CLOSE
Authors Posts by Nancy Marr

Nancy Marr

41 POSTS 0 COMMENTS

by -
0 920
METRO photo

By Nancy Marr

Our local governments have long supported child care programs, but the high cost of child care and the low incomes of many of the parents who rely on it have made it unsustainable. There is a growing plea for a universal child care system, where every child has access to high quality care.

Ideas about child care have changed dramatically through the years. For many years, women were expected to stay at home and care for their children. By the nineteenth century, many women found they had to work outside their homes to support their families. In 1935, Jane Addams at Hull House, seeing the pressure on widows and other low-income mothers to find outside work, advocated for widows’ and mothers’ pensions to make it possible for single mothers to care for their children at home, but many mothers still had to look for work.

President John F. Kennedy, speaking  to the Intercity Child Care Conference in 1963, said he believed that “we must take further steps to encourage day care programs that will protect our children and provide them with a basis for a full life in later years. Day care programs can not only help women who decide to work outside the home but also serve as a developmental boon to children and help advance social and racial integration.”

Because of its current structure, the American child care system has been divided along class lines, making it difficult for parents to unite and lobby for improved services for all children. The New York State Conference on Child Care Availability, in its report in 2021, described its goal of a universal child care system fully funded to provide care and learning skills for all children. Kathy Hochul, when she was Lieutenant Governor, said to the Conference, “The conversation on child care is changing. No longer is it seen as a woman’s responsibility. It is an essential service for families and their employers.”

Today there is recognition that affordable and high-quality child care is not only vital for working families, it is also essential to the state’s economy; it needs sustained investment to make it a public good that serves all families.

Providing child care is expensive: the average cost of care in Suffolk is $13,000-$18,000 per year depending on the age of the child, with infant and toddler care being the most expensive. Government subsidies for low-income families are insufficient. Fewer than 10% of eligible parents are currently receiving subsidies in New York State. Staff salaries, typically $15/hour in Suffolk, are inadequate for workforce retention, causing high turnover and difficulty filling positions with qualified candidates.  

According to Mary Cain, Executive Director for Stony Brook Child Care Services, Inc., “Hiring qualified early childhood teaching staff has always been very challenging especially after the pandemic. Now although New York State is investing in and supporting families in need of child care, SBCC has had to reduce enrollment, creating a longer wait time for families needing to enroll their children. In addition, we have had to reduce our operating hours, which also limits families’ access to much needed child care.

Jennifer Rojas, Executive Director of the Child Care Council of Suffolk, stated: “Child care is so important for working families, yet the child care system is in a crisis, making it harder to recruit and retain staff. Without a significant change in how we as a state and county support the child care system, it will continue to get harder for Suffolk County families to find appropriate child care. We need sustainable and meaningful investments that will make child care affordable for all families and ensure that the child care workforce is appropriately compensated and supported.” 

Read more in the New York State Special Task Force report “Supporting Families, Employers & New York’s Future: An Action Plan for a Strong and Equitable Child Care System” at https://ocfs.ny.gov/reports/childcare/Child-Care-Availability-Task-Force-Report.pdf  

Contact your NYS Senator and Assemblyman to thank them for their support for funding but let them know that more is needed to restore full staffing and deliver quality care.  

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 872
METRO photo

By Nancy Marr

Long Island is the largest community in New York State without comprehensive, professional water management and oversight. But there is good news! The New York State budget in 2023 has authorized the creation of a water management agency by Suffolk County; it must be approved by the voters in November.

Long Island’s water supply, the groundwater stored beneath Long Island in three aquifers, is limited. Moreover, unlike oil or natural gas deposits, water is the only resource we extract from nature for which there is no substitute.

Today, while water use in many parts of the US is decreasing due to higher prices and the shortage of available water, water use on Long Island continues to grow due to an increasing population, larger homes, in-ground lawn watering systems, and more water-using features in our homes, allowing our water supply to become depleted. It is also polluted by nitrogen; improper waste management from our sewers and septic systems is responsible for 75% of the nitrogen in the water.

Unfortunately, the polluted groundwater harms aquatic life, especially shellfish. High levels of nitrogen increase aquatic plant growth, producing dead zones where the levels of oxygen are so low that aquatic life cannot survive (known as hypoxia). It has reduced our quality of life by closing our beaches, and affects the businesses dependent on fishing, boating, and recreation.

Widespread concern about our waterways and our drinking water has led to action. In 2017, New York State appropriated funds to develop the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan that assembled data to address common issues and management strategies, relying on local input and involving the many environmental, agricultural, tribal, and academic organizations concerned. 

Stony Brook University established the Center for Clean Water Technology, and the NYS DEC initiated the Climate Smart Communities program to encourage municipalities to demonstrate various levels of commitment to climate-smart activities. Suffolk County has worked to transition homes and businesses from conventional septic systems to the new advanced wastewater treatment systems which are designed to remove nitrogen from wastewater before it is discharged to groundwater. 

The new legislation will allow Suffolk County to consolidate its 27 sewer districts into one district. (This will not affect sewer districts owned and operated by towns, such as Riverhead and Calverton, or those owned by villages.) There are no county sewer districts in the five East End towns. It is now up to the County Legislature to establish the new countywide wastewater management district by local law and authorize the new district to collect charges, rates, and taxes. The state legislation also approved an additional 1/8 of a cent addition to the county sales tax, which must be approved by the voters in the November elections. The funds can be used for the maintenance of the systems and can make it easier to purchase the new advanced treatment systems.

We need to stop using fertilizer on our lawns, and replace the cesspools and old septic systems responsible for dispersing nitrogen and medical waste into the waters around Long Island. It is recommended that the sewering of homes be increased, but with ways to discharge the effluent on land rather than in the ocean or bays. 

A most important corrective action has been seeding the shellfish and oysters that clean the water by filtering the organic particulates. This natural method of restoring the bays and waterways also supports training, the creation of small businesses, and employment.

We know that voluntary actions by Suffolk residents and businesses are important to restore our waters and maintain them, but they are not sufficient. See Governor Hochul’s plan for listening sessions on the Bond Act at https://www.ny.gov/programs/clean-water-clean-air-and-green-jobs-environmental-bond-act and attend the Suffolk County session this summer on Thursday August 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Suffolk Federal Credit Union Arena at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood to make sure the plans for the water management agency are transparent, detailed, and fair. 

Nancy Marr is first vice president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.  For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 1085
Photo from Town of Brookhaven

By Nancy Marr

There is substantial agreement among environmental groups that we want a circular economy — that is, we want to reduce waste by all means possible — by reducing, re-using, repairing, and recycling our waste — so that there is none, arriving at “zero waste.”

The DEC has just released a draft solid waste management plan designed to help New York State meet the climate goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019. It proposes reducing waste at its source, returning materials back to productive use, and diverting waste from landfills to avoid the emission of greenhouse gases, reaching a reduction of emission by 85% by 2050. The DEC has also issued rules requiring that any facility with over 25 pounds of food scraps either donate it or take it to a designated site for recycling. (Suffolk County has only one food-recycling site, so that requirement has been waived, leaving the food in the landfill.)

Because waste removal is a town responsibility, there has been no movement toward creating a county role which could be funded by the DEC, along with its role of regulating and overseeing town operations. Much of the municipal waste in Suffolk County is incinerated, with the ash deposited in landfills in the towns of Brookhaven and Babylon. Towns without landfills are sending their waste off the island to other states, using trucks with high rates of carbon fuel emission. Construction and demolition waste from building projects, and yard waste have been recycled more successfully, except for glass, which is currently part of municipal waste. It is being studied as a subject for recycling if markets can be developed for its final stage.   

A conference held recently (by the Evan R. Liblit Memorial Scholarship Committee) at Stony Brook University with speakers on waste to energy efforts, large scale organics management, and funding through the Inflation Reduction Act, ended with a roundtable of four of the town supervisors in Suffolk County and a representative from the NYS Department of Energy Conservation who welcomed the attendance of the town supervisors and commented on the unusually large number of people in attendance, showing a growing concern with the issue of waste reduction.

The town supervisors who participated in the conference — from Brookhaven, Smithtown, Islip, and Babylon — all agreed that they communicate regularly about issues of waste and are taking steps to reduce it but they said they cannot do it alone. How do we create and implement a regional or county approach? Most of the town supervisors reported that the residents of their towns are not aware of the problem and their part in it. To reduce our emissions by 2050 will require an accurate calculation of how the population is growing and the amount and nature of the waste.

Concern about the waste problem is most often expressed by residents objecting to measures taken to deal with the problem. In Smithtown the plan to utilize rail lines to move the waste to other states has met with opposition to the idea of railroad areas, despite the fact that it would reduce the emissions from trucks from the road and reduce road traffic. In Brookhaven, plans by Winters Brothers for removing ash by rail have also been opposed. How would people react to increases in garbage collection rates if more towns implement a Pay-as-You-Throw program, although many areas of the country now use it, substantially reducing the trash they pick up.

The supervisors cited successful efforts by teachers and schools to build understanding of the waste crisis, but how can we do more? 

Community groups are leading efforts to create community composting for our farmlands, open repair cafes, and create anaerobic digesters. Small groups of concerned citizens meet regularly as Carbon Crews, to learn new ways of reducing their footprints. Larger organizations, such as Beyond Plastics, have publicized the dangers of producing and burning plastics and are working on state regulations (Extended Producer Responsibility) to make producers aware of the costs to municipalities of disposing of the waste their products create. 

We can all do more, at home and away. If each of us cannot throw away less, little will be accomplished. Watch the DEC webinar to be held on April 11 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. to describe the Draft New York State Management Plan. For more information go to https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/41831.html

Nancy Marr is vice-president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit https//my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county.

by -
0 958
Stock photo

By Nancy Marr

At a community meeting recently I heard opposition to an IDA plan to help build a new warehouse Do we need another warehouse? Will it create jobs? And, worst of all, will there be no property tax payments, which our school district needs?

Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) were originally authorized by New York State in 1969, governed by the provisions of 18-A of the General Municipal Law. The purpose of IDAs are to advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the State of New York. Four to seven IDA members are appointed by the governing board of a sponsoring municipality. IDAs do not have taxing powers; they typically maintain their operations by charging fees to the businesses that participate in their projects. 

Presently there is an IDA in each NYS county, as well as a number of cities, towns, and villages. In addition to the Suffolk County IDA, there are IDAs in Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, and Riverhead. Some of the IDAs have favored manufacturing and industrial projects, but many have supported a range of projects, including office buildings, retail establishments, education facilities, sports arenas, and projects for health and not-for-profit service organizations. 

The goal of an IDA is to help companies acquire, construct, improve, maintain or equip certain facilities. It can assist the company by bringing together resources to provide low-cost or low-interest tax exempt or taxable bonds, provide workforce training and recruitment, and help fast-track the permit process. The greater incentive offered by IDA acceptance is the ability to be exempt from local property taxes, state and local sales tax, and the mortgage recording tax. By agreement, the company transfers the title of its land and equipment to the Agency (the IDA); the Agency then agrees to lease the land and equipment to the company which completes the project. When the project is completed by the company, the title is returned to the company and it becomes the legal owner.

In order to minimize the impact of the property tax abatement, the IDA writes a contract with the company for a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). The amount of the PILOT is set at a rate lower than the property tax, with few or no payments due for the first five years (leaving the school district short).The amount is graduated by a set percentage over the duration of the contract (up to twenty years); at the end the tax paid by the company will be what would be the full amount if not abated. (According to a state law passed in 1993, each IDA must establish a uniform tax exemption policy with input from affected tax jurisdictions.) 

Regulations have sought to improve accountability by requiring that all IDAs file audited annual financial statements giving data about assistance given and jobs created. An IDA Reform bill became law in 2022 to counteract the “friendly” culture of everyday corruption that the legislators found. It included bills to prevent conflicts of interest, unethical profiting by government officials, failure to give public notice of the approval of  projects over $100,000, and required a “clawback;” the recapture of previously granted benefits if job creation and retention goals or other terms of the agreement were not met. 

Although there is the concern that IDA assistance may have been granted to applicants who could have completed their projects without needing help, the IDAs have helped to create a wide variety of projects, remaining in Suffolk or coming to Suffolk from other places. They have helped developers create or expand a variety of businesses, from technical and chemical innovators to health and housing facilities. Because of the requirement that the projects must create new jobs, and retain existing employees, the IDAs help with workforce training and recruitment. All new jobs must follow fair labor laws and by law must be publicized through the Department of Labor, reaching applicants who are under-employed.

Suffolk’s IDA website suffolkida.org can be helpful in familiarizing taxpayers with successful (and sometimes controversial) projects. Town websites, such as brookhavenida.org, have lists of projects  and copies of applications, agreements and resolutions. IDA public hearings are open to learn more about decisions. We can also lobby NYS elected officials to encourage and support new legislation concerning the loss of income for schools. 

Nancy Marr is vice-president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit https//my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county. 

by -
0 1033
United States Supreme Court. Pixabay photo

By Nancy Marr

In December of this year, the case Moore v. Harper is scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States. Its decision will resolve whether there is a doctrine of constitutional interpretation known as the “independent state legislature” which would give state legislatures unreviewable power to redraw congressional districts and appoint state electors who cast votes for president and vice-president. It would remove the power from state courts, including the state’s highest court, to invalidate gerrymandered congressional districts drawn by state legislatures. 

The history

On November 4, 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted a new congressional voting map based on 2020 Census data. The legislature, at that time, was controlled by the Republican Party and the gerrymandering was so extreme that an evenly divided popular vote would have awarded ten seats to ten Republicans and only four to the Democrats. According to the Brennan Center, the map was a statistical outlier more favorable to Republicans than 99.9999% of all possible maps.

In 2019 in Rucho v. Common Cause,  the Supreme Court held that federal courts lack jurisdiction to resolve claims of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering because there is no prohibition of partisan districting in the U. S. Constitution. 

Subsequently, in the case Harper v. Hall (2022), a group of voters and nonprofit organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party challenged the North Carolina map in state court, alleging that the new map was a partisan gerrymander and violated the state constitution. 

In February 2022, the North Carolina Supreme Court agreed with voters and struck down the map, describing it as an “egregious and intentional partisan gerrymander designed to enhance Republican performance, and thereby gave a greater voice to those voters than to any others.”

The unrepentant legislature then proposed a second gerrymandered map, prompting a state court to  order a special master to create a fair map for the 2022 congressional elections. Unwilling to accept this outcome, two Republican legislators asked the U. S. Supreme Court to step in and reinstate their gerrymandered map.

In March, the Supreme Court rejected the legislature’s emergency appeal to put the gerrymander back in place. At the urging of four of the justices, the legislators filed a regular appeal, asking the court to review the case. In June, the Court agreed to do so. 

The issue 

In urging the Supreme Court to reinstate the gerrymandered congressional map, the North Carolina legislators were relying on a reading of the U.S. Constitution’s Election Clause known as the independent state legislature theory (ISL). The Election Clause (ARTICLE 1, SECTION 4) reads: The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations…

Section 5 reads: Each House shall be the judge of the elections, terms and qualifications of its own members.

Proponents of the ISL theory reason that the Elections Clause gives state legislators exclusive authority to regulate all elections. This allows them to violate the state constitution (which disallows partisan gerrymandering) when drawing congressional maps and that neither the state nor federal courts have the power to stop them. Proponents of the theory also believe it gives the state legislature control over the electors who will certify the election, as advocated by deniers of the 2020 election results.  

Opponents of the ISL theory argue that the term “legislature” does not mean solely “the legislature.” The standard interpretation of “legislature,” by groups like the bipartisan Conference of Chief Justices, means the state’s general lawmaking process, including all the normal procedures and limits. The Cato Institute, a right-leaning think-tank founded and funded by the Koch Brothers, published analyses that concluded that the ISL theory relies on a “long rejected” interpretation of the Constitution that would disrupt “settled law.”

What is next?

The Supreme Court could decide Moore without having to address the ISL theory. The immediate issue in Moore is whether the voters across the country will have judicial remedy in state court to fight partisan gerrymandering. A majority of Americans want fair maps, with representatives determined by voters, not self-interested politicians seeking personal gain. Every state should use maps that guarantee that every vote counts equally and every voice is heard. 

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 1277
Photo by Gerard Romano

By Nancy Marr

The $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Job Bond Act proposition on our ballot in 2022 will allow our state to undertake vital and urgent environmental improvement projects via issuing bonds; not a tax increase.

Long Island’s waterways are impaired by failing sewage and septic systems, and algae and nitrogen pollution impacts our sole-source aquifer system which provides drinking water to three million state residents. We need to find a way to conserve open space to benefit wildlife habitats, food production, and outdoor recreation. Many marginalized communities are harmed by pollution and have no access to open space, clean air and water.

There have been eleven environmental bond acts passed since the early 20th century. The conservation movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a response to vast deforestation, natural resource depletion and industrialization. The “forever wild” clause was added to the New York State Constitution in 1894 to enshrine the protection of lands in the Adirondacks and Catskills. 

In 1910 voters passed a bond act for $2.5 million, in 1916, for $10 million, and in 1924, for $15 million, all for the purposes of land acquisition and the establishment of parks. The 1965 Bond Act funded infrastructure to limit the flow of wastewater from untreated sewage overflows. In the 1970’s and 80’s, attention was galvanized by the problems with Love Canal, near Niagara Falls, the site of thousands of tons of toxic waste from the Hooker Chemical Company, which led policymakers in the US to establish hazardous waste regulatory systems.  The majority of the funding from the Environmental Quality Bond Act of 1986 went to manage hazardous waste in sites under the State Superfund program which had been established in 1979. The Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act of 1996 allocated the bulk of its $1.75 billion to safe drinking water and treatment of solid waste. 

The infrastructure in New York City, which supplied water to approximately 40 percent of NYS’s population, had already exceeded its life span by 2008 when the NYS Department of Health estimated that $38.7 billion would be needed over the next twenty years for drinking water infrastructure. The Legislature responded with an initial allocation in 2017 of $2.5 billion. In 2019 it passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which established clear statewide goals for emissions reduction and clear energy. 

Governor Hochul’s budget released the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Act of 2022. The final version, $4.2 billion, makes climate change its largest category of funding and designates that a portion of the total funding must be allocated to disadvantaged communities that bear a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences. The 2022 Bond Act includes:

Climate Change Mitigation (includes money for electrifying school buses) — $1.5 billion: Will fund projects that expand clean energy infrastructure, increase energy efficiency, reduce green gas emissions, and protect air and water quality to help fight and mitigate climate change. 

Restoration and Flood Risk Reduction — $1.1 billion: Damage caused by severe storms and flooding is projected to cost over $50 billion statewide. Funding would provide investments in NY’s natural and manufactured coastal resilience systems such as shoreline protection, wetland restoration, local waterfront revitalization, green infrastructure, and voluntary buyout programs.

Open Space Land Conservation and Recreation — $ 650 million: The Bond Act funding will expand open space conservation programs, promote outdoor recreation, protect natural resources, improve biodiversity, benefit threatened and endangered species and help farmers who are facing the challenges of climate change. Funding will invest in restoring and maintaining native fish populations and increasing public access to our waterways to support LI’s maritime culture. 

Water Quality Improvement and Resilient Infrastructure — $650 million: A long-term solution is needed to fund our backlog of water quality and infrastructure needs which continue to outpace available funding; the Bond Act will help fill the gaps in funding by investing at least $659 million in protecting water quality, spending 35% of the total in disadvantaged communities.

On Election Day 2022, remember to turn over your ballot and vote for the Environmental Bond Act proposition! 

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 639
METRO photo

By Nancy Marr

Did you know that almost half of America doesn’t vote, even in presidential elections? Elections for state and county officials, school board members, and fire department members have even fewer voters. 

Our primaries that are scheduled for August 23 will be open only to those registered in a party, and even those may not vote. The will of the people is reflected in the results of elections. In an effort to get 100% participation in our elections, groups like the League of Women Voters are supporting same-day registration (already in place in 23 states). 

Concerned about the low percentage of voters, Miles Rappaport and E. J. Dionne have written 100%: The Case for Universal Voting. They relate the experience of Australia, which requires all citizens to vote, just as we require all citizens to perform jury duty; they suggest ways of automatically registering voters, as we now do with the Department of Motor Vehicles. 

In 2022, Get Out The Vote efforts must be stronger, louder, and even more creative. We can register millions, but if only thousands vote, have we truly empowered voters?

When the country was founded, voting was not secret, and the men who were eligible to vote, by virtue of race and sex and income, met in public to decide who they would choose. Nowadays, everyone 18 years or over is legally entitled to vote, and can vote privately, although some are prevented from casting their ballots by suppressive state legislation.  

Data from The American Presidency Project at U.C. Santa Barbara shows that 67% of eligible voters voted during the pandemic in the U.S. presidential election of 2020, but it was a record high compared with earlier elections (the election in 2012, for instance, had votes from 54.9 percent of the eligible voters).

In 1965 the Federal Government’s Voting Rights Act acknowledged the need to protect the rights of all to register and vote, especially in states where there had been racial discrimination, although that protection was weakened in 2013 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby vs. Holder.

Reaching potential voters has become more difficult as our population has become more transient, which has led many voter rights organizations to increase their efforts to find new ways to appeal to voters. Rock the Vote was founded in 2010 to recruit potential voters on beaches, targeting youth aged 18 to 24 who represent the citizens least likely to vote. (Adults over 65 are the most likely to vote.) Training volunteers as “captains” to canvass their social networks of friends and neighbors is effective, with a follow up to answer any questions and provide support. Many groups enlisted volunteers to make phone calls to a list of registered voters. They found that a personable, non-rigid manner increased the turnout, especially if they went off-script and sounded like a real person, not a robot.

Working to get out the vote is something we can all do. On your own, with your family and friends and neighbors, you can ask them to plan to vote by asking them when they plan to vote and how they plan to get there. (In a campaign to encourage people to vote, it is important to remain neutral and nonpartisan, refraining from expressing your view about the best candidates.)  

If you would like to do more, visit the League of Women Voters of New York’s website lwvny.org/league-toolkits/ Click on GOTV toolkit, or Voter Registration Drive toolkit. 

Rock the Vote (www.rockthevote.org) focuses on getting young people to vote, and Glaad (www.glaad.org/vote) focuses on LGBTQ people and their allies. Both welcome volunteers and can provide information about voting dates and places. If you wish to support a particular candidate, contact their campaign office to offer to make phone calls. We need to reach citizens in every part of the country to be sure their views are represented.

As our population changes demographically, it is especially important for everyone to learn to work together to create and maintain a healthy society, beginning with our participation in elections. 

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 408
Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket. Photo by Elyse Sutton

By Nancy Marr

I have heard many people remark that libraries have become irrelevant. E-books, Google, and the internet can answer all our questions, saving taxpayers money and freeing up buildings for other uses. But is that true?

In the eighteenth century, the first step toward sharing books came with subscription libraries, which were owned and managed by members who paid an annual subscription fee. The first of these in the United States, still extant and called the Library Company of Philadelphia, was established in 1790 by Benjamin Franklin and his friends, who created the Company by pooling their books to make them available to all the members of the Company. Other subscription libraries continued through the mid-nineteenth century for men who could afford to pay for them, and many are still in existence today.  

Circulating libraries, often started by publishers of books that were more “popular” than those selected by the subscription libraries, made books available to people who could not afford to join a subscription library. The success of the subscription and circulating libraries probably retarded the growth of public libraries as we know them.

The social atmosphere of the subscription libraries satisfied many and others, women, in particular, could obtain the books about romance that they liked that they expected  would not be available in public libraries.  Community libraries grew in number, often starting as collections by wealthy readers. By 1935, libraries served 35 percent of the American people depending on local taxes or donations to maintain them. 

Andrew Carnegie was the spark that spread libraries across the United States with his donations. In 1899 he granted 5.2 million dollars to the New York Public Library to build a network of 67 branch libraries in the five boroughs. The city provided sites for the libraries and enough money to provide staff. Small towns received $10,000 for each library and had to provide $1,000 a year for maintenance. 

Although in principle libraries saw themselves as providing works of history, geography, and technical and scientific books, in the 1890’s libraries reported that 65 to 90 percent of books that were borrowed were works of fiction. The American Library Association (ALA), formed in 1876, offered a series of guides for small libraries.

The ALA, in response to demands to purge books that were anti-American in the Chicago library in 1939, issued a statement affirming the librarians’ right to choose what books should be in their collection. With the onset of Cold War anxieties, demands that librarians sign loyalty oaths split the ALA until the Supreme Court decided that Congress could ban only material “utterly without redeeming social importance.”  

To support the public libraries and help them provide the best in library service, organizations like the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York were formed. It expands the services of the 51 member libraries in Suffolk, runs the inter-library loan system, digitizes newspapers and other documents, helps with resource sharing and technical proficiency, and supports services to special client groups. 

Many local libraries have stepped into the role of community centers — providing meeting places for organizations, offering technical assistance to patrons with reference and computer questions, sponsoring book groups and classes in English, gardening, and cooking. Some libraries have hired part-time social workers and financial counselors, providing help to those who request it. Many have assembled useful tools for patrons to borrow, as well as seed collections for home gardens, kits and equipment for bird viewing and sports activities. 

Recently, some taxpayers have asserted that they, and others who agree with them, should have more of a say about what books are available, and what subjects are taught in public schools. They support library and school board members who have the same opinion, and are likely to oppose passing the library and school budgets. Although early librarians, thinking they were protecting readers, chose only those books that they approved of, they now follow the position of the ALA against censorship and line their shelves with books chosen because of their literary value or value to patrons.     

Libraries must rely on funding from taxpayers at an annual vote each spring.  If you haven’t been to your library recently, make a visit and see how much it offers, if not to you, then to job seekers using the computers, to families who cannot afford to buy books or DVD’s, to elderly people relying on the book-delivery service, or to anyone looking for a book to read that will open a new road. Vote to support the budget and the library. 

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 1356
METRO photo

By Nancy Marr

With two of our Long Island landfills closing in the near future, we will have to work together to redesign our way of handling waste.

New York State legislators, looking for ways to reduce the plastics sent to our landfills, have designed EPR bills (Extended Producer Responsibility) which require producers to reduce the amount of plastics they use and make them responsible for their final disposal, relieving municipalities of the cost. The EPR bills were not included in the New York State budget but there is hope that the legislature will pass an EPR bill before the summer.

The good news is that this week a bill that would establish as a state goal to “source reduce, reuse, recycle, or compost no less than eighty-five percent of the solid waste generated by the year 2032” was introduced by New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright, chairman of the Committee on Environmental Conservation, and was passed by the Assembly. We anticipate strong support in the State Senate as well.

Think about all the sources of waste on Long Island: three million people in Nassau and Suffolk (each creating almost five pounds of waste per day), thousands of businesses, dozens of municipalities, and all of these having overlapping layers of authority, interests and goals. Not only does untreated waste spread across our globe pose a major threat to our health and environment, but it also represents an unexploited source of raw material that can be used. In other words, we treat waste as garbage rather than a resource.

Current systems for collecting and disposing of household waste are part of a linear economy, often categorized as “take, make, throwaway.” By contrast, a circular economy employs reusing, repairing and refurbishing, remanufacturing and recycling to return us to a system that keeps products, materials, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer; and most importantly, produces less waste.

Fortunately we have begun to implement new ways of using our resources, many recalling systems from the past. Repair Cafes, working under the aegis of the Repair Cafe International, are creating facilities where consumers teach one another to repair their furniture and appliances. This month, a Repair Cafe will open in Greenport at 539 First Street from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 23; it will join 2,333 cafes that exist in eight countries. Learn more about this concept at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LctHCGe91gk.

There are also reuse facilities that fix, update, and sell items that have been discarded, taking the concept of a thrift shop closer to a self-supporting business that keeps waste from the landfill. Producers are looking for more markets for the items created by recycling, which would keep them out of the landfill and make recycling programs more effective.

A Fair Repair Act (S149) was introduced last year and passed in the NYS Senate. This would recognize that consumers have a right to repair the devices they own or use independent repair shops, and require that equipment be designed for durability rather than replacement or disposal. Other states have passed many such bills, but it hasn’t passed in the NYS Assembly.

We need to meet the goals of Assemblyman Englebright’s bill if we are to combat climate change. We have the tools to transition to a circular economy, which will reduce the waste in landfills. The EPR programs that have been designed can reduce the plastics in landfills and other waste depositories. But we need local municipalities and community organizations to educate consumers about what to do — what and where to recycle, where to contribute cast-offs so others can use them, how to compost and how to use the compost.

They will need the support of the county government, the farm bureau, local civic associations, community organizations, churches, and local civic associations to provide training and encourage citizen involvement.

Assemblyman Englebright’s bill was passed by a large margin, suggesting that there is broad public support for building a zero waste economy. Each of us can let our county and state legislators know that we are relying on them to lead the way. To find your elected officials, go to https://my.lwv.org.

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

by -
0 1228
METRO photo

By Nancy Marr

During the pandemic, when we were reminded that farmworkers were working hard to provide food for the rest of us, farmworkers in Suffolk were working for long hours with no break, on farms where they had no running water or toilets, could not take time off to care for their children or family members who had COVID, were often not eligible for overtime and were often undernourished. Although they could be considered “essential workers” they had few resources. The people who work on our farms have long been at the bottom of the food chain. 

The first legislation that was passed was President Franklin Roosevelt’s National Labor Relations Act in 1935. It gave laborers the right to strike for better conditions, but it did not cover agricultural workers or anyone in domestic service. 

Recently, there has been new legislation to increase their rights, but it is not always effective because it may not be enforced. Also, many workers do not know what their rights are or fear that they will lose their jobs if they protest. 

In California, because of the efforts by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers, formed in 1971, the state passed the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, giving farmworkers in California the right to unionize and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. 

In 2019, New York State passed the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act, even though it was opposed by the New York State Farm Bureau. The bill sponsor, Senator Jessica Ramos, said, “The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act has lingered in this body for twenty years, with seven sponsors on both sides of the aide. I have traveled to seven counties in New York, visited fourteen farms, talked to countless farmworkers, and held three hearings on this bill. There are 80-100,000 farmworkers that are the backbone of New York’s multi-billion-dollar agricultural industry.”  

The bill gave farmworkers the right to organize, and the right to bargain collectively but it did not give them the right to strike. The law also required farmers to provide Disability and Workers Compensation coverage, paid family leave, a day off each week, and overtime pay after sixty hours. (The current New York State budget may include help to farmers to pay the overtime pay.) The effectiveness of the law will depend on how much it is publicized.

This year, the first step toward unionization under the new law took place at the Pindar Vineyards in Peconic. The New York State Public Employment Relations Board officially certified Local 388, the union established by Pindar workers with the help of Angel Reyes Rivas, the Long Island Coordinator for the Rural and Migrant Ministry. Located in upstate New York, with an office in Riverhead, the Ministry is a statewide nonprofit organization that works with rural disenfranchised communities, helping them develop their own leadership. 

A group of workers on the East End has found a way through collective action to earn enough money to buy their own land. Last year, they formed the Long Island Farmworker Flower Cooperative with the help of organizers from the Rural and Migrant Ministry. Through the cooperative they support one another and can meet their economic and cultural needs through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. 

By learning agricultural management, including sales, finance, and accounting, and pooling their resources, they can become producers, buying land and greenhouses for their own flower production. They hope to be independent and be an example for other immigrant communities. To support their efforts, visit the Amandla Long Island Worker Education Center, 573 Roanoke Avenue, Riverhead (631-381-0498) or contact RuralMigrantMinistry.com. For more information, read Mark A. Torres’ Long Island Migrant Labor Camps: Dust for Blood, published in 2021.

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631–862-6860.

Prev123...5Next Page 2 of 5
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©