Mayor Peragine, you're no Mayor Giuliani...and Oyster Bay Cove is no New York City. As a new resident of OBC, I have been reading with interest the many local newspaper articles and attending village meetings in order to become acquainted with the village and the issues.

After all, isn't that what an election is? Definition: The act or power of choosing.

Now, let's stick to the real issues: 1. Whether or not this village needs four-year terms; and 2. Open government.

Issue #1: Four-year Terms

Donna Harris of the Oyster Bay Cove Village Office surveyed term limits and found that out of the 49 surveyed, 30 villages have two-year terms for both trustees and mayor and the remaining 19 elect their officials every four years. While I disagree with Donna's numbers (there are actually 64 villages, 40 with two-year terms, 23 with four-year terms, and one, East Hills, that is split), the real point to focus on is the size of the villages that have four-year terms.

A survey of nearby North Shore villages with similar population counts shows that two-year terms are actually the norm: Cove Neck (Population: 337), Matinecock (885), Sands Point (2,479), Lake Success (2,475), Old Brookville (1,931), Laurel Hollow (1,766), Centre Island (441), Lattingtown (1,886), Kings Point (700), Kensington (1,086), Plandome (1,336), Plandome Heights (839), Plandome Manor (771), Roslyn Estates (1,162), Roslyn (2,029), Munsey Park (2,695), and Port Washington North (2,698). The exceptions in our area to the two-year term limit are Old Westbury and Muttontown, both with populations over 3,000.

Mr. Peragine would no doubt argue that Lynbrook, Malverne, Valley Stream, Hempstead and others have four-year terms. However, their populations range from a low of 9,012 in Malverne to 47,093 in Hempstead (Lynbrook, 19,349; Valley Stream, 33,918; Freeport 40,151; Westbury 13,225; Rockville Centre, 24,634; Massapequa, 17,788; New Hyde Park, 9,682).

These villages are extremely complicated to manage because of such population growth. Many of these villages have eight or more different departments in their village halls. Our small intimate village has no such unwieldy bureaucracy nor does it need one with a population of only 2,248. In fact, there are many villages with two-year terms that have greater populations than ours: Great Neck, 8,888; Great Neck Plaza, 5,981; Manorhaven, 5,841; Lawrence, 6,534; Floral Park, 6,720; and Sea Cliff, 5,060). The village of Mineola with 19,016 people only has two-year terms! Mr. Peragine's reasoning seems to be that dissenting opinions constitute early "campaigning" so why not extend the term limits? Issue solved (for him). How odd the timing in the year of his own election!

Issue #2: Open Government

It is disturbing that at the last board of trustees meeting, Mr. Peragine would not take questions from the public unless they were submitted in writing prior to the meeting. Since no one can know the subjects covered in the meeting, this repression of the right to speak publicly on issues of concern is incredible.

Opposing ideas make for lively discussion, one that can only benefit all the citizens of OBC. Turning OBC into a place where one cannot criticize an official for fear that their opinions will be construed as "campaigning" is hardly the open, inclusive government that I'd like to see in OBC.

People throughout history have given their lives for just such a choice.

From what I understand, Mayor Peragine was elected with absolutely no prior governmental experience. Perhaps this explains his latest proposal to change the local laws to suit his own interest.

One should keep in mind that "no such resolution or local law...shall become effective within 30 days prior to a general village election." Timing is everything! Let's not give Mr. Peragine the time.

John A. Skvarla