George Santos, LI housing, and marijuana edibles

Santos must quit for voters' sake

Almost everyone agrees that Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau/Queens) should resign because he is an admitted liar and has deceived those who elected him [“Nassau GOP: Santos must go,” News, Jan. 12].

His stance that he wants to serve the people of the 3rd Congressional District is unbelievable. Those who voted for him would not be getting a representative who will serve them but rather a shell who would get no support to deliver anything meaningful for his district.

I would strongly suggest that the Nassau and Queens Republican organizations look at revamping their vetting processes because they are complicit in allowing this farce to even take place. They, too, deceived us by putting forth a candidate that had no credentials and must accept blame for this.

And let’s not forget that the Democratic Party did not do its homework to investigate a phony opponent and it, too, should review its process of checking an opponent who would have easily been defeated if voters knew the truth.

Santos has said he won’t resign, which is shameful, so let’s hope that our local political parties never again endorse a candidate who will make our congressional representative ineffective and unable to do the job that person was elected to do.

— Howard Ammerman, New Hyde Park

Despite mounting controversies, voter outrage and now the Nassau GOP’s call for him to resign, Rep. George Santos refuses to leave because he was “elected to serve the people . . . not the party.” This sounds like a noble aspiration. However, the voters did not choose Santos but rather a fictionalized version. The one currently occupying a seat in Congress needs to step down, and a special election should be held to allow the people to choose a representative based on facts, not fiction. Anything less disenfranchises everyone in his district.

— Maryellen Viola, Massapequa Park

Nassau County GOP Chairman Joe Cairo admitted the GOP county committee trusted Rep. George Santos and his resume. Cairo failed President Ronald Reagan’s “Trust but verify” dictum. It’s like Capt. Louis Renault in “Casablanca,” who exclaimed he was “shocked” that gambling was occurring at Rick’s Café Américain as he pocketed his winnings. To his credit, Cairo returned the $126,725 that the Nassau GOP pocketed from Santos’ campaign cash.

— Woody Ryder, Greenlawn

The Nassau GOP wants Rep. George Santos to resign. This is the same person the Nassau GOP supposedly vetted and then backed in two elections. This is along the lines of closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out. Shouldn’t Nassau GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo resign, too? The buck stops there, and all this happened under his watch.

— Bob Diehl, Rockville Centre

I wish to commend Nassau GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito for their forceful demands that Rep. George Santos resign. It’s obvious that Santos is unfit to serve, and hopefully, he will soon heed the groundswell of public opinion.

But I have contempt for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who remained silent,  putting his personal quest to be speaker ahead of Long Island’s need for competent congressional representation. As a lifelong Democrat, though, it was good to see local politicians on the other side of the aisle replace partisanship with common sense.

— Andrew J. Sparberg, Oceanside

George Santos needs to pay for his lies. Too often, those who run for office are not held accountable for their lies. Whether it was President Joe Biden exaggerating his academic record, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) misleading about her ancestry, or Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) misstating (although momentarily) that he served in Vietnam, we’ve seen this before. Shouldn’t we hold them accountable, too?

— Dan McCally, East Islip

Don’t cram Long Island with more housing

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address sent a loud warning to the people of Long Island [“Hochul: Expand housing inventory in state,” News, Jan. 11]. We already pay some of the highest property taxes in the state. Some of our schools are overcrowded, and our roads are a nightmare.

Forcing Long Island to dramatically increase housing will also stress all other services, such as sanitation, police and fire departments. This is something that must be stopped or the Long Island we all know will become like another borough of New York City.

— Raymond P. Moran, Massapequa Park

Most of the Long Island elected officials’ concerns expressed are about local vs. state zoning control over housing [“LI reacts to housing plan,” News, Jan. 12]. What about the overall infrastructure? Setting artificial growth targets for housing in a densely populated area, which most of Long Island already is, ignores our overburdened infrastructure, including roads, sewers, schools, waste management, local health and safety support services, environmentally friendly green spaces and the like.

Daily traffic snarls are the result of no new roads having been built since most Long Island communities were incorporated so many decades ago. To fill every square inch with new housing is both cynical and shortsighted.

— David Catlett, Manhasset

Put Mega Millions jackpot to good use

Is it only me who feels that when the Mega Millions jackpot hits $1 billion the lottery should start all over again and that the $1 billion should be used for good causes [“Mega Millions $1.35B jackpot: What to know,” News, Jan. 13].

Let’s change some rules and use this money to help people.

— Sherri Levinson, Great Neck

Parents should keep edibles from their kids

I was amazed by this study about young children getting access to marijuana-laced edible treats [“Study: More kids are sickened by edibles as legal pot expands,” News, Jan. 4]. The article said that many children under the age of 6 are being affected by edibles. A doctor at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park said it’s because the packaging appeals to kids. He said that sometimes the doses of cannabis in a chocolate bar can be as small as one candy square of the candy, noting that “kids don’t eat one square of chocolate.”

Experts say one solution is for the manufacturers to stop using colorful packaging and advertising, which appeals to children.

I say the best solution is for parents to keep these items from their curious children. Why aren’t the parents to blame? They brought the edibles into the home for their pleasure (and I don’t condone that, either), but now it’s their responsibility to keep them safely away from their children. Parents are responsible for these kids getting sick.

— Josephine Budway, West Babylon