Letter to Editor: Your Silence is Your Consent

Why have a rally, what good does it do? So it just so happens to be right before a low turnout election - so what! You hold up your signs for the media - you talk to reporters - big deal; what difference does it make?

So the county wants to sell the sewer system and - it's just a bunch of pipes in the ground and a methane factory. Who cares if the fudge factory is right next to a bunch of school kids and those pain-in-the-neck-homeowners; they knew about it when they moved in there.

Oh wait - that's right; those people were there before they tightly nestled that sewage treatment plant between two elementary schools. Yea, yea that's right - those county guys promised to take care of that place with the best equipment and the finest of their workers who could never go on strike or walk off the job or day-would get thrown in the slammer; yea, yea!
 
Seriously, the county budget that was just borrows $450 million to pay the bills does not address the spending problem. It just defers a tax increase by changing that increase into a flush fee billed by a private company that will also make a handsome profit on something that was originally revenue neutral and never did their fingers leave their hands.  

We are IMBYS! The plant is in our back yards and we've been taking sh..._ from the county for years. First they said, "we're going to wait on an outfall pipe" - we had protests and said "NO". Later they said, "We're going to put a pelletization plant right here" - and we held several rallies, sued them and said  “hell no.”

When they didn't want to spend the money to cover the aeration tanks, we held a rally right before Election Day. Some legislators lost their seats that November, but the aeration tanks got covered.

Last time around they wanted to privatize our park and plant. We again held a rally right before Election Day. The county executive wound up getting privatized and we swung the legislature too boot.

Now we find ourselves again with our backs against the wall getting the you know what end of the stick. They still want to privatize at least the operations of our entire sewer system and leave us at the mercy of a private for-profit company that can have job actions, be sold or go belly up - not a good place to be with 50 million gallons of raw sewage in the lines and more right behind that.

Not only that, but we might be one of the grand prize winners that gets their police precinct closed. Oh but there is more. This lucky year our and become, how do you say.......unpreserved. Oh yea, lets not forget “the cherry” on top…. The long awaited owned by a local strip club owner.

Eat your heart out Pottersville!

Yea, let's just let it all hang out. Don’t come to the rally. Don’t vote. However, when the police don't get there in time, or you don't know how two feet of sewage got into your basement, don’t complain as you lost that right this weekend.

Just remember two things; all waste pipes lead to Cedar......and...........your silence is your consent!

Still, people ask; there has to be something good in all this or why would they attempt it; what about the other side?

What about the other side of this? 

• Why hasn't the county said which bus routes are being eliminated and what the fare hikes will be?
• Why is the county holding back the details on privatizing our entire sewer system?
• Why hasn't the county said which police precincts are being closed?
• Well if the county had something positive to say about all this, then wouldn't they have said it by now?

 
You be the judge.

Yours in activism,

.

Phillip Franco

Seaford

Co-chairman of the Cedar Creek Oversight Committee