Palaver About Potholes

I am perturbed about Michael Levy’s confusion on the function of our local government in his letter to the editor. Michael sees pit-falls or potholes, when most people see progress. Our Mayor has been very transparent about his continuing efforts to maintain and improve the roads of Glen Cove.  This is a major responsibility of the office of mayor. With over 45-miles of roads in our city, maintenance is always occurring. Our roads must be repaired and maintained in order to prevent road failure which would incur higher costs. For Michael to allude that road maintenance is connected to pandering for votes shows a deep cynicism. The filling of potholes occurs annually and will continue onward into the future.  If Michael is troubled by a pot hole in front of his home, he should contact his local municipality. Michael does not live in Glen Cove. If he lived in Glen Cove, he would be assured that our mayor would remedy his road issue just as he has done for all of the residents of Glen Cove.

The responsibility of our Mayor does not end with our roads. Michael’s concern about receiving “Robo-calls” is again misguided. Mayor Suozzi is expected to communicate with the citizens of Glen Cove. These matters can be great or small, from snow emergency notices to information regarding sanitation pick up. If Michael had attended one of the many annual neighborhood meetings that are currently taking place, he would have found out more about the new recycling program mentioned in the phone calls. The new contract with the new recycling company now pays the city for its collected material. One of these new recycling programs is the collection of cardboard on Wednesday. The city is now being paid for discarded cardboard. It benefits all of us to know about this new program so we can participate if we choose. Michael can choose not to recycle as he sees fit. Of course, Michael doesn’t actually live in Glen Cove. If he did receive the Mayor’s phone calls, he could choose to opt out of receiving the automated calls by simply calling city hall and asking to be removed from the call list.

Finally, Mr. Levy has a very laissez-faire attitude concerning business in our city. Since I am running for City Council on the same ticket as our mayor, I know the effort that Mayor Suozzi has put into the re-opening of the movie theater. The loss of the movie theater has affected our community and all of the businesses downtown.  Mayor Suozzi has been working with the parties involved in the movie theater since it closed. Any effort that will bring about the reopening of the theater should be applauded and not denigrated. I, as well as the majority of Glen Cove citizens, respect his participation in this process.

I have no potholes to fill on my street.  But, I take comfort knowing any road damage will be fixed responsibly. I am glad the Mayor makes such an effort to get information out to our community. I would rather be informed than unaware. Because of Mayor Suozzi’s hard work, I am looking forward to the announcement that the Glen Cove movie theater will be reopening. And when the theater is reopened, Michael can drive into Glen Cove and join us to enjoy dinner and a film.