Accusations of intimidation by the Ciotti campaign isn’t a new problem, and it’s something that Nina Petraro Bastardi, the Democratic candidate for the 3rd Legislative District seat in 2009, knows all too well. In a 2009 video, Bastardi was berated by Ciotti campaign volunteers — including Prisco, who shouted aggressively at her in the video — and other supporters as she was attempting to announce the start of her campaign with then-Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

“It was horrible,” Bastardi said of her campaign experience. “There’s a clear pattern here of intimidation, harassment and voter suppression.”
Bastardi said she was harassed throughout the six months that she campaigned for Ciotti’s seat, and she and her family were threatened. “It’s not just [Prisco] — it’s a large group of people,” she said, adding that the recent Prisco video was hard to watch. “It’s very upsetting and it brings back a lot of bad memories, but I’m glad they’re finally getting the exposure for who they are.”

Jay Jacobs, chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee, said that this kind of behavior has been a pattern in Ciotti’s elections for many years. “What bothers me is it’s not just a singular incident,” he said. “This is something John Ciotti has condoned, has overlooked.”
Jacobs added that Prisco’s behavior is “completely unacceptable” and questioned how Ciotti, the chairman of the Legislature’s Minority Affairs Committee, could have someone with “racist views” on his campaign staff.

For his part, Ciotti called Prisco’s behavior “deplorable” and “despicable,” and on Oct. 19 he called on Sanitary District 6 to terminate Prisco’s employment. “As a society, we cannot turn our backs when this sort of behavior occurs,” Ciotti said, “and we must make it clear that we will not accept this behavior.”

According to Ciotti, Prisco, who has been an unpaid volunteer for several of his campaigns, was let go on Oct. 18, after Ciotti saw the video for the first time. He added that he does not know the name of the other volunteer in the video.

“He’s not in any decision-making or any formal part of my campaign at all,” Ciotti said of Prisco. “He and anyone else who thinks like that will never stuff another envelope or anything else for my campaign ever again. It’s a sad situation because he doesn’t represent me or my campaign, or the 16 years that I’ve served the district.”

Bastardi, however, said that Ciotti knows Prisco well, and that Sanitary District 6 serves much of the 3rd District. She added that Ciotti’s reaction to the recent video is “infuriating” to her. “Where was he two years ago, when a similar video was out?” she said. “Is Ciotti doing this because of what was said or because of the negative exposure this is getting?”

Hanging signs in front of Solages’s campaign headquarters is clearly an intimidation technique, Jacobs said. Nassau County Democratic candidates and their campaign workers are expected to follow certain rules, he added. “We put signs where we have permission to do it,” he said. “We don’t put our signs up on our opponent’s headquarters.”

Ciotti insisted that the video isn’t representative of how he runs his campaign. “This kind of behavior is disgusting and has no place in politics,” he said. “It sickens me, and I won’t tolerate any actions like this. I represent the most diverse district in all of Nassau County, and I’m very proud that I have volunteers from all backgrounds working for my campaign. I have over 200 volunteers during the week and during the weekend, of all nationalities and all backgrounds.”

On Oct. 19, Solages's campaign held a public conference about the video at the Law Offices of Frederick Brewington in the Village of Hempstead. When Ciotti attempted to attend the meeting, he was asked to leave.

"I was a little surprised by that reaction," Ciotti said about the incident. "Basically, I wanted to reach out to Carrié Solages's sister and apologize, and tell her that wasn't the voice of my campaign. Like I said before, I found the actions in that video to be deplorable and despicable. It sickened me."

On Oct. 20, Residents for Efficient Special Districts issued a press release about the actions exposed in the video. "RESD is not surprised by this week's actions of Sanitation District 6 worker/campaign worker (Prisco)," the group wrote. "The bullying and intimidation tactics displayed in the video are far too common among individuals in the patronage positions found in special taxing districts ... these workers have become the 'get out the vote' arms to political parties here in Nassau County and throughout New York State to keep their jobs. In essence, they are taxpayer-funded bullies."

RESD also wrote that it believes that these special taxing districts need to be consolidated, and elections for these districts should be held on Election Day in November.

Laura Mallay, RESD's executive director, said she witnessed bullying and intimidation tactics during her campaign for District 2 sanitation commissioner in 2005. "These special taxing districts have operated without any oversight for many years," she said. "Anyone that dares to challenge the status quo puts themselves at risk for these kinds of incidents."

Joseph Troiano, former mayor of Stewart Manor, agreed. "It's time for taxpayers to start connecting the dots," he said. "When you have a public servant campaigning for an elected official with strong ties to the district he works for, you need to start asking yourself, 'What is happening?' These special taxing districts have morphed into voting blocks for political parties."

Mikaelle said she hopes the video reminds residents not to be intimidated by campaign workers, especially when casting their votes. “We need to stand up and be brave,” she said. “We have a right to vote, and we need to protect it.”

Comment about this story? JNash@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.