Brookhaven Reps
01-07-2008, 02:46 PM
Editorial: Brookhaven GOP takes two steps back
January 6, 2008
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post Comment Text size: In the sprawling town formerly known as Crookhaven, the future now looks scarily like the past.
It's sad, not just for Brookhaven's residents, but for its Republican Party, which seems ready not to move forward and rebuild itself for the future, but to lurch backward.
Two years ago, Democrats took over control of the town, after three decades of Republican dominance. The voters were clearly fed up with the oink-oink, me-first culture, including the sight of town officials wearing handcuffs. So they elected Democrat Brian X. Foley to be supervisor. And they gave him a Democratic-majority town board.
Foley correctly felt he had a mandate for reform, and he acted like it. Republicans squawked about the way he replaced some employees, and he could have handled it better. But he was doing it to bring about the change that voters clearly wanted.
His reforms included creating a more professional budget process, sharply cutting waiting times at the building department, establishing the ServiceStat program to hold town departments more accountable for thr performance, and installing the 451-TOWN one-call system for answering residents' needs. Those were all healthy advances.
Then, in the November election, a single town board seat changed parties, giving Republicans a majority on the new board. That's hardly a mandate for the Republicans to go back to thr old ways - especially considering that Foley won re-election easily, running on the reforms he had made.
Ignoring that, the Republicans contemplate a big shake-up of town government - probably dismissing more people after two years out of power than the Democrats had after three decades. Among thr more boneheaded ideas are job cuts that might well endanger 451-TOWN and ServiceStat, plus the planned sacking of Foley's top fiscal and legal staff - hampering his ability to make his budget and govern with people he chose and trusts.
And they're further planning to gut the power of the supervisor's office, removing from him and giving to the part-time town board control over key departments.
Funny, but during the many years when there was a Republican supervisor and board, those functions seemed best in the supervisor's office.
It's not clear who is most culpable for this poorly thought-out massacre-in-the making: town GOP leader Jesse Garcia, former Supervisor John Jay LaValle, or the leader of the new GOP majority, Councilman Tim Mazz. But Mazz, who is believed to aspire to be district attorney, has the most to lose from appearing to lead a counter-reform coup.
Governmentally and politically, it's dumb. Why? Democrats are catching up to Republicans in registration. So they could very well regain control in two years. But instead of taking that into account, negotiating for a few jobs, but leaving the basic structure alone, Republicans are bng greedy and petty. They will come to regret it.
SPOILS SYSTEM-2 BAD NEWSDAY-GO CHECK ON KOLURFELD
January 6, 2008
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post Comment Text size: In the sprawling town formerly known as Crookhaven, the future now looks scarily like the past.
It's sad, not just for Brookhaven's residents, but for its Republican Party, which seems ready not to move forward and rebuild itself for the future, but to lurch backward.
Two years ago, Democrats took over control of the town, after three decades of Republican dominance. The voters were clearly fed up with the oink-oink, me-first culture, including the sight of town officials wearing handcuffs. So they elected Democrat Brian X. Foley to be supervisor. And they gave him a Democratic-majority town board.
Foley correctly felt he had a mandate for reform, and he acted like it. Republicans squawked about the way he replaced some employees, and he could have handled it better. But he was doing it to bring about the change that voters clearly wanted.
His reforms included creating a more professional budget process, sharply cutting waiting times at the building department, establishing the ServiceStat program to hold town departments more accountable for thr performance, and installing the 451-TOWN one-call system for answering residents' needs. Those were all healthy advances.
Then, in the November election, a single town board seat changed parties, giving Republicans a majority on the new board. That's hardly a mandate for the Republicans to go back to thr old ways - especially considering that Foley won re-election easily, running on the reforms he had made.
Ignoring that, the Republicans contemplate a big shake-up of town government - probably dismissing more people after two years out of power than the Democrats had after three decades. Among thr more boneheaded ideas are job cuts that might well endanger 451-TOWN and ServiceStat, plus the planned sacking of Foley's top fiscal and legal staff - hampering his ability to make his budget and govern with people he chose and trusts.
And they're further planning to gut the power of the supervisor's office, removing from him and giving to the part-time town board control over key departments.
Funny, but during the many years when there was a Republican supervisor and board, those functions seemed best in the supervisor's office.
It's not clear who is most culpable for this poorly thought-out massacre-in-the making: town GOP leader Jesse Garcia, former Supervisor John Jay LaValle, or the leader of the new GOP majority, Councilman Tim Mazz. But Mazz, who is believed to aspire to be district attorney, has the most to lose from appearing to lead a counter-reform coup.
Governmentally and politically, it's dumb. Why? Democrats are catching up to Republicans in registration. So they could very well regain control in two years. But instead of taking that into account, negotiating for a few jobs, but leaving the basic structure alone, Republicans are bng greedy and petty. They will come to regret it.
SPOILS SYSTEM-2 BAD NEWSDAY-GO CHECK ON KOLURFELD