More teamwork, less grandstanding

Whether due to a fear of on-field consequences or simply their professionalism, the Giants kept the showboating to a minimum during the Super Bowl. The players competed fiercely, pushing and clawing for every yard, maximizing their effectiveness by coordinating their efforts. They knew that grabbing attention as individuals wouldn’t result in a victory. Rather, they won by working together.

How unlike that is our county government’s leadership?

Recent hearings on a preliminary plan to redeploy police officers to save taxpayer money were just the latest example of what we see as a breakdown in constructive debate. The hearings were punctuated by shouting and bickering. It’s no wonder that most people would sooner have weekly gum surgery than hold political office or a leadership position in public service.

When Republican County Executive Ed Mangano, facing the all but impossible task of balancing a budget that has a $310 million deficit, put forth that plan to make government more efficient, he was attacked by hyperbole-hurling Democrats, berated for being partisan and devious.

When his predecessor, Democrat Tom Suozzi, faced with a similar budgetary nightmare, offered a vision of a massive redevelopment of the Hub that would have brought thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue, he was ganged up on by flushed-face Republican legislators, denounced for trying to destroy Nassau County with his wild schemes.

When school superintendents and boards of education suggest merging plans or closing buildings to deal with declining enrollment, limits on revenue generation and unabated increases in mandated spending, they’re accused of ignoring students’ needs and caring more about finances than families. Imagine. Community residents who give hundreds of hours of their time to serve the interests of their neighbors’ schoolchildren being criticized for not caring enough about the kids. That is simply disgraceful.