Today's editorial about the chutzpah of the Setauket Fire District, whose commissioners are trying to build a new administrative building even after a similar plan was rejected by voters in March, provides another opportunity to beat the drum about special district election reform.

Here it is August, and the date is as yet unknown for the election of fire district commissioners. We do know that it will be in December, on one of those jam-packed days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when folks might just have a few other dates on their calendars to keep them busy.

Special taxing districts apparently feel so under-siege that they have hired a pair of lobbyists, and set up a Web site, to protect their interests.

The newly formed Special District Association of New York State is being led by Arthur "Jerry" Kremer, president. Kremer is a former member of the Assembly, who chaired its Ways and Means Committee and now works as a registered lobbyist. Rich Bivone, president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, is serving as the vice president of the new association.

[Update: Jerry Kremer says he and Rich Bivone are not being paid for their work currently, but they hope to be eventually.]

Here is what their Web site has to say:

Dear Special District Official:

These are challenging times for special districts throughout New York State. Prosecutors, high elected state officials and overly energetic politicians, are jockeying for promotion by singling out the operations of special districts in an attempt to paint them as greedy, mismanaged and out of control.

Just how difficult will it be to enact any of the reforms proposed last week by the Lundine commission on efficiency and competitiveness? Answer: Pretty difficult.

The report takes a very honest look at the state's paralyzing layers of government and outdated regulations and makes some very bold suggestions. But the two LI members of the 15-member commission, State Sen. Craig Johnson, (D-Port Washington) and Nassau Comptroller Howard Weitzman, also a Democrat, dissented or abstained from some key recommendations such as consolidating fire departments.

The reality is that Johnson, who took a pass on just under a dozen of the 35 recommendations faces a tough re-election fight this year. Weitzman, who took his name off seven of them, aspires to be county executive. Both clearly are scared of alienating big groups of supporters.

A much-needed consolidation of overlapping districts is considered way too hot politically. Johnson and Weitzman even voted against having state workers contribute to their health plans.

While it's true that this is a collective bargaining issue, supporting it in principle would have shown some leadership. The pair also took a dive on the provision to eliminate Wicks Law, which has been shown to inflate construction costs for municipal goverments. Could it be the the construction unions might have a say about that?

Even Weitzman, who has been a leading force statewide for many of these reforms and who former Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine, in a telephone interview, said was a great asset to the commission's work, felt a need to step back from some of them. Seems the commission forgot to study just one more area: how to get the over-taxed people in this state to form their own special interest group.