Ask your questions at election time
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Ask your questions at election time
Election day, Nov. 6, is only three and a half weeks away. If you haven't started looking at where the candidates stand on the issues that are important to you, now's the time.
Candidates naturally want to tell you which issues are important and which aren't, what their priorities are and, given their talent and experience, why they would be better at the job than the other candidate. It's understandable that people running for office think the election is all about them.
But it's not. Elections are about you.
Starting this week, the Herald will be reporting on the candidates and the issues in elections in your communities. We encourage you to take a critical look at the incumbents and their challengers who seek your votes.
All 19 seats in the Nassau County Legislature will be contested. Democrats now hold a one-vote majority, so a shift of one seat anywhere in the county could change the leadership, the priorities and the direction of county government, as well as the body's relationship with the county executive, Democrat Tom Suozzi.
Town of Hempstead Council seats in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th districts will be on the ballot, too, along with town supervisor, receiver of taxes and town clerk. State Supreme Court, County Court, District Court and Family Court judgeships will also be contested.
Town of Hempstead property owners pay taxes so that the town's 764,000 residents receive services, and voters elect nine people to oversee the thousands of managers, supervisors and employees who provide those services. Residents of incorporated villages receive fewer services from the town than do non-village residents, and those served by special water, sewer and sanitation districts pay separately for those services.
We urge residents to start asking themselves some pertinent questions. Here are a few to get you started:
What are the issues that are most important to you? Are you satisfied with the way town government is spending your money? What has your Town Council representative done to make life better in your community? Are you satisfied with the delivery of services from the town?
Are you happy with the decisions the town supervisor and town council have made on zoning cases affecting your neighborhood?
Are the town's ethical standards high enough, and are those standards being met? Do you feel the town government is sufficiently transparent? Do you have the access to government that you need? Is the makeup of the Town Council -- a Republican supervisor, five Republican members and one Democratic -- good or bad, or does it make no difference to you? Are issues subjected to sufficient debate, with the differing views of council members and the public given a fair hearing? Does the council honestly listen to residents, or do you think decisions are made before anyone ever speaks?
Are the informational mailings on which town officials spend your tax money legitimate, or little more than thinly veiled campaign literature? Do you care enough about that to make it sway your vote?
What are candidates' records on the environment? Is that issue important enough for you to vote one way or another? How has a candidate earned your vote in deeds, not just words?
Is your county legislator is working hard for you? How do you know? Because they tell you or because you see evidence?
Many incumbent legislators have been there since the Board of Supervisors was disbanded and the Legislature was created. Does incumbency perpetuate itself to the detriment of residents' interests, or is experience and accumulated knowledge of what works and what doesn't of such value that incumbents should only be replaced if they have obvious failings?
Do you think the 10-to-9 Democratic majority has served the county well? Does the political infighting between Democrats and Republicans -- and sometimes between fellow Democrats -- turn you off? Are those squabbles enough to make you vote for one particular candidate or another?
Are legislative candidates addressing the issues that are important to you, or just those that cast them in a favorable light?
We have begun asking candidates many of these questions, and we will report their answers to you in the weeks leading up to the election. When you meet candidates, listen to them debates or read their ads and handouts, do not hesitate to ask your own important questions. Remember that although the lawn signs, advertisements and campaign palm cards have other peoples' names on them, this election is really about you. Vote for the candidates who prove to you that they understand that.
Election day, Nov. 6, is only three and a half weeks away. If you haven't started looking at where the candidates stand on the issues that are important to you, now's the time.
Candidates naturally want to tell you which issues are important and which aren't, what their priorities are and, given their talent and experience, why they would be better at the job than the other candidate. It's understandable that people running for office think the election is all about them.
But it's not. Elections are about you.
Starting this week, the Herald will be reporting on the candidates and the issues in elections in your communities. We encourage you to take a critical look at the incumbents and their challengers who seek your votes.
All 19 seats in the Nassau County Legislature will be contested. Democrats now hold a one-vote majority, so a shift of one seat anywhere in the county could change the leadership, the priorities and the direction of county government, as well as the body's relationship with the county executive, Democrat Tom Suozzi.
Town of Hempstead Council seats in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th districts will be on the ballot, too, along with town supervisor, receiver of taxes and town clerk. State Supreme Court, County Court, District Court and Family Court judgeships will also be contested.
Town of Hempstead property owners pay taxes so that the town's 764,000 residents receive services, and voters elect nine people to oversee the thousands of managers, supervisors and employees who provide those services. Residents of incorporated villages receive fewer services from the town than do non-village residents, and those served by special water, sewer and sanitation districts pay separately for those services.
We urge residents to start asking themselves some pertinent questions. Here are a few to get you started:
What are the issues that are most important to you? Are you satisfied with the way town government is spending your money? What has your Town Council representative done to make life better in your community? Are you satisfied with the delivery of services from the town?
Are you happy with the decisions the town supervisor and town council have made on zoning cases affecting your neighborhood?
Are the town's ethical standards high enough, and are those standards being met? Do you feel the town government is sufficiently transparent? Do you have the access to government that you need? Is the makeup of the Town Council -- a Republican supervisor, five Republican members and one Democratic -- good or bad, or does it make no difference to you? Are issues subjected to sufficient debate, with the differing views of council members and the public given a fair hearing? Does the council honestly listen to residents, or do you think decisions are made before anyone ever speaks?
Are the informational mailings on which town officials spend your tax money legitimate, or little more than thinly veiled campaign literature? Do you care enough about that to make it sway your vote?
What are candidates' records on the environment? Is that issue important enough for you to vote one way or another? How has a candidate earned your vote in deeds, not just words?
Is your county legislator is working hard for you? How do you know? Because they tell you or because you see evidence?
Many incumbent legislators have been there since the Board of Supervisors was disbanded and the Legislature was created. Does incumbency perpetuate itself to the detriment of residents' interests, or is experience and accumulated knowledge of what works and what doesn't of such value that incumbents should only be replaced if they have obvious failings?
Do you think the 10-to-9 Democratic majority has served the county well? Does the political infighting between Democrats and Republicans -- and sometimes between fellow Democrats -- turn you off? Are those squabbles enough to make you vote for one particular candidate or another?
Are legislative candidates addressing the issues that are important to you, or just those that cast them in a favorable light?
We have begun asking candidates many of these questions, and we will report their answers to you in the weeks leading up to the election. When you meet candidates, listen to them debates or read their ads and handouts, do not hesitate to ask your own important questions. Remember that although the lawn signs, advertisements and campaign palm cards have other peoples' names on them, this election is really about you. Vote for the candidates who prove to you that they understand that.
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