________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
Pot licenses bring council pressure
Weisenberg gives $38K to Ukraine
Tree lighting back on Friday
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Vol. 33 No. 49
DECEMBER 1 - 7, 2022
$1.00
‘Why don’t we play football on Thanksgiving?’ By JAMES BERNSTEIN jbernstein@liherald.com
Bob Arkow/Herald
GARy BlUMENFElD, A member of the Long Beach High School class of 1972, who took part in the Thanksgivingmorning touch football game.
On Thanksgiving morning, some of the members of Long Beach High School’s class of 1972, who are now in their late 60s, did what they’ve been doing on the holiday for the last half-century: They gathered to play touch football. They came from across the metropolitan area — none of them live in Long Beach anymore — to play at the Lindell Elementary School field. On a bright, sunny morning, about a dozen alumni gathered at the field. They brought along their now grown children and grandchildren. The only year they skipped playing was 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic raged, but they had a reunion on the beach that summer — in Long Beach, of course. “None of us live in Long Beach full-time anymore,” said Scott Podell, now a professor of denContinued on page 20
Proposal to prohibit political meetings at library rejected By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com
Meetings of the Long Beach Public Library board of trustees are usually devoid of drama, but Monday night’s session became heated over a controversial proposal to prohibit political candidates from using a meeting room starting 60 days before an election. After spirited discussion, the board voted down the proposal, 3-2. The issue arose after Ari Brown, a Republican who was running for the seat in the Assembly’s 20th District, which encompasses Long Beach and
the Five Towns, hosted a meeting at the library on Sept. 13 on the best ways to prevent scams. Brown, who was initially voted into the Assembly in a special election in April, defeated the Democratic Assembly candidate, Mike DeLury, of Long Beach, in November. Brown also held a meet-and-greet at the library on Oct. 4, with library Director Tara Lannen-Stanton. Brown’s Sept. 13 meeting caused a stir in Long Beach, and as a result, the library board presented a provision to its public meeting room policy. It stated: “Sixty days prior to an election date, no candidate running for
office for his/her party or support at such election shall be permitted to utilize meeting rooms or hold sponsored programs. Campaigning for or against a candidate for his/her party is also prohibited.” Long Beach resident Robert Saminsky was particularly vocal, saying he believed the provision violated the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from curtailing citizens’ freedom of speech. “I want to point out that the library has opened up rooms to the public for public discourse and action, and has such created a protected area where free
speech is guaranteed,” Saminsky said to the board. “With this provision, it runs counter to that. I beg you to consider what you’re doing here, as it will have ramifications and reverberations well beyond what’s going on here.” Barry Yomtov, another resident who opposed the provision, said he did not “understand how
the board can enforce this.” He said that if the provision passed, the library should investigate who AARP supports in elections, because the organization hosts a number of events in the facility’s meeting rooms. The issue was complicated by the fact that Brown also gave the library $5,000, in the form of a Continued on page 4