Long Islanders need a reason to be happy

Last month, the 2012 Long Island Index Profile reported that a majority of Long Islanders are not happy and are worried about the future.

According to the report, only 40 percent of those surveyed thought that Long Island was headed in the right direction. That number is expected to get even lower.

This should come as no surprise. Long Island has changed tremendously since its days as a modern suburb, built after World War II to house young families looking to flee the big city. Now our roadways are congested, home prices and rents are high, taxes are even higher, and we’ve been losing jobs. It has become very taxing, pun intended, for a young family to survive on Long Island.

The flight of young families from Long Island is a result of high taxes, unaffordable housing and a lack of “sexy” jobs. According to the Index, between 2000 and 2010, the population of young adults on Long Island shrank by 12 percent. In comparison, places like New Jersey and the Hudson Valley, which previously experienced flight by young citizens, saw declines of only 6 to 8 percent.

Many companies won’t build in an area if workers can’t afford to live nearby. Young adults are coming home from college and moving south because they can’t afford Long Island’s high cost of living. To once again make Long Island an attractive place for young families, government must make cuts to get spending under control and keep our property taxes from climbing.

These cuts may be unpopular, but it’s time to face the facts. Everyone complains about higher taxes, but no one wants their favorite program eliminated.

Case in point: County Executive Ed Mangano and Police Commissioner Thomas Dale announced their plan to submit to the County Legislature a Community Policing Plan that reassigns 48 police officers from desk jobs to Problem Oriented Policing positions. The plan would also convert precincts into Community Policing Centers.

According to the county executive’s office, the plan would eliminate more than 100 desk jobs and slash costly built-in overtime benefits. It would use technological enhancements to modernize Nassau’s eight precinct buildings and reduce the administrative workload.