"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."

Thatquote by Albert Einstein took on real meaning in Lindenhurst Village recently as two men, initially adversaries, found common ground and in the process reinforced the importance of the law and the power of knowledge.

It began simply enough. Louis Balestrieri, a resident of Lindenhurst Village and a retired New York City Police Detective got a warning from the Village that he was in violation of local laws by having an unregistered vehicle on his property.

Balestrieri said he was angry when he opened a letter from the Village, which threatened to summons him and tow away his vehicle if he did not correct the problem.

This was a 2000 conversion van that I had been trying to sell for several months," said Balestrieri. "With gas at $4 a gallon, nobody was looking at it. But I stored it behind the fence and you could clearly see it said "for sale" on it.

What really upset Balestrieri, however, was that someone would peek into his yard to inspect his vehicle, and then issue him a warning without asking him about it, and why it was no longer registered.

He decided to turn the tables on the Village. As a former detective, now retired, with a lot of free time, he knew how to conduct an investigation. His chosen target: Ed Marchesi, code enforcement officer for the Village for almost 20 years.

Slapping a ladder near the code enforcer's fence, Balestrieri snapped pictures of Marchesi's yard. He was astounded by what he saw: tree branches covering a "children at play" sign, shrubs blocking pedestrian walkways. But even more than that: he saw Peking and Muscovy ducks waddling throughout the yard, paddling in large kiddy pools filled with murky water.

After blowing up the pictures of the ducks, the dirty pool-water and a jungle of trees, he marched in to a Village Board meeting, accused Marchesi of breaking Village codes concerning animals and overgrown shrubbery and demanded that Marchesi be fired.

"Mr. Marchesi should be asked to resign as a Code Enforcement Officer or face termination of his employment by the Incorporated Village of Lindenhurst Board of Trustees," an angry Balestrieri wrote in an official notice of complaint he submitted to the board.

Mayor Thomas Brennan and the board agreed to look into the complaint.

Thatnight, Balestrieri headed to Marchesi's home

"Is that you, Lou?" Marchesi called out. Now, face to face, they talked for an hour. Balestrieri had the chance to hear Marchesi's side—and explain his own concerns.

It turns out that Marchesi is the Village's unofficial duck whisperer, taking in distraught waterfowl. He and his wife are certified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to rehabilitate animals.

"We take in sick or injured ducks," said Marchesi. "They're all from Feller's Pond. Some can't walk or fly; perhaps they have a hook in their mouth. People call me if they see kids throwing rocks at the ducks."

As long the animals are not a nuisance to the neighbors, they can be kept in his yard, according to Jerry Glass, the attorney of Lindenhurst Village.

As for the dirty water, Marchesi said he changes the water twice a day, but ducks keep their water murky.

"Ducks constantly put dirt in their water; they like to sift the dirt through their beaks, throw it around and put it in the water," agreed Lori Ketcham, a director of STAR Foundation (Save The Animals Rescue Foundation), a Long Island nonprofit. "They need some grit in their system to help them digest food and get some good minerals that they need, and sometimes I think they just do it for fun."

"Rehabilitation is a lot of work," said Ketcham. "It's a lot of expense and it's a non-paying job. It's a mission of mercy."

When Balestrieri realized that Marchesi was such a kind-hearted person, he said he felt terrible about the whole ordeal. He promised he would contact the Village board, withdraw the request to have him fired and even offered to help trim his bushes.

In hindsight Balestrieri realized that he adopted the worst characteristics he noticed in code enforcement officers: peeking into private property and keeping track of a resident's personal business. "I became them," Balestrieri said. "That is not who I want to be."

Balestrieri was pleased when Marchesi cuts his bushes, according to code, and is happy that he will retain his position, but he is also glad to have ruffled the feathers of the Village board. "I used to see the code enforcer, now I see the man behind the title," said Balestrieri.

Balestrieri said that there is a lesson to be learned by the Village as a result of all of this. "I wanted them to feel the same stress that others felt. There are stories behind these summonses. Some of these summonses go to young couples or older people on a fixed income. They deserve to be treated decently. And" he added, "before you point your nose in my backyard," said Balestrieri, "make sure your own backyard is clean."

"I welcome gripes," commented Marchesi. "If someone has a problem, I will address it."

"Ed (Marchesi) is one of the most compassionate people I know," said Mayor Thomas Brennan. "I remember three years ago, there was a duck outside of the Lindenhurst Post office that was hurt. He stayed with it the whole time until it went off into the woods."

Lindenhurst Village collects approximately $150,000 in summons violations each year. It is the Village policy to issue a warning first, if circumstances allow. Summonses vary from $15 parking meter offenses to commercial zoning violations, which can cost thousands of dollars.