Museum closing 1st skirmish in budget war

Walk to the rear of the Tackapausha Museum and Preserve in Seaford and peer through the fence. You're likely to see a pair of hawks and, in another cage, a beautiful wide-eyed owl.

A few weeks ago, word came that months-long renovations to the museum building and preserve grounds were almost complete. But it's likely that the building, though not the preserve, could be shuttered by year's end.

Last week, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said he would shutter every county museum that was not profitable to help him bridge a 2012 budget gap of more than $300 million.

"They'd be insane to close Tackapausha when they just renovated it," said Therese Lucas, a board member of the South Shore Audubon Society, which "adopted" the museum long before Lucas joined the group.

"It would be a loss," said Lucas, who offered Mangano another suggestion for balancing the proposed budget: "How about going after the salaries of all the bosses" in county government?

Welcome to one of the first skirmishes in the 2012 Nassau budget war. There's a lot to be done in the coming weeks as Mangano presses his proposed 2012 budget forward. It's got to go through the county legislature; it's also got to win the approval of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the state board that controls the county's finances.

Mangano continues to press for county unions to return to the negotiating table to make deals to cut $100 million from next year's expenses. Union leaders Monday repeated that they're willing to negotiate.

The county Civil Service Employee Association -- the union that faces the prospect of having hundreds of members laid off under the Mangano plan -- Monday said that Mangano last week rejected their proposed compromise that would have mitigated the loss of employees.

The ongoing war of words between Mangano and union leaders has been garnering plenty of attention. But the budget proposal, which includes wholesale cuts in programs and services, is certain to attract even more.

Last week, Mangano singled out two facilities for closing: Tackapausha and the Garvies Point Museum and Preserve in Glen Cove.

Something's got to give. The county website lists 18 museums and other attractions. The proposed county budget reduces funding for county museums to $591,000, a fraction of this year's $3.7 million.

The fiscal situation is so dire that Republicans are considering changing the process for public hearings on this year's budget. Instead of considering it, piecemeal, through 11 committees as they normally do, they want to hold three full days of morning, afternoon and evening hearings before the entire legislature. One day, for instance, could be public safety, another health care services.

It's a good idea. There's not a lot of time between now and Oct. 31, the deadline for passing the budget. And residents ought to have plentiful opportunities to let officials know what they think -- about everything from shuttering Tackapausha to changing police precinct lines to combining departments.