The form of government in Nassau County appears to be in a flux mode. Since the Nassau County Board of Supervisors was disbanded and turned into the present legislative form of government, the Town of Hempstead had councilmanic districts imposed on them by the court while North Hempstead residents voted in favor of them earlier this year.

At the Aug. 5 Oyster Bay Town meeting, Hicksville resident Joel Berse suggested it might be time for the town board to investigate the issue. "If the other towns in Nassau County have gone that way, shouldn't we too?" he asked, adding, "Is it better or not for the town to see what the people want?"

Supervisor John Venditto said it would be a good idea to set up a bipartisan/nonpartisan committee to survey the situation. "There has been no hue and cry about the issue," he said. "I haven't taken a position on what's right for the Town of Oyster Bay, but I have no problem putting together a commission of town officials and residents even though the issue is not out there."

Venditto said maybe five, seven or nine people could serve on the commission, and that he could get the town attorney to present the law, survey the town and see what's good for the Oyster Bay. He said they could put together a panel/committee/commission. "I have no problem with that," said Venditto, adding that the issue might be discussed in town board work sessions. It was put before the voters twice, in 1967 and 1987 and defeated both times.

Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler said she has gotten about a half dozen inquiries from people at civic meetings about councilmanic district seats.

According to Venditto, however, "There has been no editorial in a newspaper of general circulation. There has been no petition to the town board."

The supervisor added, "Most of the municipalities are forced to do it. It would be interesting to see if any town did it on its own. During the next few months the town will be in election cycle. By the end of the year, not because someone forced it on us, we should look into it for out own benefit. Maybe we don't fit [the criteria]."

Other people in the town are considering changing their governmental status in another way, by forming villages. Recently the Nassau County Legislature granted the Village of Atlantic Beach its zoning powers. Previously, without them, they appeared before the Hempstead Board with their zoning change requests and that board followed the wishes of the waterfront village. They became a village initially to enable them to get federal money for their shoreline problems.

The Nassau County Village Officials Association (NCVOA) sponsored an informative meeting on incorporation scheduled for Wednesday Aug. 13, at the Lynbrook Village Hall. NCVOA President Victoria Siegel, mayor of Bayville, chaired the meeting which was held to inform those interested in the manner to incorporate an otherwise unincorporated area of Nassau County, like East Norwich, Oyster Bay, Syosset and Locust Valley. There were to be experts in attendance to answer all those nagging questions plaguing the communities as to the benefits or disadvantages to incorporation.

Of the councilmanic issue, Jack Scheich, president of the Commitee for the Beautification of East Norwich, said, "I don't know if that solves the problem. It goes halfway but it doesn't solve the problem about local government being responsive to the needs and desires of the people being governed. To my view, village government is the most responsive form of government and it's responsible for each of us to look into the pros and cons."

As for Venditto's take on incorporation, the TOB press office read the supervisor's quote from an article on incorporation which appeared in the July 27th Long Island section of The New York Times. In the article, writer Donna Kutt Nahas quoted the supervisor as saying "When you put everything on a scale, it would seem to me to play against creating another layer of government, another taxing authority."