In this month's issue of the Business Bulletin of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, President Bertram Donley vocalized his views on the Hub and the county's attempts to obtain close to half a million dollars of federal money for a study of traffic in the Hub.

Donley should be commended for his willingness to be a voice of dissent in a county where plans are all too often pushed through without adequate public involvement. As president of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Long Island Citizens' Advisory Committee on the Hub, Donley has boldly used his voice to draw attention to the issue and call upon the community to continue its role of guardian of central Nassau, as it did during the opposition to the Roosevelt Field Mall expansion.

Garden City demonstrated with the mall opposition that not only do residents not have to simply accept changes that could adversely impact their lives, they can prevent them when necessary. The zoning of the Hub falls within the Town of Hempstead's jurisdiction and some of the proposed development calls for changes to the original plans, which the Town can refuse to allow. Residents can contact their council members and ask for representation in dealing with the overdevelopment of central Nassau.

The county has been looking at the Hub for years, developing plans largely in private meetings and without the interests of the residents in the foreground. Donley bravely serves as a critical voice drawing attention to not only the errors made at the county level, but calling upon residents to shake the comfortable cover of complacency and become involved. Every resident has a voice and should feel free to use it to call upon their representatives and to share their ideas for creative solutions to our collective problems.

Donley began the dialogue and now residents need to take the dialogue even further.

The time has come for residents to call upon the county to re-examine its priorities. While a sports and entertainment complex sounds great, a taxpayer funded construction project of the scale which the county is discussing with monorails and new facilities, is inadvisable while the county suffers under a mind boggling deficit and communities throughout the county struggle to attract tenants to vacant retail and office space.

Private developers have already proposed three hotels, two office buildings, a credit union, a restaurant, 450 houses, a senior care facility, and retail outlets for the southwest quadrant of the Roosevelt Raceway alone. Not only will this create tremendous traffic and put a strain on local water supplies, it will continue to attract attention away from Main Street. The Village of Hempstead already houses a major bus terminal and a railroad station. It has a major turnpike and office space. Property exists upon which to develop. The county has not even suggested reinvesting in this already existing and hurting Hub area, while it eyes the prize of the new Hub in Uniondale.

What if after all of the money and time is invested into the Uniondale Hub the local economy simply cannot support it? Nassau County already has one of the largest malls on the east coast at Roosevelt Field and mini malls of various sizes around the county. There are strip malls along every major roadway and mega stores popping up in every town. Mom and Pop shops are finding it increasingly difficult to compete and stores stand vacant.

Overdevelopment, struggling Main Streets, and all too rapidly disappearing green space are concerns that impact all residents. These are issues that need to be addressed by political figures not only before elections, but year-round. Residents like Donley who call attention to the problems and work to offer suggestions not only are endeavoring to help themselves, but all of us. Not only should they be thanked, but we should all come to their aid and join in their efforts.

AE