________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
Chris Carini dies suddenly
Fundraising for lBHS student
Thanking the city police
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Vol. 35 No. 30
JUlY 18 - 24, 2024
$1.00
Ordinances on fines, personnel OK’d by council “Outside of gover nment, most vacation is you use it or you lose it,” Bendo said. “You Nobody likes traffic tickets. don’t get to roll it over for indefEveryone loves vacations. Both inite periods of time or have were on the City Council’s months of it. And that’s just a perk of working for governagenda Tuesday night. The council discussed two ment, because it used to be that new ordinances, the first aim- was the offset (for) the lower ing to amend the city’s person- compensation maybe governm e n t e m p l oye e s nel code, specificalreceived. ly impacting “But again, my employees who are job is also not (just) not covered by to make sure our union agreements. exempts are taken So-called exempt care of, but that the e m p l o ye e s , w h o taxpayers are repinclude managers resented as well,” and commission- BRENDAN FINN e r s , c u r r e n t l y City Council president Bendo added. “And I don’t think this accr ue up to 50 should be in here. vacation days. The new ordinance would align This should be a separate issue their benefits with those nego- addressed separately. So for tiated in the collective bargain- that reason on this, I’m going to ing agreement for unionized vote ‘no,’ because I don’t think employees in the Civil Service it’s in the taxpayers’ interest.” The purpose of the ordiEmployees Association, allowing them to accrue as many as nance is to correct past discrep80 vacation days. It would also ancies and ensure that all adjust the payout for those employees are treated equitavacation days upon termina- bly. Any future changes in the tion or retirement from 50 to 80 CSEA contract, which is in effect through 2025, will autodays. Councilman John Bendo matically apply to exempt as expressed concerns about the well as non-exempt employees, revisions, and their financial maintaining consistency in implications. Continued on page 4
By ANGElINA ZINGARIEllo
azingariello@liherald.com
Bob Arkow/Herald
An explosive post-Fourth show The City held its annual fireworks show on July 13. The display was planned for the day before, but pushed back due to potential rain. The forecast didn’t put a damper on the festivities, however, as the beaches and boardwalk were crowded with residents and visitors. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Vital workers are offered some much-appreciated thank-yous By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com
The Beach Maintenance crew is vital to the city’s operations all year round. The workers do so much and help so many people, but often don’t receive the thanks they deserve. The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce took notice, however, and after being on the receiving end of the crew’s help recently, wanted to flip the script. In 2023, chamber board member John Boland applied for PSEG’s Chamber of Commerce Outdoor Commerce and Beautification program grant, now called the Long Island Thrive Out-
door Commerce and Beautification Program. The chamber was approved for $10,000 on June 21, to install a new “Welcome to Long Beach” sign on the south side of the Long Beach Bridge, on Long Beach Road. But the grant didn’t cover labor costs. So the Beach Maintenance workers helped out, installing the sign at no cost to the chamber late last month. Boland and other members wanted to show them their appreciation. “We really wanted to say thank you,” Boland said. “And if I’m being honest, it seems like sometimes they don’t get the thanks that they deserve. Everybody there does a great job on a Continued on page 14
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don’t view this as a payout.