Do You Really Want Mastic Beach To Be A Village?

Everyone is doing it. Those cool green signs are posted all over the neighborhood, indicating a household in support of making Mastic Beach an incorporated village. Is it peer pressure or do you really want to be a village?

Having been employed in municipal law for over a decade, I am well aware of the positive and negative elements of becoming an incorporated village. In some instances, communities gain much-needed organization and assistance. Often this occurs in tiny communities with little other opportunity for a voice.

Mastic Beach is a large area. While many people claim we won't pay more taxes as a village, that simply isn't true. I've seen these plans in action over the years in many areas. We will pay more taxes and can the residents of Mastic Beach really afford that? What about seniors who lived here their entire lives? Disabled veterans and their families barely getting by now? Will this new village financially force these people out? Where will they go after building this community, often considered one of the "last hopes" on Long Island? Is this a way to thank them, the PEOPLE of Mastic Beach?

I don't see it impacting the slumlords, who are all integrated into our school district, government and community organizations. They will tailor laws to suit their own needs, creating an area with the "have's" and "have-nots" instead of the wonderful, struggling middle class community we are.

It seems to be another way to pick the pockets of residents of our community. Ultimately, more people will be in "power" with greater control over our lives, homes and money. We know what government officials have done with that power in the past. Is this what we really want?

Frankly, I was for this Village idea for all of ten minutes until I started to reconsider the harsh realities. It seems to be wiser to band together to demand our already elected officials DO THEIR JOBS. If everyone did their jobs, this would not be an issue. Our government is already top heavy with little real representation for the people. Though I don't see it in the media or local papers, many people I talk to do NOT want the village and feel it is a mistake.

How about signs for us? Let's stand up and be counted.

Village of Mastic Beach and The Links

Are you concerned about Mastic Beach becoming an incorporated village? Do you wonder what will happen with the redevelopment project at The Links in Shirley? These are pressing concerns for all of us.

On October 13 at 7 PM the Chamber of Commerce of the Mastics and Shirley will have their monthly meeting at Ladakins Restaurants on Montauk Highway in Moriches. There will be two guest speakers. Paul Breschard, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pattersquash Creek, will discuss creating a village in Mastic Beach. A rep from the Holiday Organization will talk about future plans for The Links at Shirley. To get more info call Pres. Mark Smothergill at 631-399-0396. Be in the know and go to this meeting about your community.

What Is Smith Point Town?

I received an email from Vinnie, the proprietor of the Mastic Shirley Report, about Steve Levy approving the use of Smith Point as an address. Check out Vinnie's comments from his blog then read on to see mine:

In the March 26th edition of the SUFFOLK LIFE newspaper, there is an article in which 'Smith Point Residents Lobby for Own Zip Code'. (by Barbara LaMonica).

I consider this an outrageous attempt to secede from their community in what only can be described as elitism. Just what exactly is the Smith Point Beach Property owners association? Everyone knows that NOBODY owns land on Smiths Point, just NEAR it. How near do you have to be to be included? Is this a new 'other side of the tracks' issue? I can find no reference to this group either online or in any phone directory either. The two people quoted in the article state they are from the Smith Point Beach Property Owners association but is this a group of two? I do see a group called the Smith Point PeninsulaHomeowners Association but there is no listing for the two quoted in the paper as being members of that organization.

Statements like 'we always lived in the shadow of Mastic Beach' are truly incomprehensible to me....you ARE IN MASTIC BEACH! other statements like 'we started to realize that we were significantly different' and 'we are the gateway to the Fire Island National Seashore' infuriates me to no end! HOW DIFFERENT ARE YOU? DO YOU HAVE TWO HEADS? The post office response so far is that zip codes 'are not assigned to provide community identity' seems comforting, but what identity are they trying to create? IT smells to me like they simply don't want to live in mastic or shirley anymore!

Also, apparantly Steve Levy is on board with this as well according to the article. Ive emailed him and other community leaders looking for a response but there has been an utter lack of communication so far.

Now I have all of our town leaders linked on the main page. If this infuriates you as much as me, then ACT! WRITE! EMAIL! CALL! Make your opinion KNOWN!

I appreciate Vinnie's comments and want to add my own. First of all, let's not forget the discussions a few months ago to make "The Links" into a pricey gated community. Will the address there also be Smith Point? Is this to help big builders sell these houses more quickly because people may not realize it's actually Mastic, Shirley and Moriches? Are these people trying to avoid the negative media attention and set up a segregated area? What about all the promises made to our community as we pay taxes that continue to increase? The solution presented by government leaders is setting up an incorporated village and charging more taxes but will this really change anything? Should we examine villages such as Amityville for our answers?

Further, do government officials want to "dress up" the area where people from all over drive to the beach in the summer to attempt to "hide" what is going on a mere few blocks away? It's time to get real around here.