LIRR time fraud, NYS climate policy, Congress, voting
Voters cast their ballots at Unqua Elementary School in Massapequa on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
LIRR discipline tilts in favor of some
When will taxpayers or elected officials hold the Long Island Rail Road accountable? After 24 years of asking the same question, the answer appears to be “never” [“Watchdog: 36 LIRR workers in time fraud scheme,” News, Oct. 23].
This latest outrage, in which employees cloned ID cards to steal wages, is so egregious that nothing short of independent hearings would be sufficient to root out the incompetence that thrives at the LIRR.
Can any other organization consistently claim to be working toward accountability and continually fail without consequence? Apparently, theft of wages is condoned, but employees testing positive for marijuana metabolites while not at work becomes an economic death sentence [“Worker sues for back pay in test of LIRR pot policy,” Aug. 26, 2024].
The LIRR was quick to excessively discipline electricians Ronald Dolginko and Darren Drew, both long-tenured employees with immaculate records, while allowing 36 employees to defraud taxpayers for 36 months.
They say crime does not pay; I disagree. It certainly pays if you work on the LIRR, where discipline and forgiveness depend on who you know and the labor organization that represents you.
Accountability and discipline should be evenly applied. What a novel thought.
— Ricardo Sanchez, Patchogue
The writer retired as general chairman of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 589.
Hochul’s climate choices under fire
Gov. Kathy Hochul appears to be buckling under pressure from President Donald Trump on climate policy [“Push for reset on climate goals,” News, Nov. 2].
She is now considering greenlighting several fracked gas pipelines pushed by Trump and his Northeast Supply Enhancement fossil fuel allies. Two of the pipelines — the Williams NESE pipeline and the Constitution Pipeline — were both soundly rejected by New York State years ago. These projects, if constructed, would essentially gut the state’s climate action initiatives mandated by New York’s 2019 CLCPA, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Our governor, given the deep climate crisis we are experiencing, must resist political bullying from climate change deniers and their wealthy “drill, baby, drill” industry supporters and reject these dangerous, polluting, expensive, and climate-altering pipelines. New York’s “most ambitious clean-energy goals in the nation,” enshrined in the CLCPA, must be kept — and achieved — if we are to effectively fight climate change in the critical years ahead.
— Jim Brown, Island Park
The writer is conservation co-chair of the South Shore Audubon Society.
Recent reporting highlights increasing concerns about the human and economic impacts of climate change. Climate-warming carbon dioxide levels reached a record high from 2023 to 2024, with 2024 now known to be the hottest year in recorded history.
We’ve read about flood risks to thousands of Long Island businesses and learned that Suffolk County leads the state in emergency and disaster declarations. At the same time, there are warnings that increasing energy demands are expected to overburden Long Island’s aging energy infrastructure.
Burning fossil fuels for energy is the primary source of greenhouse gases. Despite the federal government’s attacks on renewable energy, New York must adhere to the legally binding CLCPA. This means a commitment to continued investments in renewable energy, updating transmission grids, and building up energy storage systems.
In confronting the climate crisis, we cannot afford to have our energy systems tied to new, expensive, climate-warming fossil fuel infrastructure.
— Jennifer Vogt, East Northport
When Congress acts very un-Congresslike
With the government shut down, both political parties continue to act unlike adults who, if they were my children, would deserve a spanking [“Taking sides on the shutdown,” Letters, Nov. 4].
It is easy for them to play political chess games while millions of Americans go without their paychecks. Of course most of our duly elected politicians collect their paychecks.
A law should be passed that no members of Congress should receive their pay whenever a shutdown occurs.
— Joseph DeFelice, Kew Gardens, Queens
Nothing wrong with voting on Tuesdays
The editorial “Voting on Tuesday, old-fashioned way” [Opinion, Nov. 4] would seem to indicate that there is something quaint or wrong with casting ballots on this one day.
Changes in the way we vote have brought into question the legitimacy of votes.
My suggestion would be to vote the “old-fashioned way,” showing an ID, all on the same day.
Mail-in ballots would be for those in the military who are away from the country and for those who prove they cannot get to a polling station. Anything that brings election results into question must be avoided.
— Roy Sperrazza, Northport
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