McMansion development is rampant in Brookhaven Town. For example what used to be a nice view off Rock Hill in Manorville, is now ruined by McMansions.
Ex-Foley backers ready to pull support
A group of onetime supporters are set to attack Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley at a news conference today, chiding him for what they characterize as a weak environmental record in his first year in office.
Along with a few civic leaders, the group includes Richard Amper of the the Long Island Pine Barrens Society and Town Conservative Party Chairman Richard Johannesen, who also chairs the Long Island Environmental Voters Forum, a nonprofit group that supports pro-environment candidates for public office.
"We're withdrawing our endorsement and we want our tree back," Johannesen said, referring to the sapling the Voters Forum presented to Foley when it officially backed him in 2005. "We firmly believed that Brian Foley was going to take the next step forward in protecting the environment, and he has not taken that next step."
The group of former backers is poised to criticize Foley on several fronts, but all agree that the supervisor has bowed to developers in failing so far to create a Community Preservation Fund to permanently fund open space purchases in Brookhaven.
Such programs already exist in several East End towns, where proceeds from 2-percent real estate transfer fees have generated millions of dollars that the towns have used to buy thousands of acres of undeveloped land.
Amper said that Foley, during his campaign and in meetings with environmental groups, committed privately to creating a Preservation Fund by the end of 2006.
"Since we bought his line in the last election, we have the obligation to say it isn't so in the next one," Amper said. "The preservation fund isn't the only issue, but it's the best example of how we've been betrayed."
Foley, who is up for reelection in November, defended his environmental record, pointing to new codes requiring energy efficient homes and the preservation of 496 acres of open space and his opposition to Broadwater. "In our first year we've done exactly as promised," Foley said.
Foley hasn't committed publicly to creating a community preservation fund, but staffers say he's considering it. "He's very interested in exploring new funding sources, including a community preservation fund," said Deputy Supervisor Jack Schnirman.
But Johannesen said this was not enough. Once an ally of Foley, Johannesen has publicly criticized the supervisor on a variety of issues from staffing choices to management style since the start of the administration.
Foley's defenders say Johannesen has become more pointed in his criticism since assuming political party leadership.
"This is a political attack," Schnirman said. "If the Conservative Party boss wants his tree back, we're wondering if he wants it delivered to party headquarters."
Ex-Foley backers ready to pull support
A group of onetime supporters are set to attack Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley at a news conference today, chiding him for what they characterize as a weak environmental record in his first year in office.
Along with a few civic leaders, the group includes Richard Amper of the the Long Island Pine Barrens Society and Town Conservative Party Chairman Richard Johannesen, who also chairs the Long Island Environmental Voters Forum, a nonprofit group that supports pro-environment candidates for public office.
"We're withdrawing our endorsement and we want our tree back," Johannesen said, referring to the sapling the Voters Forum presented to Foley when it officially backed him in 2005. "We firmly believed that Brian Foley was going to take the next step forward in protecting the environment, and he has not taken that next step."
The group of former backers is poised to criticize Foley on several fronts, but all agree that the supervisor has bowed to developers in failing so far to create a Community Preservation Fund to permanently fund open space purchases in Brookhaven.
Such programs already exist in several East End towns, where proceeds from 2-percent real estate transfer fees have generated millions of dollars that the towns have used to buy thousands of acres of undeveloped land.
Amper said that Foley, during his campaign and in meetings with environmental groups, committed privately to creating a Preservation Fund by the end of 2006.
"Since we bought his line in the last election, we have the obligation to say it isn't so in the next one," Amper said. "The preservation fund isn't the only issue, but it's the best example of how we've been betrayed."
Foley, who is up for reelection in November, defended his environmental record, pointing to new codes requiring energy efficient homes and the preservation of 496 acres of open space and his opposition to Broadwater. "In our first year we've done exactly as promised," Foley said.
Foley hasn't committed publicly to creating a community preservation fund, but staffers say he's considering it. "He's very interested in exploring new funding sources, including a community preservation fund," said Deputy Supervisor Jack Schnirman.
But Johannesen said this was not enough. Once an ally of Foley, Johannesen has publicly criticized the supervisor on a variety of issues from staffing choices to management style since the start of the administration.
Foley's defenders say Johannesen has become more pointed in his criticism since assuming political party leadership.
"This is a political attack," Schnirman said. "If the Conservative Party boss wants his tree back, we're wondering if he wants it delivered to party headquarters."
