Dear Editor,

Since the election this past June in Ocean Beach, I have refrained from making any public comments about the state of the Village.  I said early on that the new administration should have a fair opportunity to get their bearing straight before residents evaluated their performance.  Well, the waiting period is over.  As a past village trustee for eight years I lived by the motto be -Fair, Reasonable and Consistent.  I listened to what the majority of the residents (who are by and large HOMEOWNERS) had to say and tried to be responsive to their requests.   I attended the Village Board meeting last week and was disappointed to hear some of the observations made by my neighbors. Make no mistake, nobody expects perfection or even close to that.  What people do expect are reasonably safe, clean and quiet streets;  running water that isn’t full of foreign substances with toilets that flush and to be taxed fairly for those services. What I heard about and have observed are dirty streets, noisy and rowdy nightlife and more petty crime than ever before. Everyone has a great story to tell about our fine and dedicated firemen, policemen, village employees, lifeguards etc.  We love and appreciate them all.  What we do not appreciate is the overcrowding of our beaches and streets, the never ending accumulation of garbage littering our beaches and walkways and the obscene rowdy behavior displayed by many of our summer visitors.  Considering that 50% of all of the people that visit Fire Island come through Ocean Beach, perhaps some adjustments can be made.  Stop telling me that we are a National Park etc and can not stem the tide of this influx of irresponsible people.  Why are they mostly coming here?  Because we have made it attractive.   We don’t mind visitors and Ocean Beach does have a lot to offer.  We have some great hotels, restaurants and stores.  We just don’t want to become the Jersey Shore on a bad night-sorry Snooki. 

The Mayor and the Board of Trustees set the tone for how the Village runs. Listening to the residents and openness in government is very important.  During the past administration one of the important accomplishments we achieved was to insure that any appointments for positions on any Board i.e  Zoning, Planning etc, would only be made after sending out notices, collecting resumes, interviewing people and making appointments based on qualifications and not friendships. You know, how they do it in the real world.  I hope that the present Boards’departure from that procedure is not a foreshadowing of things to come in the future.  However, with our ferry contract and several other important issues looming ahead of us, only time will tell.

Steven Einig, Ocean Beach