Incumbent town councilman Robert Creighton said the Town of Smithtownis blocking the road for private homeowners and businesspeople - something he said he would remedy if re-elected Tuesday.
“I find it terribly frustrating people come to the town willing to pay for a permit to get something done and we continuously put stumbling blocks in their way for whatever reason … I just think it’s very, very difficult for the people that pay taxes to be stalled in whatever kind of venture that they’re involved in,” he said.
How does Creighton expect this to happen? By the town’s tax abatement program, a program the councilman said could be adopted at the next town board meeting on Nov. 17.
“Any company that spends more than $50,000 to improve its facility or to move in and build a new facility we’re giving them an abatement of 50 percent for the first year and then on a declining scale 5 percent every year after for a 10 year period,” he said. “It is designed to get new businesses to come in and get businesses that are in place to improve their business, to fix up their facilities.”
In addition to the tax abatement program, Creighton said he is not opposed to cutting permit fees for businesses and homeowners.
, Creighton said he and other council members were at town hall following the storm and town workers were hard at work.
“Public Safety was out en masse and probably was the most visible group of emergency workers … John Valentine was constantly in contact with the president [of LIPA],” he said. “I add nothing to emergency preparedness or service by going out and sitting in a truck and getting my picture taken, it doesn’t do a thing. All the days after Hurricane Irene I was in this office, I never received one phone call asking for any kind of advice or decision making from anybody, but we were here and we worked directly with the Public Safety people, constantly in contact with John Valentine."
Another issue Creighton plans on attacking further if re-elected is the design of Main Street in Smithtown. While plans have been offered to the town and state Department of Transportation, , he said a variation of that plan could be done immediately with the possibility of expanding on it further in the future.
The plan is to use paint striping instead of a concrete barrier to separate lanes and bring four lanes down to two and add a left-turning lane. Creighton said he expects to hear from the DOT in November to see if the plan is moving forward.
No facts. No information other than hear say. And promises made with no actual plan on how to deliver them. Still going downhill here in Smithtown with the new Hurricane Irene Tax. Why?? Only Smithtown got socked with a "cleanup tax" Thank you Mr. V, Mr. C and Mr. W. ((you lost My Vote)) Get ready for a NEW Snow Clean Up Tax this winter What's appalling is these officials are sitting on a $22 million dollar reserve - For What. A $5 million reserve is acceptable, 22 million is outrageous For the first time in my life, I’ m crossing party lines To VOTE for New Guys and NOT these Tax Mavens
You sound an awful lot like someone name "Rhonda", who said the following yesterday: " rhonda 5:24pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011 Pretty much all opinion based on speculation. No facts. No information other than hear say. And promises made with no actual plan on how to deliver them. Still going downhill here in Smithtown with the new Hurricane Irene Tax. Why?? Only Smithtown got socked with a "cleanup tax" Thank you Mr. V, Mr. C and Mr. W. ((you lost My Vote)) What's appalling is these officials are sitting on a $22 million dollar reserve - For What. A $5 million reserve is acceptable, 22 million is outrageous For the first time in my life, I’ m crossing party lines To VOTE for New Guys and NOT the Tax Mavens" Come to think of it, it's the same word for word. That's weird. Don't believe me you can read "Rhonda's" post here http://kingspark.patch.com/articles/wehrheim-economic-growth-and-communciation-will-improve-if-re-elected#comments
or whatever your many alias (names) are?!?!? You sound just like Denise Creighton Pumping this column to confuse VOTERS == Stick to the Facts == $22 million surplus – is Excessive OVERKILL Both Incumbent Council people have NO CLUE how to administer finances Neither Incumbent has ever run a business or has business experience Tax Payers are paying these guys (each) $55K for on the job training – too expensive! The easiest thing to do is TAX the Public and create New & Excessive Permit Fees (bad way to run a town) Only during election time do they TALK ABOUT Reversing their position – but they fail to do so. Both Incumbents have a zero track record of accomplishments You have to wonder why the 2 Incumbents do not have a website Every real candidate has a website today. Maybe it’s because they haven’t accomplished anything in the past 8 years. Denise or whatever your many names are – Stop Confusing the Voters Thank you
WOW - we gotcha Denise
WOW - we gotcha Denise
Anyone who reads The Patch knows your name as a contributor. Anyone who knows me knows I have never hidden behind an alias. They also know I have a full-time job which would make it impossible for me to respond midday. Let the person hiding behind the computer repetitively post and ignore them. Obviously he/she has way too much time on his/her hands. Keep up the great work at The Patch, Tom. You and those like you at The Patch seem to get that it is all about recognizing the good in our town!
I have 2 neighbors that gave their listings ($879K ea) to Coldwell after reading his silly comments about stolen yard signs a few weeks back. They felt he would spend way too much time yaking here and not selling. Ha ha.