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Putting politics into parkland

“That bill probably should have been renamed, to not call them trustees anymore. Clearly, the legislature does not trust the trustees,” said Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman after the county legislature last week passed a bill cutting the authority of the county’s Board of Trustees of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.


“We took away their power,” Mr. Schneiderman of Montauk protested last week. “We created the trustees and empowered them to oversee our parks. We basically now have made them an advisory committee — and I think that’s a bad mistake.”


What happened to the board began with dogs and an annoyed legislator. 


In February, Legislator Kate Browning of Shirley submitted a resolution to have the county set up a dog park at Southaven Park in Yaphank. The county has set up a number of such parks, which allow dog owners to unleash their animals and let them run in fenced-in areas.


Ms. Browning recounts that she met with a group of “dog-lovers” seeking the dog park at Southaven and concluded that it would be “a viable location.” 


But the parks trustees differed. They thought it would be too close to a planned animal rescue center and also interfere with parking for an equestrian facility. The trustees voted 7-to-1 in March against the plan and with their having authority over park uses under the Suffolk County Charter, that stopped the dog park scheme.


Separately, County Executive Steve Levy vetoed Ms. Browning’s Southaven dog park bill. He wrote, also in March, in his veto message: “We must ensure that the needs of all park users are respected and balanced, and the safety of non-dog owners is also ensured. With this in mind, Southaven Park may be a less appropriate location for a dog park than nearby alternatives.”


Ms. Browning then introduced legislation that in its final form changes the Suffolk County Charter to permit the legislature “to supersede an action or determination” of the trustees, and for the legislature to “otherwise establish county policy in all matters having to do with the regulation and use of parks and recreational facilities.” 


Also under the Browning bill — passed November 17 in Hauppauge — the legislature would have the power “to supersede” the trustees in setting entrance fees and other charges at county parks. Earlier this year, the trustees balked at a legislative plan to raise park fees.


Ms. Browning defends her bill. She noted that in August the Suffolk County Charter Revision Commission recommended that the county make the trustees an advisory board. Her legislation is “not quite as harsh as the commission’s recommendation,” she said.


But Gil Cardillo, chairman of the trustees, fears that the Browning bill, if it becomes law, could politicize management of Suffolk’s parks. “All the trustees work very hard, are committed, and we are apolitical. We want to do the right thing for our parks,” said Mr. Cardillo, who is Riverhead Town’s representative on the panel.


And before the legislature voted last week, writer John Rather of Riverhead testified that the Browning measure “smacks of retribution and political revenge.” It would, he said, “amend the county charter to undo the special status of parks trustees as brakes on ill-advised schemes for the parks … Parklands are a public trust and deserve insulation from the legislative process.”


The vote was 14-to-3, with the “no” votes tellingly including legislators most involved with county parks: Mr. Schneiderman, chair of the legislature’s environment committee, and Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher of East Setauket, chair of its parks committee.


Dan Aug, director of communications for Mr. Levy, said the county executive will likely sign the measure because he believes “it’s better” for decisions to be made by elected rather than appointed officials.


Meanwhile, Josh Slaughter, a Browning aide, said Ms. Browning has met with officials of the Suffolk SPCA who, he said, see their planned animal rescue center as not being affected by the planned dog park. And she met with Suffolk Parks Commissioner John Pavacic who, Mr. Slaughter said, believes the equestrian center parking could co-exist with a dog park. He said Ms. Browning is now preparing a new bill for a Southaven dog park. 


Dick White of Montauk, a parks trustee since 1970 representing the Town of East Hampton, commented: “It’s retribution. It’s a shame because it has worked so well. Ms. Browning decided to cut off our heads.” Through his near-40 years as a trustee, he has seen the panel block “ill-advised” plans, acting as a panel “set up to be able to be independent of political pressure.”


Not anymore.