When Democrats invoke Reagan – Town Supervisor Race in Riverhead, NY

There is something interesting if not outright ironic when a Democratic incumbent not only places a photo of the great Republican President Ronald Reagan but adds a quote about the problems of government expansion on a mailed out broadside.  But that is what Phil Cardinale did.  More over he is actually accusing the Republican Candidate and former Conservative (in NY because of the laws that allow a candidate to run on more than one line the Conservative party is a registered party; in some cases when Republicans nominate a liberal, the Conservative party will run someone else on their line) of not being conservative.  How does he do that?  Is he lying?  No, he is being selective about the facts, pointing to a molehill and not admitting his own mountain.

There are many issues that face the town of Riverhead, but the one that gets the most press is a large parcel of land currently known as EPCAL.  Before I go into the point and counter point, I’ll grab a neutral arbitrator of history.  Here is the entry on the property from Wikipedia.

Calverton Executive Airpark (IATA: CTO, FAA LID: 3C8, formerly CTO) is a public-owned private-use airport located three miles (5 km) west of the central business district of the Calverton hamlet, in the Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Town of Riverhead.

It was formerly the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant which was owned by the United States Navy and used to assemble, test, refit and retrofit jets built by the Grumman Corporation on Long Island.

The airport covers an area of 2,921 acres (11.8 km2) which contains two asphalt and concrete runways: 14/32 measuring 10,000 x 200 feet (3,048 x 61 m) and 5/23 measuring 7,000 x 200 feet (2,133 x 61 m).

The EPCAL site contains the largest remaining grassland on Long Island. The site provides documented breeding and/or foraging habitat for numerous grassland birds, including at least one New York State Endangered Species (i.e., short-eared owl) and five New York State Species of Special Concern (i.e., common nighthawk, grasshopper sparrow, vesper sparrow, horned lark, and whip-poor-will). In fact, these grasslands are the most productive breeding grounds for grasshopper sparrow (a NYS Species of Special Concern) in all of New York State. The EPCAL site contains 10 kettle hole ponds which are documented breeding sites for the Eastern tiger salamander, a New York State Endangered Species. The site also contains five additional reptile and amphibian species which are identified as Species of Special Concern in New York State (i.e., marbled salamander, Eastern spadefoot, spotted turtle, Eastern box turtle, and Eastern hognose snake). A total of 24 amphibian and reptile species have been identified on or near the EPCAL property.

In the six years we have had under Phil Cardinale, EPCAL has been his “Magic Kingdom” where the most wonderful things were promised just before election and naturally never materialized.  There was the water park, a wonderfully disguised sand mining operation that had to stop when in building the “lake” they actually hit ground water, the NASCAR race track project, and best and most daring of all, an artificial 350-foot high indoor ski mountain (on an island where Vermont and New Hampshire is just a drive away) that would be taller than the one they have in Dubai.  The land that was donated to the town in 1998 is still mostly undeveloped and not generating tax revenue for the town.

You would think that anyone who would want to better develop this property, while at the same time understanding the importance of the ecology of the area, would be a good thing.  Not according to our current town supervisor.  In his mailing he accuses the Republican Candidate of wanting to spend money.

“Sean Walter proposes to add to our budget 17 employees including a ‘building expediter’ and give fee waivers and more tax exemptions to developers.  This will cost us over $2,500,000 taxpayer dollars.”

That sounds like a lot, but consider what Phil Cardinale has already cost the taxpayers this year alone.  According to Sean Walter’s blog

“On Thursday May 7, 2009 Town Supervisor Philip Cardinale forced a vote on the sale of EPCAL property to the Reckler Group. In an act of desperation, in order to shore up his own chances for reelection, the Town Supervisor forced a vote to reduce the purchase price of the 300 acres to be sold to the Reckler Group from $35,000,000.00 to just $18,000,000.00 dollars without offering one suitable alternative.”

That’s right.  Phil’s actions this year cost the town $17,000,000 in revenue by selling the land not only when the market was down but well below what the market value even in a depressed economy would have given him.  We apparently can ignore that when considering Sean’s proposed proposals which Phil claims would cost is $2,500,000.

Sean continues in his blog (written while he was still seeking the Republican nomination) “In order to understand this decision we must understand how the Town got in this position. Over the past five and a half years the current Town Supervisor has failed miserably in intergovernmental relations. Supervisor Cardinale has alienated the Town from the Governors Office, the County Executive’s Office and has consistently chastised the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.”

Looking at the past six years, it seems that Phil Cardinale always seems to remind me of someone but I could never quite place it.  Now I realize that he reminds me of Powdered Toast Man (Wikipedia Article)

Powdered Toast Man is a melodramatic and oblivious superhero of sorts and spokesperson for Powdered Toast, the breakfast treat that "tastes just like sawdust". He was based on a Frank Zappa inspired character. Powdered Toast Man appeared in various Powdered Toast commercials within The Ren and Stimpy Show, and starred in two episodes of the show: Powdered Toast Man vs. Waffle Woman and Powdered Toast Man (which had a guest appearance by Frank Zappa as the Pope). … His catch phrase is "Leave everything to me!" … His call to action is the shouting of his name, with significant stress on the "man": "Powdered Toast MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"

Most of Powdered Toast Man's accomplishments are dubious and pyrrhic - if he ever succeeds it is usually accidentally, and at the cost of unintentionally inflicting havoc on someone else. Additionally, he fights for the sake of Ignorance and Prejudice.

One only has to look at downtown Riverhead for the havoc Phil Cardinale has inflicted on the town in general; a grand theatre that is still an empty shell despite the millions that the town poured into it, a dinosaur museum that is now an empty shell (currently being used by the Riverhead Republicans as a campaign headquarters), store fronts that are empty and vacant and a waterfront that has seen nothing but decay ever since his arrival.  And he keeps saying “Leave everything to me.”

He constantly talks about openness, yet at the same time negotiates in secret and forces things at the town board without the ability to discuss alternatives.  He constantly talks about cutting spending, but his notion of cutting spending is to cut essential services; reducing the number of active duty town police in a rapidly growing town or eliminating a very effective town 911 dispatcher system, forcing the county to take on the additional burden of the town with an already stretched to the limit budget.

For Riverhead, the choice is clear.  Do you really want another two years of Powdered Toast Man, “Leave everything to me?”  Or do you want change, real change, real development, real jobs, real housing options for those who cannot afford to stay in the town they grew up in.

You can vote for Sean Walter or you can vote for Phil Cardinale.  As the old knight said in the Indiana Jones movie “The Last Crusade” … “Choose wisely.”  Otherwise, you might just see Riverhead become an old decayed town with no hope and no future.