Congress misbehavior, IDA boards, banning e-bikes on boardwalks, changing Native American mascots

Must Congress act like schoolchildren?

Is this what we’ve become?

At a congressional hearing Monday, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace told Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that she “was full of [expletive]” [“Director: Agency ‘failed,’ ” News, July 23].

In May, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, also at the House of Representatives, poked fun at Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s false eyelashes.

Republicans already have started mocking Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice and the way she laughs.

This is not how elected U.S. representatives should behave. Our country was founded on dissent, and it is part of the normal process when elected officials disagree on matters that affect our country. They should work on compromising.

Mimicking, poking fun or using vulgarities is not acceptable.

The voting public on both sides of the aisle needs to let these elected officials know that they were sent to Washington to represent their constituents, not to partake in such childish behavior.

— Christina Paino, Hauppauge

This IDA bill needs to get veto stamp

The well-intentioned bill to require industrial development agencies to include representatives from unions and public schools on their boards needs to be revisited [“Wrong reform of IDA boards,” Editorial, July 12]. As the editorial said, most boards already have union representation.

The public, including school board members, has the right to speak out against proposed IDA projects that will receive financial incentives as often as needed before an IDA project is approved. They can speak at a public hearing and when the project comes before the board for an authorizing resolution.

Would a Huntington school board member know what’s best for the Hauppauge school district? Supporters of the bill say school districts are at risk because IDA board decisions affect the district’s funding.

Some school districts that challenge payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) also have substantial guarded reserves. When you look at the duration of PILOTs, the structured property tax payment schedule negotiated between an IDA and the project applicant, the school district eventually receives more funding than they would have if the project was not completed.

Labor unions already are present at IDA meetings. I agree with the editorial board that Gov. Kathy Hochul should veto this bill.

— Catherine Fee, Northport

The writer is a former chief marketing officer and director of Business Development of the Nassau County IDA.

Reconsider e-bike ban on city’s boardwalk

The Long Beach City Council has decided that no electric bicycles, also known as pedal-assist bikes, will be permitted on the boardwalk [“Putting brakes on e-bikes,” Our Towns, July 23]. The council should reconsider this.

As a cycling enthusiast for 35 years, I have seen misuse of motorized bicycles. Many in the cycling community have watched the increasing use of these bikes and have become aware that there are “good” e-bikes and undesirable ones.

Generally, there are three classes, with class 1 without a throttle, requiring the pedals be used before the motor kicks in. Classes 2 and 3 have throttles, more power and do not need pedal action to move.

As a cycling club member, I’d say that class 1 may be the most popular type. It often is used by older riders and/or those with a medical condition who cannot easily pedal a bike.

Many cyclists believe class 1 bikes should be allowed on paths and trails where they might currently be banned. Indeed, the National Parks Department typically allows this class on trails in its jurisdiction, with the carriage roads of Acadia National Park in Maine a typical example.

— Steve Bailey, Freeport

Changing a mascot can have sad effects

As a Half Hollow Hills East graduate, class of 1990, I was shocked and dismayed to hear that the school would change its mascot from the Thunderbirds to Red Hawks [“Red Hawks, Spartans carry day” News, July 13].

All my life, I have considered myself a Thunderbird. Some people move on with their lives after high school. They go to college. They discover deeper and more meaningful ways of engaging with the world than simply telling people where they attended high school. I am not one of those people.

The best years of my life came as a Thunderbird, and the ensuing 34 years have been a  struggle to recapture the joy I felt as an adolescent. In that spirit, I ask the school to reconsider its action.

— Scott Creney, Dix Hills