Although I was "retired" by the voters five years ago as mayor of Plandome Heights, it must still be in my blood because it (my blood) began to boil when I read Ms. Gambino's letter about stop signs. Ms. Gambino is wrong and congratulations to the Village Board of Plandome for doing what is right.

The proliferation of stop signs around the villages of Manhasset and the Town of North Hempstead is improper and probably illegal. People erroneously think the purpose of a stop sign is to prevent speeding or to discourage people from using their street as a short-cut to Plandome Road or Port Washington Blvd. They have been put up for this purpose on Thomson Shore Road, Park Avenue, Bayview Avenue and probably many other places. In fact, the mayor who succeeded me in Plandome Heights, with the approval of the village board, threw up so many stop signs that it takes five minutes to drive uptown (She forgot one at the corner of Bourndale Rd. South and Brookwold Drive where there probably should be one!) Do these people really think that someone who customarily disobeys the speed limit will suddenly start obeying stop signs?

According to the law, the sole purpose of a stop sign is to control the flow of traffic at an intersection. The proper procedure for a local government is to request the Nassau County Police Dept. Traffic Survey Unit to study the intersection in question and make a recommendation as to whether a stop sign is needed and in which direction it should be placed. (Unfortunately, it usually takes them six months or more to get around to it.) All over Manhasset we have stop signs at dead-end streets and T intersections where the flow of traffic is obvious. These signs were most certainly not approved by the professionals of the police department.

If you want to stop speeders, have the speed limits enforced. Don't inconvenience everybody else with nuisance stop signs.

John F. Keitz