Island Strategies - The Latest Scoop

The Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission, has retained Island Strategies, Inc. The Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission was founded in 1978 as a non-profit membership corporation. Its goal is the promotion of the Nassau-Suffolk region as a destination for tourists, meetings, conventions, trade expositions and sporting events.

Posted February 22, 2008 by Keith Fink

Premier Election Solutions (fka Diebold Election Systems, Inc) has retained Island Strategies Inc., in connection with its efforts to be designated as a vendor of hi-tech voting machines. Premier Election Solutions has long been a leader in delivering secure, accurate, reliable voting products. Premier, founded in 2002, is the nation's leading supplier of election solutions, uniquely qualified to partner with large and small jurisdictions nationwide.

Posted February 21, 2008 by Keith Fink

The Towns of Brookhaven and North Hempstead have hired Island Strategies, Inc. Former Assemblyman Jerry Kremer heads the firm’s team of experienced and seasoned lobbyists.

Posted February 11, 2008 by Keith Fink

A recent New York Times article, published July 7, 2007, highlighted the growing use of lobbyists by school districts to secure state funds and get support for new capital programs. Arthur “Jerry” Kremer was prominently mentioned in the article. In the Times article Kremer, former chairman of the powerful Assembly Ways & Means committee who now is chief lobbyist for the Uniondale firm, Island Strategies Inc. stated that, “Three Village hired me out of desperation.”

The Three Village School District, located on Long Island, had lost a substantial amount of its commercial tax base when Stony Brook University acquired the Gyrodyne property (which accounted for $115k annually in property taxes taken off the tax rolls). Kremer and his team were able to lobby the local legislators to get “pilots” (payments in lieu of taxes) from the university to compensate them for lost revenues. In addition, Kremer succeeded in getting substantial discretionary funds for new school programs.

In past years, group efforts by school districts have not been as effective as hiring a lobbyist. In The Times article, Lisa Kelly, President of the Shoreham-Wading River school board, which employs a lobbyist, said , “ It’s all about long-term versus short-term results; a group effort will get us the long-term fix we need to revamp the state aid formulas. But when your district is financially suffering now, you have to step up as an individual district and do something that will get you immediate relief.”

Some school districts see the importance of a lobbyist but they just can’t justify the expenditure. “While it’s understandable that districts don’t budget to pay for a lobbyist,” Kremer said,” the employed lobbyist has the ability to facilitate obtaining funds for a wide range of educational tools. These funds help to keep staff levels up so that district has the ability to educate properly.” Kremer went on to say, “with the Three Village situation, we charged a basic fee, and the district received a large influx of dollars. It’s not just the money, it is the feeling of helping people based on all my years in public service as Chair of the Ways & Means Committee.”

Posted August 17, 2007 by Keith Fink

Former State Assemblyman Arthur "Jerry" Kremer has been named Chairman of the Advisory Board of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (NYAREA).

Kremer, who helped author the original power plant siting law, has been aggressively seeking the support of the state legislature to obtain an extension of the now expired Article X siting law.

NYAREA currently has over 100 members representing the major chamber of commerce groups, labor unions and environmental experts.

In late November Kremer joined forces with former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in seeking the re-licensing of the Indian Point nuclear power facility. They were joined by the co-founder of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore.

Posted November 27, 2006 by Jerry Kremer

The Town of Oyster Bay has hired former Assemblyman Arthur "Jerry" Kremer as a special consultant on governmental affairs. Kremer, who has served in state and local government will advise the town on various community affairs issues.

Posted July 21, 2005 by Jerry Kremer

Mayor Michael Bloomberg appears to have staked his re-election on the West Side stadium for the New York Jets. Is this a kamikaze type decision or does the Mayor know something that we don't know? Polls of the four boroughs outside of Manhattan show the Mayor losing on this issue. Is it congrats or sayonara to Mayor Mike on the stadium?

Posted March 7, 2005 by Jerry Kremer

There are lots of letters in the alphabet but the letter "T" can scare up that deadly word, "taxes." The state legislature will be asked to raise $23 billion to satisfy a court decision requiring more funding for New York City Schools. Legislative leaders will tell you that they won't pass taxes, but don't kid yourself. A one cent increase in the sales tax raises close to a billion. So there is quite a gap to close.

Posted December 21, 2004 by Jerry Kremer