Union workers' causes, Nassau tax rolls, library aid, and student diversity

Public union workers go to bat for us

Dan Janison’s column “Are public unions forever entrenched?” [Opinion, Feb. 16] is divisive and uninformed. The same unions he maligns are the ones that advocate for the taxpayers they serve. It’s unionized teachers who fight for smaller class sizes.

Union members who work for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fight against service cuts and advocate for public safety. Unionized municipal workers fight for safe staffing ratios in county health facilities and for ensuring that our streets are safe.

It’s the rank and file who put their necks on the line every day and who live in the very communities where they work that are committed most to quality public service. All workers should have a voice on the job regardless of whether their check is signed by an executive or a public official. And let’s not forget that the workers  he unfairly attacks are not only public servants but  also taxpayers.

The New York State AFL-CIO is a federation of 3,000 unions, representing 2.5 million members, retirees and their families with one goal: to raise the standard of living and quality of life of all working people. We stay strong by fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

— Mario Cilento, Albany

The writer is president of the New York State AFL-CIO.

Nassau tax rolls need updating now

Why is Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman freezing home property assessments again? He needs to move forward and update the assessment roll [“Nassau’s tax rolls,” News, Feb. 16]. Freezing them won’t solve anything. It will just exacerbate the problem. History will repeat itself.

I’m the first to acknowledge that my home is underassessed. I’m sure many others are, too, and a lot of other homes are overassessed.

Is Blakeman not updating the assessments for political reasons after seeing what happened to his predecessor, Laura Curran? She lost the election, in part, because the assessment rolls were updated. Blakeman campaigned on addressing this this and should follow through on his promise.

— Chris Inguanta, Valley Stream

LI libraries, schools have same needs

The recently announced 2023-24 increase in state financial aid to school districts, $9,172,281 of which will be allocated to my own Plainview-Old Bethpage District (an increase of 31.3%!), is welcome news indeed [“Big school aid boost on way,” News, Feb. 5].

However, I see no increase in state aid to the hard-pressed public libraries, which recently have become centers of community activity. That’s sad.

Libraries will be agonizing over the same substantial increase in health insurance premiums for their employees that school districts will face. Libraries will struggle with the same need for maintenance and upkeep of facilities that schools will, too. But Gov. Kathy Hochul apparently hasn’t shown concern for the financial needs of libraries.

I hope Long Island legislators will take the initiative to convince the state that a meaningful increase in library aid is essential for libraries to continue to provide increasingly important services.

— Michael Polansky, Plainview

The writer is a Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library trustee.

I disagree with the article about the changing role of libraries [“LI libraries’ evolving role,” News, Feb. 10].

There is already a slew of services in society for people seeking mental health assistance. A library is not the place to get that aid. A library is a library — keep it that way.

Taxpayers don’t need a duplication or even a tripling of services available elsewhere. Library taxes are high enough. Don’t push them higher by making a library a mental health facility. The taxpayers would be on the hook for all the new amenities required to perform this greater role.

— Anthony Tanzi, Mastic Beach

What we can learn from youth on LI

The Black Girl Magic Club is a wonderful and hopeful story “Support system,” Our Towns, Feb. 16]. The Southampton High School student club provides a safe space for teenagers of color to talk about multicultural experiences. Their all-inclusive program supports diversity and equity and shows that this generation of young people is paving the way for a better future.

It makes me hopeful that we will have generations to come that are more tolerant and accepting no matter their ethnicity or sexual preference.

The older generations, which I am a part of, have a lot to learn, and I am disheartened by the divides that we often see. The saying “out of the mouths of babes” is true because they are unfettered and unfiltered and should be celebrated and heard.

— Brenda Ferrante, Lindenhurst