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Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) put the county’s red light camera program back under the microscope this week, as he should. We appreciate his watchdog approach when it comes to the county’s finances — he went so far as to call the red light camera program, which photographs and tickets cars that run through red lights or don’t come to a full stop before turning right on red, “taxation by citation.”

This newspaper has been historically critical of the program, and when the county released its 2014 annual report on the matter, it reminded us why.

In 2014 alone, the county collected $27.5 million from about 321,000 citations issued. Most of that was profit — Suffolk paid the camera vendor only $9.5 million to operate the program. And the county’s net revenue that year represented an exponential increase from when the cameras went live in 2010.

We are not ignoring the statistics, though. We recognize that overall crashes decreased by 3 percent, right-angle crashes went down by 21 percent and crashes involving injury decreased 4 percent. Rear-end crashes, however, went up 42 percent.

But Suffolk County has gotten into a dangerous habit. While some lawmakers and residents remain critical of the cameras, our government now has several years of ever-increasing citation dollars going to the county’s general fund. If we were to nix the red light camera program, it would leave a gaping hole in the county’s pocketbook. Rather than cutting equal expenses, we all know where our government would turn to make up the difference: taxpayers’ wallets.

At this point, the best solution would be to go back in time and never allow the program to pass in the first place. Instead, we urge our lawmakers and neighbors to continue to be critical of the red light camera program and keep it honest as it evolves across our county. If there’s no way to dismantle it without passing the buck onto taxpayers, we hope together we can at least find a happier medium.

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Saratoga Springs had snow on the ground when I arrived at dusk for the start of the New York Press Association convention a week ago Wednesday. Coming from Long Island, where daffodils are brightly nodding at passersby, forsythia are beacons of the coming spring and buds are finally on the tips of skeletal tree limbs, I had left the world of winter behind. So it was a bit of a shock to see how far we at home had advanced.

My first workshop in the morning was a valuable one dealing with good organizational management. What’s that, you might ask? To me that means working in a corporate or nonprofit group of any kind, productively, happily and successfully. It means optimizing resources and achieving a group’s lofty goals in a way that is most satisfying both to members of the group and to its clientele. It also means innovating to embrace future change even while preserving the core of the business.

What has that to do with us at the newspapers? Stay with me and I will reveal a nice surprise.

In the past, in what we now call “the old industrial age,” the manner in which organizations ran was hierarchical, meaning from the top down in a vertical fashion. You’ve undoubtedly seen such graphics depicting the CEO at the top, followed below by the next row of managers, with further rows below them. Those workers in each row reported to the manager immediately above them, with final decisions coming down from above. That was how the company managed its decision-making and workflow.

Today the model for better management has dramatically changed. Corporate flow charts have flattened and been transformed into more of a web than a ladder. The group chart is horizontal rather than vertical, perhaps influenced by the internet. Employees at all levels of a company or group are vested in the decision-making process, to the greater success and satisfaction of personnel making the product or performing the service and its quality for the end user.

That is optimal organizational management today, led by Silicon Valley high technology companies in the larger corporate world, who took away titles, reserved parking places and physical partitions, and created the sense of equal participation and valued input that constantly push toward change while still maintaining the traditional business.

So now for the nice surprise.

We at Times Beacon Record News Media, celebrating our 40th anniversary this month, have always run the business as a web rather than a ladder. Why? Because the people who have worked here, a great many of whom are still with us, have been respected for their talent and commitment and encouraged to offer their best ideas, concerns and input. We have been very lucky with the type of person who chooses to work with us, and we are most appreciative of our good fortune in that regard.

Now comes the best part. While we have had many talented men working here, and we still do, we are nonetheless an organization with a majority of women. And I learned in business school, many years ago, that webs rather than ladders are instinctively more typical of women. Along with the networking concept go ideas like job sharing in order to combine work and also manage sick children, flexible hours, working at home and being innovative in order to do more in less time. The final products, which is what our work is about, have been stellar.

In the early years, when a couple of experienced older men had joined our sales team, they were deeply puzzled by our management style. “Just tell us what you want us to do, and we’ll go out and do it,” they urged more than once at our ideas-generating meetings. They came from the old school in believing that dictatorship is the most efficient form of management, as I suppose it is.

By the time I left Saratoga Springs Sunday morning, the snow had disappeared. I could hear a bird singing through my open car window, and against the blue sky, I believe I caught sight of a few tiny buds on trees limbs. Sometimes it just takes a little extra time for different parts of the world to catch up.

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My nephew will never be on a Wheaties box. He won’t be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, either, and he won’t be in a team picture that glows with the warmth of broad, confident smiles at the end of a championship season.

Nonetheless, he works just as hard and puts in just as much time, dedicating himself to college sports at his Division I school as do many of the athletes whose natural talents and achievements thousands of students, alumni and fans applaud at arenas, fields and stadiums around the country.

My nephew is an emergency medical technician and is studying the field of kinesiology, which is the science of human movement. Someday he will either be a doctor, a trainer or some combination thereof where his knowledge of the way the body works will enable him to help athletes and nonathletes alike overcome injuries, stresses and strains or their own physical challenges.

He is a part of the team behind the team. He doesn’t lead chants and he doesn’t scream for the adoring fans to get out of their seats. He helps get athletes back on their feet again back in the stadium, and back to doing what they love when the inevitable battle of wills brings two people into the same space at the same time.

Every morning he gets up some time around sunrise, as he slowly slinks out of his dorm room to the training center. There, he waits patiently, hoping his services aren’t necessary but ready, willing and able to help any of the injured athletes who need immediate medical attention.

He is like so many of the other medical and emergency response crews who close their eyes not knowing whether they’ll be able to rest for two minutes, two hours or 10 hours when they go to sleep.

He works with amateur athletes who might one day make an Olympic team, a professional team, set a school record in an athletic event or simply bring glory to his college for one magnificent day. He dedicates himself, day after day, to his fellow students.

We recently visited him at his school, where he had a rare day off because the team he’s helping didn’t need him that day. We twisted his arm to watch a softball game on an unusually cold afternoon.

The team played a doubleheader. My nephew saw his counterpart on the field during the first game of the doubleheader. The next day, he said he found out that his friend arrived two hours before the first game and didn’t leave until at least an hour after the second game ended, which means he spent about nine hours of a weekend day focused on supporting these athletes.

This is great training, building his professional endurance, giving him opportunities to see sports injuries — and helping him figure out where on the medical sports spectrum he’d like to dedicate himself. Still, I couldn’t help remembering some of the slow, lazy mornings in college, the hours tossing a baseball back and forth on a lawn, and the carefree joy of watching my school’s hockey team win a big game. My nephew, by choice, spends hours he could be studying or hanging out with buddies playing an important supportive role well behind the bench.

Athletes defy gravity, each other and their own limitations to become the kinds of heroes we celebrate each day. At the same time, when those limitations catch up with them, they turn to people like my nephew and a deep bench of medical talent to bring them back to the games they love. My nephew may not be on the field but he, like so many others at these big schools with winning athletic programs, plays an important role off of it.

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The state has finally rescinded a cut to education funding that has been costing our schools billions of dollars — now it’s time to rebuild.

But we can only rebuild if we move up from here. We cannot afford any more setbacks.

Ending the Gap Elimination Adjustment will allow our school districts to collect more financial aid than they have been able to for several years now. The total deduction statewide started as high as $3 billion and was eventually reduced to $434 million before being cut altogether. This was great news for education advocates across the state.

However, this new balance needs to be preserved in order for education to truly recover, because of the timing in which the cuts were installed. Around the same time the state started slashing education dollars, school districts were forced to adhere to tax levy cap regulations imposed under New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

The Gap Elimination Adjustment was already an enormous deficit for our schools, but adding the cap on top of it made it much more difficult for districts to find their footing. Because of this terrible timing, the true damage done to our districts cannot be measured in just dollars and cents — they’re going to need some time to reposition themselves in the coming years.

Kids are our most important assets and we’re already falling behind other countries when it comes to educational performance. We need our legislators to stay true to their current position when it comes to education spending and invest in higher standards for our students.

We’re gratified that our legislators finally got on board with slashing the Gap Elimination Adjustment cuts. They should have never enacted it in the first place.

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Forgive me for smiling. In my head, I see a face. It could be the face of a mother, father, sister, brother, neighbor or even the face in the mirror.

I think of all the range of expressions and emotions from that face. It can be ecstatic that a son or daughter was born, it can be pushing hard to bring that baby into the world, it can be straining with all its might to cross a finish line — or it can be waiting anxiously at an elegant eatery for an eHarmony date to appear while trying to appear casually indifferent.

With my quality time often involving my wife and children, I picture the faces of the parents who attend a concert or sporting event, while also envisioning the faces of the kids battling against each other, the clock, their instruments or some confounding assignment.

The part about the faces that’s bringing a smile to my own is envisioning a scrambler button, mismatching the words and expressions to the situation. Instead of a face and tone that showed rapturous glee after getting a ticket to a live performance at Madison Square Garden, I’ve imagined that same elation at the beginning of a class.

“Yes, children, please put your notebooks away,” a teacher might say. “We have a surprise quiz today.”

“Oh, seriously? That’s awesome. Oh, man. I can’t wait to tell my friends on Snapchat that we got a surprise quiz. This is the best. I mean, we sometimes have regular quizzes that we know about in advance, but a surprise quiz is a huge bonus. I imagined surprise quizzes when I was younger, but this is the real thing. You are the absolute best teacher I’ve ever had and I’m sure I’ll remember this quiz for a long time.”

Now, I know those of you with adolescent children can hear sarcasm in that conversation. I prefer to imagine unbridled enthusiasm.

The scrambler button may be used in different circumstances.

Perhaps our boss described our work as “moronic.” Let’s dial in the goofy uncle trying to get a nephew to giggle.

“Oh, yeah, who’s a great boss?” you might say as your voice rises. “Come on. Who? Oh, wait, where’d you go?” you ask, as you cover your eyes. “Where’s that great boss of mine? Did you disappear? Where’s the boss? Where is the most spectacular boss anyone has ever seen? There he is … peekaboo!

If you’ve ever been to a volleyball tournament, you know that even the most stoic and reserved girl screeches through the match. The team comes together after each point in the center of the floor, putting their arms around each other and congratulating themselves.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your train is delayed due to switching problems,” an announcer might say over a loudspeaker to a group of commuters.

“Yeah, cool,” the commuters might scream as they come together in a circle of delight on the platform, tossing their briefcases to the side and jumping straight up in the air and pumping their fists.

Or, perhaps, you’re an enthusiastic coach and you’ve asked your child to pass the salt.

“Good job, kid, good job,” you might say in a voice that’s way too loud for an indoor meal.“Now, keep the salt in your right hand. Stay balanced. Focus only on the salt. Don’t shake it, don’t think about not shaking it or you’ll start to shake it. Now, ease it over here. Way to go, kid, you’re doing great. You’re almost there — that’s some great clutch salt passing. Now, after the meal, don’t forget to shake hands with the pepper and tell it that you had a good meal.”

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Suffolk County put out a request for proposals to help redefine what the former Steck-Philbin Landfill brownfield site on Old Northport Road in Kings Park could look like, and this week a Stony Brook group has proposed to build a solar farm there.

We were excited to read some of the details behind the Ecological Engineering of Long Island plan, which the firm’s president Shawn Nuzzo said would deliver significant amounts of solar electricity to Long Island’s power grid without decimating anymore of the area’s land.

This is the kind of development we hope our fellow Long Islanders can get behind.

The solar farm proposal is an example of what can be done with Long Island’s most problematic properties. All we need is for residents and politicians to give it a chance.

Oftentimes we encounter widespread resident opposition across our North Shore communities to development proposals of any sort for various reasons. But by giving projects like this a thorough look, coupled with an open mind, we believe we can address some of the biggest environmental issues facing the Island.

In this case, for example, transforming an industrial area into something that could benefit us all seems almost like a no-brainer. The former landfill site in Kings Park is no doubt an eyesore and a horrific blight on the greater North Shore community, so why not see it transformed by a legal and reputable business? EELI wants to come in and build a 6-megawatt solar farm through crowdfunding dollars, so let’s support the firm.

This quote from Nuzzo, also the president of the Three Village Civic Association, said it all: “Unlike other recent utility solar projects on Long Island — where large developers have proposed to clear-cut forests, raze golf courses and blanket farmable lands — our proposal takes a dangerous, long-blighted and otherwise useless parcel and revives it as a community-owned solar farm,” he said.

We say reputable, by the way, because of the several letters of support Nuzzo and his team received from some of the North Shore’s staunchest environmental advocates, including state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station).

This property is a perfect example of what we could do with so many more of our neglected areas across the North Shore. The landfill is not situated directly next door to someone’s house, so the “not in my backyard” argument holds a little less weight. It’s time we think smart when it comes to repurposing our landscape.

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Earlier this week, there was a news report on the radio that 50 percent of hotel rooms in London and Paris were empty. Individuals, tour groups, even business travelers had canceled their reservations and were staying home. The statistics made me sad.

When I was graduating from high school in 1958, I passionately wanted to travel to some distant shores and see what life in those countries was all about. I had read about Paris in my French class, had translated Julius Caesar’s “The Gallic Wars” from the original Latin, studied the rise and growth of democracy and personal freedoms in my history class, and tried to understand political ideas like communism and socialism in political science class. Now I wanted to see these concepts in action in the real world. My mother was adamant: “You can travel to Europe with your husband. Not before!”

Sure enough, the first time I crossed the Atlantic, I sat beside my husband on an eight-day guided tour of London. How fascinating and instructional it all was. How much knowledge I amassed by the time I returned. How much more I understood. I was hooked on travel for the rest of my life.

It was said then that we were citizens of our countries, but our children and grandchildren would be citizens of the world. And that prediction has come true. My grandchildren have already been to three different continents. The impressions they brought back have made them smarter, better and more compassionate people, and they have not yet even reached their majority.

But what about today? Are the risks worth the rewards? We know there is a lot in the news these days to make us angry and fearful. Maybe those two emotions are really the same. Almost every day there are reports of carnage of innocent people across the globe triggered by terrorists who want to make a political or sectarian statement, or are looking for revenge. The death and maiming of those victims, whose only misstep was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is a modern tragedy — a game of Russian roulette. The more gruesome the killings, the more notice their assailants get. Children killed, sure. People slaughtered as they are kneeling in prayer, yes. Aid workers risking their lives with humanitarian motives … kill them. The ultimate idea is to spread a tsunami of fear and isolation.

When people stop traveling, the terrorists know their brutal efforts are working. In a world that has become wonderfully global — with citizens of different countries interacting and coming to understand the customs and religions of each other, with economies benefiting from tourist spending that raises standards of living — travel is a natural target for those who would bomb us back into the Stone Age. And to what end? The purpose of the killers is power, the power to better control the masses, to attract followers by using corrupted ideology and perverted religious tenets, to enrich themselves with plunder — age-old strategies throughout the bloody centuries. Nothing new here.

What is new is a world interconnected by jet planes and Internet information in a way that was unimaginable in the past. Yes, there was the Silk Road and trade routes around the capes of the continents centuries ago. But they were open only to the adventurous few, and those few were more interested in commerce than in societal change. Too many people now have tasted the fruits of travel, enjoyed the wonders of seeing new treasures, tasting new foods, enjoying new dances, meeting new people, appreciating new lifestyles, applauding different forms of government, for the clock to ever be turned back. That is why the killers seek to destroy art and architecture wherever their bloodthirsty rampages take them. They don’t want people to see the different wonders of the world and equate them with new ways to live.

So, is it worth it? Is travel to return to only the most daring and adventurous who sailed the seas and trekked the land? I don’t think so. Remember that old song? “How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?”

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Modern mythology, as it was for those Greeks and Romans long ago, is a carnival mirror. Mythology helps us see ourselves and our world using distortions to exaggerate truths or to give us a chance to focus on different parts of our lives and society.

The Greeks created these spectacular stories to understand how the sun crossed the sky to where spiders came from. The former occurred because Apollo pulled a chariot across the sky and the latter was a result of a mortal woman named Arachne engaging in a weaving contest with the goddess Athena.

For the Greeks, these stories offered a possible cause for the inexplicable and helped ordinary people cope with the seemingly arbitrary and capricious nature of events around them. Why, they might wonder, did their favorite tree die when lightning struck it? Zeus must have been upset about the latest offering or about the words you said when you were at the market. A chest of gold washed ashore near you? You must have done something to please Poseidon.

Our modern myths and heroes come from many places. People win Purple Heart decorations from grateful presidents, earn medals of honor for their valor, or walk or run hundreds of miles to raise money for worthy causes. The list, of course, is much longer than that: Scientists and doctors fight to find cures for cancer, autism, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and many other problems; firefighters race into burning buildings to save others; and police officers protect and serve our communities.

Hollywood wants a piece of the hero action, pumping out movies about people with the everyday courage to challenge conventional thinking. The studios have invested considerable money in the live action version of comic book characters, cranking out stories about men and women with spectacular powers, incredible toys and spirited enemies.

In a new twist, Batman and Superman will battle it out around the same time that Captain America and Iron Man clash. Is it a coincidence that these movies are coming out at around the same time? Maybe. Is it a coincidence that they’re coming out at the same time that Trump and Hillary get ready for the main event? Maybe not.

In any case, these movies, which hope to capture plenty of dollars, have seized on something visible in our carnival mirror. People, like their on-screen superheroes, want to do the right thing — whatever that may be. At the same time, others, driven by a similar desire, may pull in the opposite direction. A conflict is inevitable, particularly in the context of a modern world in which quick reflexes are more important than reason and consideration.

We don’t sleep on decisions anymore or consider our moves or the consequences. With people plugged in wherever they are, the world requires instant responses. Strength comes from thoughts that travel at the speed of Zeus’ lightning bolt.

Like the Greek gods who fought with each other, our modern movie heroes are no better than the rest of us. They are limited by their perspectives, weaknesses and a past that threatens to push them in the same decision-making rut.

What does the carnival mirror, at least the one that Hollywood is using, suggest about where we’re heading in a country divided between red and blue states, between us and them? I don’t know how these new movies end, but I suspect these superheroes learned to stop fighting and work together.

Hopefully, the Republicans and Democrats, who stand in front of the same flag and ask God to bless America, will figure out a way to reach across the aisle and create the kind of peace, security and prosperity we would all like to experience. Wouldn’t that be a nice Hollywood ending?

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Michael Tessler

By Michael Tessler

With a Congress that fails to do its job, a Supreme Court that has become increasingly politicized and a president who can only pursue his legislative agenda by bypassing the legislature, we have effectively compromised our federal government. “Checks and balances” have been replaced with bounced checks and a political game of seesaw — one wherein achieving compromise is near impossible. Lobbyists have procured tremendous power as the American people have all but ignored the huge significance of local and state elections.

So let’s break down some numbers. Back in 2014 voter turnout in New York was only 28.8 percent. We were not just electing a governor but also filling all 27 of our congressional seats. That same year, roughly 6,730 miles away the Afghan government held its election. People risked their lives going to the polls. Throughout their nation the Taliban led attacks on polling stations. Voters ran the risk of having their finger removed if they were found by the Taliban and identified as a voter. So what was their turnout? 58 percent. That’s right folks. In a nation where you could literally be dismembered for voting, they achieved a turnout rate 29.2 percent greater than our own here in New York. So what’s our excuse? Fear of parking tickets? We can do better.

This issue isn’t just isolated to New York. All across the nation we ignore the importance of our local and state government. Why? It’s extremely boring. You don’t see Martin Sheen or Kevin Spacey going around accepting acting roles as a county treasurer or state assemblyman. Media has romanticized the presidency. We’ve made it our central focus to the point where all other offices fall to the wayside.

To understand the significance of state government, look no further than the collapse of every major world superpower from the Egyptians to the Romans, to the Ottomans, to the Soviets. What makes us different isn’t the fact that we have a democracy: 123 countries have democracy. What makes us different is our unique system of federalism. Now I know what you’re thinking. “This is the most boring thing I’ve ever read. Please make it stop.” No, I can’t. It’s just too important.

So I’m sure somewhere deep in your subconscious you’re asking yourself, “If federalism is so great, why doesn’t everybody use it?” That’s a great question. Just look to our friends in the European Union. They’re attempting what I call reverse federalism. They’re struggling to achieve the unity that our system has had for over 200 years.

Our founders were brilliant in that they had the foresight to create a centralized government to unify us financially, militarily and culturally. Europe has had literally thousands of years of internal strife that makes genuine friendship difficult for many of its member states (e.g., thanks a lot, Germany). Just imagine how difficult the job of our government would be if suddenly California decided it wanted to opt-out of the dollar in exchange for its own currency.

Europe, try as they may, will likely be unable to recreate what we have here. Our union was forged during our revolution and with each conflict that followed (with the uncomfortable exception of the Civil War).

Federalism ensures the survival of this great American experiment because the likelihood of 50 self-sufficient states collapsing simultaneously is slim to none. We have to remind our politicians that our power does not come from the top but from the bottom. If our federal government fails in the task of governing, their gridlock should not deter the whole union. Unfortunately, there is yet a political party that has seriously adopted this policy in the 21st century.

We don’t need big government or small government. We need smart government. For example, in terms of health care, one size doesn’t fit all. The health care needs of New Yorkers will be different than the health care needs of Floridians (well actually most Floridians are New Yorkers so this might not be the best example, but you get my point). We shouldn’t pretend each state is the same. Nor should we pretend that the federal government can pass a budget let alone manage a national health care system (e.g., the genius who built HealthCare.gov). Surely, the best hope for America is one that has been there all along. So this election vote not from the top down but from the bottom up.

IN SHORT:

Trump Notes: Civility cannot exist when Americans confuse bigotry with bluntness. We aren’t perceived as weak because our military isn’t big enough. We’re perceived as weak because we’ve allowed our sacred institution of democracy to become a warm-up act for the Kardashians. This vitriol incites violence. Now more than ever we need national conversations, not national disagreements.

In brighter news: I’m a Jew who gave up pizza for lent. If that doesn’t make America great, I’m not sure what will. Looking forward to writing more. Share your thoughts with me at MJT[at]TBRNewspapers[dot]com.

Michael Tessler is the Special Projects Manager for TBR News Media, a founder and former political consultant for the Continuum Group firm, and the former President of the International Youth Congress.

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Last week it was confirmed that Steven Romeo, the allegedly intoxicated pickup truck driver involved in the fatal Cutchogue limo crash in July, was not going to be charged with manslaughter.

We’re sure this came as a shock to many people, who had written off Romeo as guilty as soon as it was reported that he had been drinking the day he T-boned the limo in a crash that killed four young North Shore women on a wine tour and injured several others.

Referring to limo driver Carlos F. Pino’s risky U-turn that put that vehicle directly into Romeo’s path, Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota confirmed last week,  “A perfectly sober Steven Romeo could not avoid this crash. An intoxicated Steven Romeo could not avoid this crash. It was simply unavoidable from Romeo’s perspective.”

Pino will be charged with manslaughter for his dangerous maneuver.

But some damage may have already been done in Romeo’s case.

News outlets and some North Shore residents vilified the man long before the DA’s report was finalized. It’s no doubt a gut reaction for people to assume a drunk driver is at fault in a car crash, but this shows us why we should not be so quick to jump to conclusions. Sober people make mistakes or reckless maneuvers on the road every day, and this limo crash is an example of that.

The American criminal justice system is set up so that every citizen is innocent until proven guilty, and we should all keep that in mind for instances like this. No matter the mistakes or poor decisions a person has made, that person deserves fair, unbiased treatment. That goes for the courtroom as well as the public and the press.

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