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Week in Review: Serious 7-Eleven Accident, Forest Labs to Expand

Catch up on the latest news in Commack from July 15 to July 21.

Posted by Sara Walsh (Editor), July 20, 2012 at 08:59 pm

Suffolk County police have arrested a Westbury man for getting behind the wheel while drunk,.

The first wave of heavy rains to hit Commack and Hauppauge has hundreds of LIPA customers without power Wednesday evening.

Smithtown elected officials have given Forest Laboratories approval to expand its Commack location by more than 30,000 square feet.

The town of Smithtown has agreed to seek proposals from qualified bidders to prepare a planning study for the Lawrence Road area in Kings Park.
The mixed use area has

New York State Department of Transportation will be closing a portion of Crooked Hill Road in Commack to repair the overpass bridge that carries the Long Island Expressway.

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Bad Timing or Why You Should Vote NO on Proposition 2

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Tomorrow's Vote

When you go to the polls tomorrow, keep in mind that regardless of all the rhetoric, the CUFSD…

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Concerned Commackian May 20, 2013 at 03:45 pm

Im concerned with the rate of spending increases. You cant talk your way around them no matter how…Read More hard you try. And as to this "district has no control" argument, thats a cop out and you know it. While the state tells the district what percentage of salary it must pay into the retirement system, if the district had done a more effective job of limiting the growth in compensation, not only would salary expense been lower, but the amount paid into the retirement system would have been lower as well. And John, care to calculate how much the additional state aid to the district this year lowered the levy? Im sure you dont.

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John Smith May 20, 2013 at 02:19 pm

Or you could think about how spending is going up over 4% (the majority of which is fueled by costs…Read More that are mandated by law -- Teachers' and Employee's Retirement and Insurance contributions -- over which the School District has no control), but the tax levy is only going up 2.91%, which means the School District -- gasp -- might be doing a good job finding alternative sources of funding other than the taxpayers. Again, look at the info for yourself, not through the eyes of a biased Tampellini/Hartman/Tax Pac supporter.

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Devil's Advocate May 20, 2013 at 01:59 pm

Lisa, It is you and your allies who don't understand the economics here. You are right about the…Read More reserves. We don't want to spend down our unrestricted reserves or we will be like Sachem. But if the district doesn't over budget line items then they have no choice but to spend those reserves. Things happen during a school year - whether it is a special ed student moving in or a superstorm causing all sort of havoc. So the district has to overbudget so they have enough for those contingincies. If they don't then they spend away those coveted reserves instead. Whatever is not spent from that "over budgeting" is then put into the following years budget as a revenue, so it is not compounded. I just don't see why you can't seem to get this.

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Lisa Levine May 20, 2013 at 10:39 am

Hey Smith and Advocate - Jeez you guys have no idea what your talking about and are confusing the…Read More reserves with the amounts over budgeted. They are not the same thing... The Unreserved Fund (rainy day fund) is a separate fund for contingencies. That is the fund that was reduced in Sachem etc.. causing issues for those districts. Nowhere have I ever heard Mr. T or Mr. H. ever say that the unreserved fund should be touched. They both unequivocally said the issue they have is with the millions of dollars that the board builds into the budget each year but never spends.. why should clubs/programs/classes/employees be cut when we have a $5M plus overage built into the budget and the Unreserved Fund is fully maxed out? Makes no sense.. Keep the Unreserved Fund topped out at $6M and cut some of the add'l money they are hiding in the $5m over budgeted - like perhaps down to $3.5m-$4m. Use that money for the kids instead!!

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Commack Resident May 20, 2013 at 10:32 am

Can I suggest that the administrator of this site start labeling these types of blogs and board…Read More postings as the opinion of the person posting and not an actual news story or endorsed by Patch. I know it says Speak Out but I think you need to go further, particularly in light of the volume of the same sort of opinion based postings. It is getting very hard to figure out what are Patch endorsed news stories and what are opinion pieces by members of the community. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but many of these blogs are ending up on the main news feed of the site and are misleading. In particular, there was a "review" of the candidates debate from a supporter of certain candidates that almost seemed like a news story and not a story that was openly supporting 2 candidates, which it obviously was. Opinions are fine but opinions that aren't clearly labeled as such delegitimize any journalistic integrity that the Commack Patch may desire. Also, on both sides, I think there should be more civility in these postings rather than shouting people down and name calling. Why can't we find common ground on some of these issues instead of screaming and yelling?

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Commackvoter May 19, 2013 at 11:28 am

Yes John Smith, agree that the PTA SHOULD have video taped and posted it somewhere for the community…Read More to view. This is the 21st century and there is no excuse for them not offering this for those who could not attend. Same goes for the CUFSD but at least the law prohibits them from banning taping public meetings.

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MJS May 19, 2013 at 10:29 am

It will be interesting to see what Mr. Behar does if he loses, since he is totally opposed to Prop…Read More 2. So if Prop 2 passes, and he chooses to take advantage of it and run again then in my eyes, and those of the Community, he will reveal himself to be a total Hypocrite. The same would go for Egan, since he too opposes Prop 2.

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Retired May 19, 2013 at 08:45 am

Hey John - No one is being slick. You incorrectly assumed that it was suspicious that there was no…Read More video tape of the meet the candidates night. I can understand why you would think that but the fact is that the PTA did not allow any video. I wish video could have been done so the community could have seen each candidate themselves and make their own assessment. If you don't believe what I say just contact the PTA and confirm it with them....

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MJS May 19, 2013 at 10:29 am

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Retired May 19, 2013 at 09:52 am

@RL - I agree with term limits, but the law says that can only be proposed by the Board. The public…Read More cannot submit such a proposition. The board, at least the current one, will never agree to that b/c they want to keep themselves in power at any cost. By adding 2 new people Prop 2 may a provide an opportunity to have people on aboard that will consider proposing term limits, as well as other changes. So, yet another reason to Vote YES to Prop 2.

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RL May 17, 2013 at 08:08 am

I agree new blood can be used and some new thinking and the way to accomplish that is to vote new…Read More faces in. Does having more people create a larger bureaucracy thought. Having served on a number of private, charity and corporate boards I can tell you more is not always the answer. I think term limits would be a better approach. This way you don't have the same though process year after year. Two terms six years seems reasonably to me.

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Concerned Commackian May 18, 2013 at 09:18 pm

Commack Parent is right. Its definately a cost…Read More issue.....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!!! Thanks Parent, that was the best chuckle ive had all day!

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LINANA May 17, 2013 at 12:28 am

Since past precedence for a number of years has been to send out literature informing ALL residents…Read More (including those with no children in the schools) of candidates bios, does the omission of the bios raise a legal issue? ??? We all pay school taxes and district has the obligation to provide us with this info. Shame on them!!!! Teacher's union is also "encouraging" votes for Egan & Behar and against adding two additional seats to the board. People with a vested interest "encouraging" you to vote a particular way should raise flags!!! Hopefully people will think for themselves and make an informed vote for the candidate they feel will best represent the students & residents of Commack.

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Janice May 16, 2013 at 12:08 pm

IT does raise a red flag! I think it IS definitely time to vote for some new folks. I am going to…Read More check out Hartman and Tampellini's bios. If I like what I see, I am voting for change

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MJS May 19, 2013 at 10:28 am

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Dawn-Marie Bailey May 15, 2013 at 09:02 pm

Doing my best. Please spread the word. Thanks!

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GM May 15, 2013 at 08:30 pm

You go Girl! Spread the word. It's less than a week until we vote and you can quickly educate using…Read More social media.

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MJS May 19, 2013 at 12:47 pm

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ergodic May 16, 2013 at 11:09 am

Hey, PTA, BOE/// try lending a hand///don't criticize things you don't understand///the community is…Read More clearly beyond your command///your 100 year road is rapidly aging///and, the times, they are changing. CUFSD has experienced a decline in total enrollment from a peak of 7830 in 2008-09 to 6934 (projected) in 2013-14, a decrease of 11.4%. During that period, spending per pupil increased from $19,759 to $25,871 - an increase of 30.9%. This performance does not reflect well on the financial management capabilities of the BOE. And, is it a surprise that NYSUT is an advocate for the status quo? A more democratic approach to decision-making via a vote for Prop 2 should be helpful.

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re May 16, 2013 at 12:01 am

Vote yes for the additional members of the board. Save our schools. Save our schools with fair…Read More representation. Join a new taxpayers representation committee at the Commack community assoc effective September 2013. Our next meeting is May 30 at 7pm at the Bristol assisted living community room( next to sears) Do not let this civic group wither away as it would be a victory for the school board that monitors any opposition to the way the district operates.

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