Just Sayin': Unhappy about Suffolk police selection

A Suffolk police car sits in front of the West Babylon home. (Dec. 12, 2011) Credit: Ed Betz
Unhappy about Suffolk police selection
After viewing results of Suffolk County’s 2015 police officer lottery, and scoring very high, I am embarrassed about the way the county selects candidates to protect and serve.
A letter to candidates states, “The Suffolk County Department of Civil/Human Resources has determined that the most equitable method to select candidates from within a score band to proceed to the next phase of the selection process is through random selection by means of a lottery.”
Why don’t we select candidates based on qualifications and experience? Why don’t we interview candidates who scored well on the test and look at their resumes to select the best?
I’m a military veteran, and by no means do I want to be selected unfairly. But even though veterans get five extra points on the exam, those points are virtually meaningless when the county chooses candidates from within a band of scores.
Michael Pellegrino
Northport
Resolve the delays on Heartland Town Square
As the president of the Brentwood NY Islanders Lions Club, I feel that I cannot stay quiet any longer on developer Gerald Wolkoff’s Heartland Town Square project.
I’ve been eagerly waiting for this project to come to fruition for 14 years and have been disappointed as Islip postpones and delays the project. I’m a proponent of redeveloping the old Pilgrim state hospital for housing, because I look around Long Island and see only good that comes from smart-growth development such as this.
Tritec Real Estate did wonders for Patchogue, developing vacant office buildings on Main Street. It’s now thriving there!
Brentwood should not be left behind, as it so often is. Our community and our regional economy can use the thousands of construction jobs that the Heartland development would provide, as well as permanent jobs for years to come.
Roland D. Jimenez
Brentwood
Thanks to Obamacare,
a slower rise in costs
In Westbury, we’re readying for a library budget vote on Tuesday. The library board gave three reasons why there will be no hike in library taxes: a grant, found money in the form of pension contribution savings, and a slower rise in the cost of health care because of the Affordable Care Act, enabling employee benefits to remain the same.
Nice, consistent medical coverage and a brake on increases — both almost scuttled by congressional Republicans.
Nick Basile
Westbury