Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld (D-Setauket) has endorsed Council Districts for Huntington. First elected to the Brookhaven Town Council in 2003 representing the Three Village and Greater Port Jefferson communities, Mr. Fiore-Rosenfeld has seen first-hand the experience with Council Districts in Brookhaven. He says, “Council Districts have made dramatic improvements in Brookhaven.” He highlights the better representation, the greater accountability and the way that Council Districts bring “the government closer to people. “ He says, “Council Districts in Huntington will ensure each community has at least a local representative to consistently voice or amplify their concerns on the dais of the town board and not only from the guest speakers’ microphone.”
On the key issues, Mr. Fiore-Rosenfeld has said the following:
- On better representation: “Brookhaven citizens are better off because they know exactly who their representative is on the town board.”
- On accountability: Council Districts “have created accountability for elected officials and have brought the government closer to the people. “
- On Town Expenses: “The Council Districts system in Brookhaven has not raised government costs…Anyone making that claim is spreading misinformation. Actually it has helped us root out costly corruption to the tune of millions of previously wasted tax dollars of partisan patronage and redundant and costly municipal insurance brokered by those connected to the former one-party system.”
Here are some of Mr. Fiore-Rosenfeld statements on Council Districts:
“Council Districts are working well in Brookhaven.”
“Council Districts have made dramatic improvements in Brookhaven. They have created accountability for elected officials and have brought the government closer to the people. Brookhaven citizens are better off because they know who their local town representative is.”
Council Districts Do Not Raise Government Expenses
“Council Districts have not raised government costs. We have absolutely not raised taxes because of Council Districts. Anyone making that claim is spreading misinformation. Our only “no tax” collection years on our General Fund line (where we funded our general operating expenses via our surplus…occurred under council districts in Brookhaven).
On Claims that Districts Would Gang Up on Other Districts or Council Districts Would Split the Town
“We heard those claims here too. It has not happened. There has been no ganging up on any district and no dumping on a district. I was the lone Democrat for two years, yet the Town Council never dumped on my district…don’t believe this scare tactic…all members of the town board need to work collectively and will need each other member’s vote for some reason into the future for their own district’s community needs.”
On Opening the Political Process
“Council districts have given us community-based candidates. Candidates can win by a grass roots campaign of walking the district, going door-to-door, something much more difficult if not impossible to do in a Townwide race. One can win office with much less campaign money and even beat well financed candidates who lack local community-based support. Council Districts can clearly reduce the role of money in Town politics and assist the residents in getting town representation closer to true citizen legislators.”
Does Anyone Think Council Districts Have Not Worked in Brookhaven?
“Brookhaven Town government is not perfect, no government is, but we are better served by Council Districts. Indeed, Winston Churchill once said (or quoted) “it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”…so to with a council district system at the town level….As far as I understand, all of the political parties continue to endorse Council Districts in Brookhaven. The few individuals who still laud the old system in Brookhaven are usually political insiders who no longer have the undue influence they had under the previous corrupted “at large” system…however it should be noted that no system is entirely incorruptible. As Thomas Jefferson said, “We should have a revolution every 20 years or so.” I don’t think he meant bloodshed in the streets every 20 years but rather significant reform to the status quo system of governance - that is, how our government interfaces with its people and how its people control the government (or gain back control).”
The Concerned Citizens of Huntington, a non-partisan group, has formed to promote Council Districts in Huntington. To learn more, you can check their web site (http://concernedcitizensofhuntington.com) or their blog (http://huntingtoncouncildistricts.wordpress.com/).
You can contact Councilman Fiore-Rosenfeld here 451-6963 or through his district web site: http://www.brookhaven.org/BrookhavenElectedOfficials/BrookhavenCouncilDistrict1/tabid/180/Default.aspx.
