In the 11th L.D., support DeRiggi-Whitton

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We endorse Democrat Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, the incumbent county legislator in District 11. She has remained determined to move forward with what will benefit her district and the county in spite of a refusal by the Republican majority to consider her legislation. And she supports an independent inspector general, which the county desperately needs.

The three-term legislator has fought for passage of Tobacco 21, which would raise the legal age to purchase tobacco. She also introduced the Pharmacy Opioid Notice Law, to require all pharmacies to post signs warning of the dangers of opioid addiction. Both initiatives have been stalled by Republicans, but DeRiggi-Whitton said she is so committed to their passage that she would agree to have a Republican legislator’s name as the lead on them. It’s unusual for any elected leader to suggest that.

Her challenger, Zefy Christopoulos, an Independence Party member running on the Republican slate, is also passionate about combating the opioid crisis. She supports an increase in education funding, and we liked her ideas to add programs at hospitals for recovering addicts and to turn wings at Glen Cove Hospital and Nassau University Medical Center into recovery areas. Other candidates, however, have made the same suggestion.

Christopoulos questioned where the county’s red-light camera revenue — once directed to senior and youth board programs — is going now. We are concerned about that too. But we strongly disagree with her insistence that an inspector general is not needed, and that the county’s current ethics board would be effective if the members were bipartisan. An inspector general would have subpoena power to clean up the contract process, and would promote a higher standard in contract procurements.

DeRiggi-Whitton recently held a news conference to reveal the reason for the contamination that has kept Sea Cliff’s Crescent Beach closed for eight years: outfall pipes from a handful of residences. She did so because she was worried that nothing was being done to move forward with a cleanup. She was accused of being “political.” We disagree. She was simply doing her job.

Christopoulos is a talented candidate, but Deriggi-Whitton, in our view, is the best choice and deserves voters’ support.