Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton was sworn in for her second term as leader of the Legislature’s Democratic caucus during inaugural ceremonies held Jan. 8, at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Uniondale, simultaneously beginning her eighth term representing Nassau County’s 11th Legislative District, which includes Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Port Washington, Glenwood Landing and portions of Glen Head, as well as the Villages of Port Washington North, Roslyn Harbor, Baxter Estates, Manorhaven and Sands Point.
Q: You were just sworn in to your eighth term. What does that milestone mean to you, and why do you keep going?
A: I really have loved my job, and I’ve been very privileged to have the opportunity to serve the 11th District and, more recently, become the leader of our caucus. I also have a number of projects that I’m really hoping to see come to fruition.
We’ve been waiting for a while. I have two shore roads — one in Port Washington, one in Glen Cove and Sea Cliff — and hopefully the one in Sea Cliff and Glen Cove should be started in 2026, if not definitely 2027. I’m also looking forward to seeing, hopefully, Crescent Beach reopen.
We’ve been getting good numbers, so I’m cautiously optimistic that might be coming soon. I still feel like it’s important to have a voice with this administration, especially when it comes to things like, after almost going into our fifth year, only 5 percent of the opioid money being disbursed, as well as budgetary issues and other grant issues. Our local fire departments have yet to receive the money that they were promised when we made that bill.
They were given big, big checks, but no real money. The comptroller and the county executive went to various fire departments and EMS places throughout the county with these big checks, not inviting the local legislators. They never followed through with getting the money, so I think that’s even worse than not doing it.
So I think I’m a voice to stand up to them and still try to fight to have the right thing done in our county.
Q: How has the role of a county legislator, and the challenges facing Nassau County, changed most dramatically?
A: There have been a lot of challenges in the last 16 years.
I went through HurricaneSandy, when Bayville and Shore Road collapsed, so I lived through that and all the Sandy recovery money, and all the fraud that went on with the trees and Welwyn. Then we went through all of the corruption, and unfortunately County Executive Mangano was arrested and is serving time for corruption. Mangano obviously had a lot of issues with corruption, and I was also there when we obtained an inspector general, which was great.
I also went through COVID as a legislator, and that was just really challenging. We did so much with delivering food. We got special permission from the governor’s office to still hold the Toys for Tots collection. So much of it was trying to get vaccines, trying to get test kits, trying to help businesses — oh my God. It was just surreal how much work it was.
Then, the last four years, I’ve almost been — I believe — self-inflicted by the mechanism that is set up today, which really, as I said in my speech on Thursday, is because it’s one branch of government now. There are no more checks and balances. The executive branch really controls the majority, and they can hardly do anything without getting the okay from the county executive.
If we have questions or want things done a certain way, we’re told no. The powers that be say no, and it’s a shame because I really believe in government. You’re right — the last four years have been a challenge, but a very unnecessary one, in my opinion.
I do continue to try to fight and do the right thing, and we do get some — there are some things that happen that definitely are rewarding, so I try to focus on that.
Q: What are some of the rewarding things about your role?
A: We’re able to help people. Sometimes it’s not even something that has to do with the county, but it’s really a nice thing when we can get people in touch with the right agencies, or even the federal government, or wherever it is, and people call and thank you.
People really do appreciate also trying to stand up for good government. We’ve trained over 1,000 people in Narcan. I’ve worked so closely with the senior centers in my district, so there’s a lot of positive, and that’s really what I do enjoy.
It’s a different job. Every day is different. You have to be able to handle situational stress, but all in all, I’ve been very lucky to represent this district for as long as I have, and I hope to do it for a while longer.
