EDITORIAL: Our endorsements for Nassau County Legislature

October 28, 2009

Kevan Abrahams, one of the county's bright young leaders, is seeking his fourth full term. The 35-year-old Democrat from Hempstead Village was named deputy presiding officer in January 2008. His Republican opponent, Elton McCabe, 43, of Uniondale, is a Hempstead Town highway inspector who spent 10 years in the military and hopes to capture this legislative seat, which was once held by his wife, Darlene Harris. McCabe contends that Abrahams let the county down by backing the home energy tax and proposes raising the cigarette tax and taxing illegal home rentals instead. Beyond this, however, he offers few fresh ideas. While thoughtful, he makes a weak case for replacing an effective incumbent. The editorial board endorses Abrahams.

Incumbent Roger Corbin has represented this district since the start of the legislature in 1999, but he lost the Democratic primary to Robert Troiano, 56, a Westbury neighbor and former president of the school board there. Troiano, who currently serves on the North Hempstead Town Council, has worked to resuscitate the beleaguered redevelopment of downtown New Cassel.

His Republican opponent, Derek Partee, 57, of Hempstead, retired two years ago as a homicide detective for Nassau County. His work as an undercover narcotics officer and on the FBI terrorism task force gives him impressive and deep knowledge of law enforcement issues. Partee says county police are underpaid and that more should be hired, but he offers no way to fund that plan. On other problems facing the county, Partee, as most challengers do, brought few specific proposals to the table.

Troiano's banking and financial background, as well as his keen understanding of how to make government more responsive, is what's needed on the legislature at this time. He can be the strong and able voice this often-ignored district needs.

Our one concern is that his job as the representative of State Senate Democrats on Long Island poses a conflict; he should reconsider keeping that post if he wins. The editorial board endorses Troiano.

In this intergenerational battle, Republican incumbent John Ciotti, 57, of North Valley Stream, is facing a determined challenge from Nina Petraro Bastardi, 27, an attorney from Valley Stream. Ciotti was first elected in 1995. He has worked hard over the years and can point to several recent accomplishments, including a multimillion dollar beautification project, senior-citizen housing and, soon to come, a long-overdue supermarket.

Too little too late, says Bastardi. An aggressive community activist involved with a long list of organizations, Bastardi promises to push for next-generation housing, consolidation of special districts to control taxes, and development to fill vacant store fronts and help create the "cool downtowns" envisioned by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. A former Republican who switched to the Democratic Party in March, she's well-informed, bursting with energy and has a view to the future that the legislature needs. The editorial board endorses Bastardi.

Voters can choose any of the five different party lines incumbent Denise Ford, 58, a Republican from Long Beach, is running on this year.

This is the second matchup in two years between Legis. Joseph Scannell of Baldwin and lawyer Christian Browne of Rockville Centre. Republican Browne, 33, lost by about 1,000 votes in 2007. One of this year's closest races, the outcome could flip the legislature to Republican control.

Democrat Scannell, 47, is also a lawyer, representing police officers before New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board. He is running on his success in keeping the county's First Precinct in Baldwin and getting Nunley's Carousel restored. But the saga of the merry-go-round, which is now operating on Museum Row in Uniondale, is a stale issue. And the police precinct may not be in the best place or being leased on the best terms. Scannell doesn't seem to perceive a need for cooperating on countywide matters.

This page said in 2007 that Browne, a general practice lawyer, is a fresh, young face for the Republican Party, and he remains so. He has done a sharp analysis of the county's assessment problems, as well as the Lighthouse project, and is raising tough questions about leasing space for the new precinct in a Baldwin strip mall. If elected, he should follow through on his concerns about that deal.

We're disappointed that soon after the '07 election, Browne took a patronage job offered by party honchos on the Hempstead Town Zoning Board, and Browne should take care to avoid lockstep votes and opinions. With that caveat, the editorial board endorses Browne.

Incumbent Francis Becker, 56, of Lynbrook, is an original member of the Nassau County Legislature, and he seems quite settled in the role. He relies heavily on the Republican playbook when it comes to criticizing Thomas Suozzi, instead of seeking a more constructive, bipartisan path. He still wants to offer tax abatements for first-time home buyers - an idea we also liked two years ago - but he hasn't seemed to make much headway. He was, however, instrumental in the county's purchase of Grossmann's Farm in Malverne.

His Democratic challenger, Vincent Grasso, of Valley Stream, is an Iraq War veteran who works as the executive director of the Nassau County Bridge Authority. The 37-year-old has some visionary ideas about Nassau's transportation infrastructure and also feels the county should be more analytical about fee structures for many of its services. Grasso has the potential to bring some fresh thinking and new energy to the district. The editorial board endorses Grasso.

Not much has changed in this rematch. The Republican challenger, Howard Kopel, 58, of Lawrence, is a businessman still concerned about taxes, patronage and county spending. But the Democratic incumbent, Jeff Toback, 50, of Oceanside, is facing something new: sharp attacks from people who live near the county's Bay Park sewage treatment plant in East Rockaway. Toback supported County Executive Thomas Suozzi's plan to take waste from plants in Lawrence and Cedarhurst, which are too antiquated to be upgraded at a reasonable price, and pipe it to Bay Park. Toback insists that adding the small amount of sewage from the two villages won't add to existing odor problems. But the Town of Hempstead is suing to stop the consolidation.

At a time when Long Island needs to move toward consolidation of a variety of small districts, Toback's willingness to bite the bullet and vote for a modicum of consolidation is commendable. The editorial board endorses Toback.

Republican Vincent Muscarella served four years in the Assembly and now seven terms in the legislature, and he's the wiser for it. He longs for the legislature to get away from politics and to focus more on crafting good laws. Muscarella, 55, of West Hempstead, says he works to reach consensus on issues, citing red-light cameras as one example.

His opponent is Gaspare Tumminello, 26, a Franklin Square Democrat and a deputy commissioner in the Nassau County Purchasing Department who claims credit for initiating the county's online surplus auction, which he says raised more than $1 million. As a legislator, he'd bring such a program to his district, though it's not clear exactly how. He also supports helping small businesses and tax breaks for first-time home buyers and the elderly. These ideas are fine but don't ring of the "fresh start" Tumminello promises.

Tumminello seeks to be the "voice of the people," while Muscarella recognizes the need for legislators to lead and educate their constituents at times. He is the kind of gracious, reflective legislator this bickering body needs. The editorial board endorses Muscarella.

In today's overheated partisan climate, it isn't often that opposing candidates agree as frequently as incumbent Republican Richard Nicolello and Democrat Dolores Sedacca. From the Lighthouse project - good but tweak to make it smaller and more traffic friendly; to assessments - reduce the backlog through quicker settlements; to the need for a more regional approach to economic development, there's little daylight between the two. So Sedacca's case against Nicolello, an original member of the legislature, is that he's tired and she isn't.

Sedacca, 62, a former Mayor of East Williston, is engaging and has experience in both business and government. But Nicolello, 49, of New Hyde Park, argues that elected officials like him who aren't looking for the next job are a good thing. There's some truth to that, though the danger is that with longevity comes lethargy. Nicolello should take care that doesn't happen. We said two years ago that his knowledge of the issues and planning expertise could serve voters well if he adopted a more let's-make-it-work attitude. That still goes. The editorial board endorses Nicolello.

Seeking her second term, Democrat Judi Bosworth, 61, of Great Neck, says she will continue her low-key but effective style. It has helped in her efforts around a controversial plan to use a small bit of county-owned land in the Spinney Hill area of Manhasset as a group home for veterans, and with her much larger role as chair of the committee with oversight for Nassau Community College.

Her opponent is family-practice physician Garry Stark, 60, from Saddle Rock, who was recruited by a patient active in the Republican Party. He has a populist frustration about government and high taxes from the local to the national level, but too undeveloped an understanding of how things work to be effective.

Bosworth, who has the luxury of an overwhelming party registration in her favor, should be more assertive in assuring that the NCC remains free of political meddling and that the trustees appointed to serve on its board are qualified. The editorial board endorses Bosworth.

Democratic incumbent Wayne Wink Jr., 42, a Roslyn lawyer, faces a challenge from Republican Jeffrey Losquadro, 49, a fourth-generation Albertson resident and owner of a home heating oil business. Losquadro ran unsuccessfully for the North Hempstead Town Council two years ago, and he's the immediate past president of the Nassau-Suffolk Water District Commissioners Association. Losquadro clearly wants to become more involved in local politics, but he gives us no reason to turn out Wink, whose background as a legislative aide has made him an effective legislator. He's prepared, knowledgeable and on the right side of the Lighthouse project. Wink should serve as a watchdog over what he calls the "glacial" pace of reform of the county assessment system. The editorial board endorses Wink.

There's certainly something to be said for loyal opposition. But Minority Leader Peter Schmitt, 59, of Massapequa, is a primary driver behind the legislature's partisanship. His recent much-ado about red-light cameras catching drivers who fail to stop before turning right is only the most recent example of his being contrarian for the sake of it. Democrat John Rennhack, 39, of North Massapequa, has run unsuccessfully against Schmitt twice before, in 2003 and 2007, but he's back again, saying that beyond basic constituent services, Schmitt's record as a legislator is poor. Rennhack, who works for the Board of Elections, favors more open government and is well-informed on the issues. He'd use his legislator post as a soapbox to inform residents about the upside to consolidating smaller school districts - quixotic, but worth discussing. When we endorsed Rennhack two years ago, we urged him to tone down his anti-GOP rants online. That's still our position; this legislature needs far less divisiveness. With that hesitation, however, the editorial board once again endorses Rennhack.

Even before the Nassau County Legislature came to be, Republican Norma Gonsalves, 75, had demonstrated a long attention span, as a civic activist doggedly attending meetings of the charter revision commission that was shaping the new body. Then she lost a race for the legislature, but attended its meetings just as tenaciously. She won in 1997 and has been equally persistent since then - proud to have brought her East Meadow community activism and environmental mindset to the legislature.

Her Democratic opponent, Patricia Maher, 50, also of East Meadow, is director of development and community relations for the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island. A former Republican, she became a Democrat in 2001. She has run at the town and state level - and against Gonsalves. She, too, counts persistence as her best quality.

Gonsalves continues to work hard and listen closely to her district, and she knows how to rise above partisanship. The editorial board endorses Gonsalves.

This is a rematch of the squeaker of 2007, when incumbent Democrat David Mejias edged Republican challenger Joseph Belesi, a retired county police detective, by 212 votes. This time, Belesi, 62, of Farmingdale, hit the campaign trail early in a district where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 3,000 and GOP leaders think they can take back a seat. Mejias, 39, also of Farmingdale, is one of the legislature's most active members and has voted against the wishes of his party several times in the past two years, notably opposing legislative pay raises and endorsing the Republican idea of a freeze on tax assessments. His defiance cost him a key committee post. Mejias also proposed the law requiring police to notify school districts of narcotics arrests - which Belesi, a onetime narcotics officer, argues could expose undercover police work. Belesi said he would act independently if elected, but his platform adheres closely to the Republican Party line. And Mejias has appropriately raised concerns about Belesi's receiving a police disability pension while working as a part-time adviser to Minority Leader Peter Schmitt. The editorial board endorses Mejias.

Democrat Glenn Stephenson, 58, a retired lawyer from Seaford, is the latest challenger to take on Dennis Dunne. Sr., 59, a seven-term Republican incumbent from Levittown. Dunne seems content to focus on small-bore issues and shows little command of county finances. Stephenson has some good ideas but not a solid grasp of the powers of the office, and his approach is too pugnacious. The board makes no endorsement in this race.

After the stresses of serving as presiding officer, Judy Jacobs is finding her original role, as just one of 19 legislators, much to her liking. Jacobs, 70, a Democrat from Woodbury, still finds that the issues she faces light a fire in her. And she continues to be capable of parsing the tough ones, such as imposing an unpopular energy tax as the least painful of the options for closing a budget gap without gutting services. Jacobs is still a voice of reason.

Her Republican challenger, Rebecca Alesia, 32, of Plainview, is an attorney with a litigator's ability to think on her feet and a good analytical mind. She comes from a Republican family with a history of public service, and she is starting down that track, having worked in the Nassau district attorney's office and now as an assistant town attorney in Oyster Bay. Like most Nassau GOP candidates, she called for an assessment freeze and harped on property taxes, though the county's portion of the total tax bill is just above 16 percent.

Alesia is someone to to keep an eye on for future races, but the editorial board endorses Jacobs.

This race for an open seat pits a champion of the status quo against a business-friendly newcomer who sees development as the key to controlling taxes. Republican Rose Marie Walker, 58, of Hicksville, is an Oyster Bay Town councilwoman who, as a substitute teacher, PTA president, sports booster and town employee, has come to know the community well. But she's too enamored of the go-slow, not-in-my-backyard posture for Nassau's good.

Democrat Arshad Majid, 41, of Farmingdale, is the antithesis of Walker. A lawyer schooled in science, economics and finance, he enthusiastically supports the Lighthouse project, aggressive business and pedestrian friendly development in Hicksville, and consolidation of special districts. Majid's vision is more in tune with what Nassau needs to thrive. The editorial board endorses Majid.

Presiding officer since January 2008, Diane Yatauro has been criticized for marching the Democrats in lockstep with Thomas Suozzi. But Yatauro, 55, of Glen Cove, argues that with a one-vote margin, she can't afford to let others in her caucus go their own way on important issues. A banker, she lives for grappling with the budget, and she pulls no punches about the county's financial troubles.

Her Republican challenger, Michael Montesano, 55, of Glen Head, has an impressive resume that includes time as an EMT, an NYPD detective, and 20 years as an attorney, with stints as village prosecutor and acting village justice in Roslyn Harbor. But his views on the Lighthouse project - he fears it's dropping a city into the county - display a worrisome lack of vision.

Yatauro, for her part, says the county needs the revenue the Lighthouse would bring and believes if the project doesn't happen, no one will want to do business with Nassau again anytime soon. We agree. The editorial board endorses Yatauro.

Incumbent Democrat David Denenberg is challenged by Republican Fred Jones, a chiropractor from Merrick making his first run for office. Denenberg, 45, also of Merrick, touts his environmental leadership on issues like open-space preservation and emission controls and his sponsorship of numerous town meetings. Jones, 55, describes the home energy tax as "the straw that broke the camel's back" in his decision to run, while Denenberg says the tax maintains social service programs. Denenberg is widely regarded as one of the hardest working members of the legislature, which is reflected in the wide range of issues he has addressed, including tuition assistance, regulation of sexual offenders and a bill requiring restaurants to post the prices of specials. He deserves to continue. The editorial board endorses Denenberg. hN