Kevin Langberg is running for Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor as he leads a Democratic slate of candidates who have vowed to bring a new voice to town government that will eliminate wasteful spending and better the quality of life.

"We have gotten a really good response everywhere we have gone," said Langberg in a recent interview. "From Massapequa up to Sea Cliff, we are seeing that people are really tired of the business as usual approach the Oyster Bay Republicans are using."

He continued, "They [voters] cannot believe that in this thriving economic environment, where it seems every municipal government is having budget surplus', Oyster Bay, just like Nassau County, is facing a budgetary deficit and they are raising taxes."

According to Langberg, who has served as an assistant to Lew Yevoli when he was a New York State Assemblyman and the Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor, the Republican board led by John Venditto has allowed the town's financial woes to negatively impact the quality of life of its communities. He cites a prevailing philosophy on the board to generate revenue through increased development as a major culprit.

"They [residents] are concerned about a lot of quality of life issues that revolve around land use, particularly applications that come before the board, such as the high speed ferry in the Glen Head area," said Langberg. "People are concerned that the town board is allowing these things to be done because of the potential revenue they will bring to the town to close a budget gap."

He continued, "They feel the town is taking them for granted in a way that allows their quality of life to be negatively impacted.

"Clearly there has been overdevelopment in the town. Everywhere that you turn there is a glut of stores and shopping centers. The Underhill property and every open space is being threatened by planned development of the Republican-led board," said Langberg. "There is traffic congestion everywhere, you cannot move anywhere. You just have a whole host of problems created by development. I think the quality of life in town is really at stake here and people are really fed up with the overdevelopment."

To help rein in the expansive nature of the board, Langberg and his fellow Democratic candidates have proposed the implementation of a master plan. The plan would provide guidelines for future developments in the town. According to Langberg, the present system and an antiquated zoning system allows the board too much discretion over proposed development projects. He noted the proposed Cablevision heliport in Bethpage and the high speed ferry in Glen Head as examples of the town catering to developers and not their constituency.

"A master plan would provide guidelines for which to limit the scope of development. My personal feeling is that we have enough residential homes in Oyster Bay. There is no shortage of homes, there is a shortage of open space and greenery in the town. There are only so many homes you can build in an area without turning the communities into Queens."

Langberg, who grew up and now lives in Plainview, remembers a small lot that was left vacant for decades that now is the site of six homes. He noted how the houses were piled onto the property like sardines into a can and took away from the suburban element of the community. Updated zoning codes, an important facet of a master plan, would have prevented the overdevelopment of this property by its owner.

"They [developers] are not building communities, they are building homes that allows them to reap huge profits," said Langberg. "The new housing is not adding to communities it is destroying them."

He stated that the town's financial shortcomings could be resolved not through "overdevelopment" but through the elimination of wasteful town spending. As an example, he asserts the town has bought hundred's of cars in recent years, a rate that he states is far outpacing the standard in not only government, but private industry.

Langberg alleges the town's fiscal dilemma has not only inhibited it from helping purchase the environmentally sensitive Underhill property in Jericho, but has also prevented the state from offering considerable monetary support in doing so. According to Langberg, the state's planned purchase of the 751 acres of marsh land in the South Shore Estuary will deplete the state of finite funds it has designated to purchase environmentally sensitive land in danger of being developed, such as the Underhill property. He alleges the land in the south shore estuary was never in any danger of being developed, and consequently monies that should have been used by the state to protect the Underhill property are being wasted.

"The state and town have no interest in pursuing those funds for the purchase of the Underhill parcel, because there is money to be made there," said Langberg. "I find it hypocritical of the state and the town in fearing that this marsh land is threatened and wasting $20 million of scarce bond money when they could be applied to the purchase of the Underhill parcel."

"The Underhill parcel should be preserved. It sits on a special ground water protection area, just like the 65 acres in Plainview, but the town does not seem concerned by that, it does not seem concerned about the welfare or the future of our communities"

The Town of Oyster Bay's S-2 housing program for senior citizens has been a shining star for the town as it has been lauded nationally as a model for such housing. In recent years however several issues have arisen in connection to the developments, such as their being too concentrated in certain areas of the town.

Langberg stated that providing for seniors in the town is paramount on his agenda, but feels that certain communities, such as Woodbury and Jericho, have reached their saturation point. As part of a master plan he would coordinate all such developments in the future, so as to evenly distribute them throughout the town.

A high quality of life, according to Langberg, is not just enhanced by increased services but by maintaining a suburban environment, something he states the Republican town board appears to have neglected in favor of increased development.