Ben Vitale
(Photo Credit Ben Vitale)
I have always been an advocate for having Fireworks; I can recall as a youth always going to see Fireworks in Coney Island with my family. I believe that an event that enables the young and the old to participate together has the power to create a sense of family and community. This sense of family and community is described in an article I wrote in 2011.
Night Clubs, Restaurants, and Multiple family dwellings do not define our village! For the past 20 years we have evolved to become a "Family of Friends." Recently I have seen our "Crystal Ball," get cloudy; I am no longer sure who is making the decisions in our village. Patchogue Fireworks 2013, did not happen because of decisions that were made in "Back Rooms," other than 14 Baker Street. What has happened? I simply feel that we the residents have been excluded.
We must first find out what the resident taxpayers of Patchogue Village want; as I recall they were never asked! Do they want Fireworks on the 4Th of July? Should we remove the word Fireworks from our vocabulary? Should we have Fireworks on a different date? Fireworks is still in my vocabulary; I just happen to enjoy them.
Fireworks 2012 died a slow death with officials, and Department Heads, pointing fingers at each other; the blame for quenching this event will never be placed. It seems that no one said the "Two Magic Words" I am retired now but when I was working I received work directives in a novel way. The Boss that I worked for just said Two words; "Do It." Now what could that mean? It means "Make it happen;" failure was not an option!
I wish this village would make up its mind! Any decisions that are made must first reflect the "will" of the people. The Patchogue Village Merchants obviously approve of the "Fireworks Display that never happened;" they paid for it. Why do we not listen to our local merchants? Our merchants are beyond a doubt, the backbone of our village! If you don't believe me just imagine what our village would be like if every store, bar, and restaurant closed. Our village would be a Ghost Town, unemployment would go up, and Patchogue would become a slum!
In the case of "Patchogue Fireworks 2012," it was not the Mayor and Trustees that put a halt to the Display, but an official from another Service Department in our village. I am being intentionally ambiguous; sometimes the lack of finger pointing could open up the door to sane dialog.
I do not believe in addressing an issue without also presenting possible solutions.
1: We might ask the resident taxpayers if they approve of and would like to see a fireworks display in our village. If a valid poll of our residents determines that our residents do not want Fireworks, then the issue is over.
2: The Poll must be statistically accurate. The poll might be conducted by asking people that are walking down Main Street for their opinion. A committee is required. We should ask them to provide their name, address, and opinion. We could also ask Patch to publish an article on the polling process. Some photos and opinions could be published. It is this, that creates a sense of camaraderie and community.
3: If our residents want to have Fireworks presented in our village, then the "Do It," edict must be deployed! For the last few years, our village and other decision making people have been totally immersed in a game of Bolderdash; this is a total waste of time. A friend of mine told me that his Boss is so bad that his employees actually spend 50% of their time defending themselves against the assertive actions of their Boss! Where have you seen this before? We as village residents sometimes spend too much time attacking each other, instead of working together as "a family of friends." Wasted time is money!
4: Merge the Fireworks with another Patchogue Village event such as "Live After Five," to reduce the cost of the required services.
5: How about having the Fireworks on a date other than the 4Th of July. One agency reported that many of their employees report in "sick," on the 4Th of July, so that they can be with their Family. I believe that everyone has the right to celebrate the holidays with his Family.
6. If someone is willing to donate $10,000 to pay for Village Services, we may be able to display Fireworks in our village, some time in the future.
Solutions to a problem are usually not Black or White, but actually Gray.
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The Mayor's office doesn't want firework's. The K of C offered two years ago to host a Firework's show and were told at the last minute the they would have to pay for all of the cost of the crowd control and security, another $8,000, so they pulled out. It's simple, they do not like Grucci, or should I say, Phil Butler. Phil exposed and embarassed the Mayor & his staff a few years back with the Christmas in Patchogue stuff, and they have a grudge against him. Its that simple. So they won't allow him to be involved in any Fireworks show.
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