Village Residents Party

The Village Residents Party, founded in 1992, serves Brookville, Upper Brookville, Old Brookville and part of Old Westbury. The VRP is a privately-funded Political Action Committee (PAC) that is registered with the State of New York.

 

INSTITUTIONS

The Village Residents Party has always considered the institutions that are located within our villages to be some of the key factors in determining the quality of life in our area. When they are well run and given proper oversight, they can be great assets. When that is not the case, they can be great liabilities. Thus, we have devoted much of our energies to monitoring the process of local government oversight of these institutions. When the local governments do not adequately carry out their responsibilities, we inform you, the voting residents, of our findings and our recommendations. Our recommendations revolve around political actions that we ask you, the voters, to take.

 

POST COLLEGE / LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY

One of our primary concerns, for many years, has been Post/LIU’s unquenchable thirst for the unbridled construction and development of its several-hundred acre campus. Whether it is an enclosed horseback riding area, a hockey arena, a gymnasium or some other project, Post/LIU seems to be constantly in line to get one project after another through the village-level permit process. We are not flatly opposed to any and all construction at Post/LIU; what we oppose is the excessive over-development of its campus in ways that do not relate to Post/LIU’s ostensible, academic functions. You will recall that many of our past complaints centered around detrimental externalities (neighborhood effects), breached agreements, and discrepancies in Post/LIU’s own statements and assurances. Nevertheless, they remain unwilling to enter into good faith negotiations with community organizations.

This campus is partly in Old Westbury and partly in Brookville. Old Westbury has been fairly stringent in its application of local zoning ordinances. Brookville has been fairly lax. Most of Post/LIU’s proposals for construction have been in the Incorporated Village of Brookville (coincidence?). Of course, all of our villages are affected by the activities and expansion plans of Post/LIU. We maintain an archive of correspondence that relates to these projects.

We have proposed the formation of a joint committee that would include representatives from Post/LIU and the various community-based organizations. However, the LIU administration has been unresponsive, while claiming to have good community relations. LIU once maintained a community relations page on its website. It contained very little information that would be of any use in the present context. It appears to have been dropped from their site, but something like that could turn up again. 

 

Underhill property

As you may have noticed in all of the newspaper articles and direct mailings, this issue is primarily a political one. In most discussions of this issue, some minor concessions are made to the legalities of the court case, but, by and large, the final decisions will be made (or at least, implemented) by elected officials in response to constituent pressures. This is an area where an organization like the VRP (a registered political action committee) can have its greatest impact. When you contact town-level officials, be sure to mention the VRP to them. Tell them that you support the VRP. Tell them that when election time arrives, you will give very serious consideration to the VRP’s recommendations regarding your vote and your financial support for an insurgent candidate, should the incumbents fail to give adequate consideration to the views of their constituents. They know that our villages are not very populous, but your financial support of their opponents is something that they would fear more than just losing a few hundred votes.

 

OLD BROOKVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT

At the present time, the VRP has not taken a position on the possible reorganization of the OBPD. Nevertheless, as a courtesy to the residents, we have made available an archive of documents related to the OBPD, including items from the 2011 departure of Muttontown. We will not add new material piecemeal as fragmentary information becomes available. Rather, we will add it in blocks that seem complete and balanced. Note also that the archived  meeting notes from the Village of Brookville Board of Trustees  include the monthly report of a member of the Board of Police Commissioners.

 

Proposed Jericho Homeless Shelter 

The VRP is opposed to large government building projects that are conducted in secret and give the outward appearance  of favoring politically connected vendors. Any such undertaking should be carried out with full disclosure and accountability. That should include advance notice and public hearings. For those reasons, the VRP believes that the project should be halted and the proper process of public involvement should begin. For more information, see the Concerned Jericho Parents website.

 

TAM O’SHANTER

We have begun an archive of documents related to this project. It is our intention that this archive will be permanent and will include all versions of all submissions, not just the latest, updated ones.