Nassau County Presiding Officer Peter J. Schmitt is honored to invite all residents to take part in the celebration of the
Massapequa Fire Department’s
Centennial Celebration
LIRR Parking Lot - Sunrise Hwy, Massapequa
~ CARNIVAL & FAIR ~
Friday, September 24th • 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Saturday, September 25th • 12:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Sunday, September 26th • 12:00 PM - 5:00 PMThe Massapequa Fire Department was created in 1910 based on a strong spirit of volunteerism. The Department now boasts 300 volunteer members who answer approximately 2,500 calls for assistance each year. Please join Presiding Officer Schmitt for the Centennial festivities.
The Centennial Celebration festivities include:
(Location: LIRR Parking Lot - Sunrise Hwy., Massapequa)
• Car Cruise - Fri., Sept. 24th @ 6:00 PM
• 7 Bridges Road in Concert - Fri., Sept. 24th @ 7:30 PM
• FIREWORKS by BAY FIREWORKS - Fri., Sept. 24th @ 9:00 PM
• 6th Battalion Drill - Sat., Sept. 25th @ 9:00 AM
(Location: 4 Towns Track in Merrick)
• Big Shot! (Billy Joel Tribute) in Concert - Sat., Sept. 25th @ 8:30 PM
• 6th Battalion Parade - Sat., Sept. 25th @ 5:00 PM
(See map below, join us along parade route)
The Massapequa Fire Department
100th Anniversary Parade RouteParade starts at 5:00 PM on Saturday, September 25, 2010 on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Broadway and travels south down Broadway in Massapequa to the LIRR train station. Carnival and Fair are located at the end of parade route!
“The Massapequa Fire Department has been dedicated to the safety of our community for 100 years. Please show your support for the Department’s 300 volunteers by joining me for the 100th Anniversary festivities September 24th - 26th, 2010.”
-Presiding Officer Peter J. Schmitt
~ An Open Public Safety Letter to All Residents ~
I would like inform all residents of some information passed along to me from Lawrence W. Mulvey, Commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department.
The Police Department has noticed a correlation between large house parties and the likelihood of violence occurring at such gatherings. The level of violence in the incidents has varied from moderate to severe. However in most cases, the police were not informed of the gathering until it was too late.
With this in mind, the Police Department is asking that all residents be aware of what’s happening in their neighborhood, and to call 911 if a local party appears to be getting unruly.
Obviously, the safety of the residents of Nassau County is a top priority for me, and for the Police Department. By using some preemptive judgment, we can prevent a situation from escalating and turning tragic. When it comes to safety, you can never be too careful.
Presiding Officer Schmitt and Nassau County Legislature Blaze a New Trail to Protect Nassau's Youth from Sex Offenders
Presiding Officer Peter J. Schmitt and the Majority members of the Nassau County Legislature passed a new law to help families protect their children from registered sex offenders. The new legislation, the first of its kind in New York, requires youth agencies to certify that all employees have been checked against New York State’s list of registered sex offenders under the Sex Offender Registration Act.
“Parents cannot simply assume that their kids are safe, even when participating in children’s activities. This new legislation offers parents a simple way to inquire about the sex offender status of all people caring for their children,” said Presiding Officer Schmitt.
The new legislation allows any parent or guardian to inquire whether there is a registered sex offender employed by a youth agency, whether full-time, part-time or as a volunteer. All youth organizations, including daycares, sports organizations, clubs, and any individual who serves youth under age 18 in any capacity must provide a disclosure statement to parents/guardians (upon request) stating that all principals, employees, volunteers, and independent contractors associated with the youth agency are not registered sex offenders pursuant to verification with the NY Sex Offender Registry.
It has been shown that there is a high rate of recidivism for convicted sex offenders and therefore such offenders may pose a risk to youth entrusted in their care. This legislation helps to ensure parents that their children are not exposed to registered sex offenders.
“We hope this legislation will have a ‘chilling effect’ on sex offenders and discourage them from attempting to work with youth in Nassau County,” said Schmitt.
Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt Reminds Residents to "Protect Themselves Against West Nile Virus."
Most people who are infected with WNV will not have any type of illness. About one in 150 people infected with WNV will develop severe illness. The severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent. Up to 20 percent of the people who become infected have symptoms such as fever, headache, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Symptoms can last for as short as a few days, though even healthy people have become sick for several weeks. Approximately 80 percent of people who are infected with WNV will not show any symptoms at all.
As summer winds down, Presiding Officer Schmitt reminds residents that West Nile Virus has been very active this season. There are currently 17 verified cases in Nassau County residents of West Nile Virus. Residents are urged to continue taking protective measures including the following:
~ Remove or empty standing water from children’s outdoor toys, flower pots, garbage cans, pails, old tires, or any object that can hold water.
~ Make sure roof gutters drain properly; clean clogged gutters in the spring and fall.
~ Keep swimming pools chlorinated and their covers free of stagnant water.
~ Change the water in birdbaths every two or three days.~ Install window and door screens and keep them in good repair.
~ Consider wearing long sleeves, pants, socks and mosquito repellent (according to directions) if outdoors when mosquitoes are active, especially in the late afternoon and evening hours.
~ Decorative ponds and water features should be circulated or chlorinated if they do not contain fish to prevent mosquito breeding.
For mosquito, stagnant water, or drainage problems, call the Nassau County Department of Public Works at: (516) 572-1166, weekdays from 7:45 am to 3:30 pm.
For additional information on West Nile virus activity, contact the Nassau County Department of Health at: (516) 227-9700. Additional West Nile virus information may be found on the Nassau County Department of Health website at
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Health/westnile.html
Presiding Officer Schmitt Blasts NIFA Board Members
for Ethical ConflictsNew Appointee Not Nassau County Taxpayer
Nassau County Legislative Presiding Officer Peter J. Schmitt is calling upon New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Public Integrity Commission to investigate Ronald Stack, Chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA), based on potential ethics violations and to block the appointment of former Suozzi Deputy County Executive for Finance Thomas Stokes to the NIFA Board of Directors due to the serious appearances of conflicts of interest.
NIFA was conceived as an independent watchdog agency created by NYS to monitor Nassau’s finances. Presiding Officer Schmitt is calling for an investigation into the appearance of impropriety that now exists because Chairman Stack was hired by Wells Fargo Bank only weeks after former County Executive Suozzi and Stokes transferred approx. $82 million dollars of County operating funds to Wells Fargo.
“How can anyone expect the taxpayers to believe that Mr. Stack can oversee Nassau’s finances while Nassau’s operating funds are currently in the Wells Fargo Bank?” asked Presiding Officer Schmitt. “I am calling for Mr. Stack to immediately resign or I will work to see that the County’s funds are removed from Wells Fargo Bank,” said Schmitt.
The New York State Code of Ethics prohibits a state officer from accepting employment or appointment that would impair his or her independence of judgment. “It is clear that Suozzi and Stokes were negotiating the transfer of $82 million during the same weeks that Stack was negotiating the terms of his employment at Wells Fargo as Managing Director of the Wells Fargo Northeast Public Finance Team,” said Presiding Officer Schmitt. On May 1, 2009, Suozzi transferred all of Nassau’s operating accounts (totaling approx. $82 million) to Wells Fargo. Only a few weeks later on June 24, 2009, Wells Fargo announced the hiring of Mr. Stack.
Schmitt is calling upon the NYS Attorney General to investigate Stack’s conflict of interest and impose the necessary sanctions on Stack in his role at NIFA. By any standards, he would be forced to recuse himself and has never done so to date.
Schmitt is also calling for review of the appointment of Thomas Stokes to the NIFA Board as a partisan appointee. Stokes was the Deputy County Executive for Finance under Suozzi from 2006 to 2009. “He cannot possibly sit in judgment of the new County Executive’s next four years of County budgets,” said Schmitt. Mr. Stokes is also a resident of Suffolk County, not Nassau, and Schmitt said, “There was no one in Nassau County who was qualified to sit on the NIFA Board, they had to go out east to get Mr. Stokes?” “Incredible,” slammed Schmitt.
A third appointee, Leonard Steinman, was the Nassau County Chairman of the Industrial Development Agency, appointed by Mr. Suozzi and practices law in New York City.
Four new appointments have been made to the NIFA Board in recent weeks. The Board is now comprised of mostly Democrats and former Suozzi operatives. “The NIFA Board has gone from being a fair and balanced oversight board to a weapon of the Democratic party to try to ensure the destruction of all attempts by County Executive Mangano to fix the fiscal situation left by former County Executive Suozzi.”
“On behalf of the taxpayers and residents of this county, I am calling upon the Attorney General to right this wrong,” said Schmitt.
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