On Jan. 2, the Carle Place Public Library Funding District held its first public meeting. Of particular concern to the taxpayers of the new district should be two actions taken by the newly elected trustees.

The first action, a motion to submit all services needed by the new district (legal, accounting, insurance, etc.) to competitive bid, was defeated 3 to 2. Trustees Margaret Wilde, Peter Prommersberger and David Evans voted against competitive bidding for these services. Trustee Peter McDonnell and I voted to institute a competitive bidding process in the public interest.

The second action, a motion to contract for legal services, was approved 4 to 1. Trustee McDonnell added his support to no-bid contracting. I voted against the measure. Why? First, I am dead set against no-bid contracting. It is not in the public interest. At the very least, two or three comparative bids should be sought. Second, the other four trustees voted to hire counsel at twice the retainer and a significantly higher hourly rate than I remember we originally budgeted for as the former library committee.

Trustees Wilde, Prommersberger and McDonnell were on that committee with me. The other four trustees voted to hire counsel at an annualized retainer of $12,000 ($1000 per month) and $250 per hour thereafter. As a point of comparison, Shelter Rock Library - with a building and employees - pays an annualized retainer of $2,600 ($650 per quarter) and $175 per hour thereafter for their legal counsel. A large library district southeast of Carle Place/Westbury pays an annualized retainer of $3,150 with no negotiated hourly fee. Their attorney has traditionally not billed beyond the retainer.

Requiring the residents of the Carle Place library district to pay such a premium for legal services is not in the public interest and is plain wrong. There is no defense for paying four times what other, larger districts pay for similar services. I am not against hiring this particular attorney. I am against doing so without comparative bids and at such an indefensibly high cost to the taxpayer.

The original intent of this project was to spend as little as necessary to get full public library services for the community. Cost was a concern of our community and I thought we had addressed that issue positively.

High-cost, no-bid contracts are wrong. Remember that such a practice helped bankrupt Nassau County. I don't want to see that repeated here in Carle Place.

I will continue to be a fiscally conservative taxpayer watchdog and will continue to fight for the taxpayer's interest. We pay more than enough in taxes. I will fight to make certain this library district spends no more than it has to and fulfills its promises to the people.

The next public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Carle Place High School library. I urge everyone to attend. Come and ask your library trustees why they are spending your money so lavishly. At the very least, ask them to justify such expensive services.

Thomas Sobczak, Jr.