Public deserves time to speak on bus plan

The public finally got some say on the proposed contract between Nassau County and a private bus operator.

And all it took was six long months, an unexpected public notice foul-up and some fancy -- but welcome -- footwork by Peter Schmitt, the legislature's presiding officer.

Early on during a committee meeting Monday, Legis. Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn) complained that the proposed multimillion-dollar contract with Veolia Transportation Inc. had not been part of the finance committee agenda.

Wink's displeasure quickly turned to shock, however, when committee chair Legis. Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) told him -- along with the 12 people who'd signed up for a later committee meeting to speak on the matter -- that there would be a hearing on the proposed deal between Nassau and Veolia Transportation to take over Long Island Bus on Thursday.

"I just found out about that, just now," Wink said, flabbergasted. "I am sure that everyone in the audience didn't realize . . ."

"It is ridiculous," interrupted Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick), before Nicolello interjected to say that a public notice had been filed 10 days ago.

"It's three days' notice for a meeting we've spent six months asking for," Denenberg said. "It is ridiculous."

The notice was also deficient, Schmitt would say, after returning to the meeting room an hour later for a rules committee session.

"We're going to cancel the hearing on Thursday and reschedule the whole thing," Schmitt said, including proper legal notice and new hearing dates.

Schmitt, of Massapequa, could have called it quits on a string of unusual events. Instead, he opened up the floor for what would be unofficial public comment.

Half of the dozen who had signed up to comment were gone by then, but -- finally -- lawmakers and the public engaged in open discussion over a proposed contract that's been kept secret for far too long.

At one point, even Schmitt conceded that he hadn't finished reading the 300-plus-page document. All of which makes the public notice glitch an unexpected but welcome gift.

The legislature has until Jan. 1 to get a new bus operator in place, with routes and buses ready to move the 100,000 daily passengers who depend on it.

But the contract, as critics noted during the hearing, does appear to have been written by the bus company. And it does appear to give the company incredible leeway on what it will and will not do -- up to and including making a decision to walk away from Nassau County.

Schmitt asked that interested parties submit questions for Veolia in advance -- so the legislature can forward them to County Executive Edward Mangano's administration, which worked the deal.

Lawmakers also asked the independent budget review office to research the company, its history of fares and service and its relationships -- good and bad -- with other municipalities.

Those are good -- if incredibly late -- moves. Because as of now, there are more questions than answers about the proposed contract.

Schmitt did the right thing by spotting the faulty notice and stopping a process that from the start seemed deliberately stalled before being deliberately rushed.

The legislature must take its time and exercise due diligence on the matter to do what works best for county residents.