Herald Endorsement

In 7th L.D., the choice is Kopel

Posted

Howard Kopel, a Republican, is running for his fourth term as a county legislator, and after nearly six years, the Lawrence resident has found his comfort zone. Kopel has demonstrated fiscal acumen by creating a plan that is expected to revise Nassau County’s flawed property tax assessment for commercial properties.
The plan, when it is implemented in 2017, is expected to save the county $60 million to $80 million, and reduce, if not completely eliminate, the borrowing that has gotten it into financial trouble. We want to see that happen.
Kopel has become a strong advocate for his constituents, doing everything from pushing capital projects, such as the much-needed repairs along West Broadway, from Mill Road in Hewlett to Rockaway Turnpike, to helping the Village of Rockville Centre fix an eyesore of a fence on Peninsula Boulevard.
Democrat Tova Plaut is challenging the GOP incumbent. Plaut is a Lawrence School District Board of Education trustee who is very knowledgeable about local issues and could be an effective legislator. She says she wants to see more transparency in the county’s process of awarding contracts, and we support that. She wants to create more after-school and youth programs to support children and, ideally, reduce crime in the future. That is laudable, but could be done on a smaller scale in her position as trustee, then introduced to other school districts.
We want to see Kopel project stronger opinions about issues outside his district. But based on his track record, we encourage residents to give him their votes next Tuesday.