fischer and Sean Walter running for office or working on a remake of the movie “Dumb and Dumber”?
I’ll stick with Mr. Cardinale, and will eagerly vote for him on Election Day.
Phil Piegari
RIVERHEAD
Hear! Hear!
Add another successful Riverhead Country Fair to the books and, once again, heartfelt thanks to the Riverhead buildings and grounds department, police department, sanitation department and the EMTs that patrol the Country Fair. This year brought enormous crowds and all town departments dealt with the fairgoers professionally and with courtesy. The event went off without a hitch. No incidents. No problems. Two hours after the fair you would have never known it happened; the streets were clean, the garbage gone and Riverhead was ready to face another day.
The fair organizers, Jim Lull Jr. and Pat Mulcahy, did a fantastic job and even the weather gods cooperated to delight the crowd. The fair is what Riverhead is all about and it is one of the highlights of the year. It is great to see our community come together. Thank you all for a job well done.
Anthony Coates
SOUTHAMPTON
Where’s the follow through?
As the Riverhead dog shelter situation continues to deteriorate into more uncertainty, I received disturbing news. Although I was banned last January by Police Chief David Hegermiller for blowing the whistle on the true story surrounding the execution last December of a wonderful owner surrender named Bruno, who had been turned in by his owner because of a dog fight, I continue to follow up on the fates of other shelter dogs.
Buster, a Dobie mix, was a favorite of mine. He attended town meetings and should have been adopted. He wasn’t. Then he started getting thin. Buster ended up at Kent Shelter, which has loved and cared for him. He had a bad case of worms, I was told, and was successfully treated. Buster is still at Kent.
Vince Taldone’s dog, Champ, whom he’d adopted from me before I was thrown out the door for caring and reporting what I saw and learned, almost died from heartworm. When the health of Riverhead animals came to a head shortly after the killing of Bruno, Supervisor Sean Walter staged a dog and pony show, complete with uniformed vets and his office assistant, who had vet tech experience. The press conference was a fraud. Regular vet checks on the dogs never happened as was promised. So there the dogs sit in that understaffed dump Walter calls a shelter. How many more dogs need treatment?
I couldn’t even take one of their dogs to your recent fair because I remain persona non grata. The acting animal control officer took one dog. That dog wasn’t adopted. I know five people who would have taken dogs to the fair but no one let us. Those dogs need socialization, exposure, more than once-a-week training from Gina Rizzo, a volunteer, and homes.
I wouldn’t believe any campaign promise Mr. Walter concocted. If I voted in Riverhead, Phil Cardinale would get my vote. He wants the shelter situation to change for the better.
Pat Lynch
