In the everyday world of politics, the phrase "conflict of interest" continually pops up. And, nowhere is this more prevalent and abused than in the actions of one of our police commissioners.

Most of the residents of Port Washington are probably not aware of the Charter Revision Committee which was established several years ago. The committee was charged with the responsibility of revising the charter of the Port Washington Police District. And, lo and behold, whose name appears as one of the members, but James Duncan, a Port Washington Police Commissioner.

Talk about a "conflict of interest." Duncan voted to give each police commissioner a flat salary of $16,000 a year. Heretofore, the commissioners received $60 for each meeting that they attended, which meant that if they attended one meeting per week for an entire year, their salaries would come to $3,120. Commissioner Duncan voted to give himself a $12,880 raise. This is disgraceful, especially since they only have to attend 75 percent of the meetings in order to earn the $16,000.

I urge all residents to write to the Board of Commissioners and ask them to do away with the $16,000 annual salary and go back to the $60 per diem. Until that is done, the black cloud of "conflict of interest" will continue to haunt the Port Washington Police Commissions, especially James Duncan.

Arthur Farley