By John C. O'Connell
After two years of preliminary bouts on Nassau's fight card, the position of county executive is up for election this year. In 1999, Democrats fought it out to a 10-9 decision in the 19-seat county legislature, and 2000 saw district-by-district pugnacity over the six-member Hempstead Town Council end in a strong, 5-1 Republican comeback victory.
This year, not only will there be the county-executive title fight between Republicans and Democrats, but it looks like there will be heavyweight brawling before either party's contender gets to the main event.
Although no one in either party has made a formal announcement, strong signals have been sent by several would-be candidates. State Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, Democratic party chairman, says "I expect to be a candidate for that office."
Tom Suozzi, mayor of Glen Cove, one of the county's two cities, has for months made no secret of his intentions to run for the Democrat nomination as well. "I am running for county executive. I haven't done the announcement on the steps of City Hall yet, which I will do sometime soon, but I am running," he said.
If both run, a costly September primary would decide who goes on to November.
While Democrats have decisions to make, Republicans have a tougher problem. Incumbency, usually a plus, may be a handicap this time. County Executive Thomas Gulotta is denounced even by some Republicans for his stewardship of county finances. How the party could now support him after more than two years of members distancing themselves from his leadership is a question asked by Republican insiders and political observers.
Whether Gulotta has even decided to run is still a question. In a conversation last week, he told the Herald he was "not going to deal with these issues until ... after I've had the opportunity to talk to family and friends and supporters. Right now I'm just concentrating on the governmental [issues]."
Although detractors within and without his party are many, Gulotta's base of support may not be as weak as opponents hope. His practice of showing up at almost every photo event, award ceremony, promotion, parade, tree planting and picnic in the county is often mocked, yet his long-time ubiquitous presence at ceremonies may have won him deep-rooted, if quiet, voter loyalty.
"While the county executive will certainly face some blame for the county's fiscal problems," said Dave Vieser, Gulotta's former press secretary, "you cannot discount the support he will still receive from local citizens who have been recipients of personal visits by the county executive over the years at various functions. In some cases, Mr. Gulotta was the only elected official who would take the time to attend those functions, and you can't underestimate the potential value of that effort in generating voter support."
Names of possible Republican challengers most often mentioned include District Attorney Denis Dillon, Rep. Peter King, state senators Charles Fuschillo and Michael Balboni, Hempstead Supervisor Richard Guardino, state Assemblywoman Donna Ferrara and county Comptroller Fred Parola. Party officials, however, insist a wide search is on to find the right candidate, and that no one has been selected.
Hempstead Councilman Tony Santino said that "Chairman Mondello and the Republican Party are looking at a wide range of potential candidates. No one's ruled in, no one's ruled out, and that includes the current county executive. The party is going to take a long, hard look at some who are familiar names and some who aren't familiar names, and a decision will be made as to the best individual to carry the Republican Party banner and win the election in November.
"Obviously, we would rather have a candidate sooner than later," Santino said, "but we're going to do a thorough job regardless of the timetable."
Parola said he is "not looking for the position." He does have strong views, however, on Gulotta's part in the race. "It appears the Democrats have a primary, and I guess the Republicans are going to have a primary, because I don't know of any Republican who thinks Gulotta can run," he said. "In fact, I don't know anybody, even individuals, who feel he should be the Republican candidate. I'll give you this: If I'm running as county comptroller and he's running as county executive, I don't want to run with him.
"I think he's abrogated his responsibility," Parola said, "and caused this problem primarily, and really cannot be renominated by the Republican Party, unfortunately. I feel bad about that.
"We've been looking at this for almost two years now and we're in the year 2001 and decisions have to be made, and my understanding is that there's no change in public perception. I've seen him booed in Levittown at a tree lighting.
"I don't care how much money he's got."
But Parola did hedge his words slightly. "I'm going to support the nominee of my party," he said. "Obviously, if Gulotta happened to be the nominee of the party, I would have to support him, but I just don't see that."
In the Democrat corner, Tom DiNapoli now represents the 16th state assembly district, the northwest section of the county from Great Neck to Port Washington, Roslyn Heights, Albertson and points in between. "I think serving for 14 years in the Assembly and being very proactive on a whole host of legislative issues, shepherding many bills through the process in Albany, has taught me a lot about ... working across party lines to building consensus on issues, and I think that would be something that would be helpful in Nassau County," DiNapoli said.
"I also think that over the past year and a half, with the clear recognition by all that Nassau has fiscal problems, the role I've played to fight for a state oversight board and to have the state come up with assistance to help the county through these troubled times has given me ... an ability to help change the framework for decision-making in the county in a way that is helping to turn the county around."
As chairman of the party during the Democrats' successful drive to gain a majority on the county legislature, DiNapoli sees his strength as getting people to focus on issues. "It's going to be a real challenge. I'm not a miracle worker, but I can be a consensus builder, and I think part of that was what was able to pull the Democratic party back together and get it to become a competitive party. And I think I've done that while still being able to work with the governor and Republican senators when the needs of the people of our community are out there. I'm not someone who is a strident partisan, I never have been, and I think that will be helpful to moving the county to the next level."
The north shore's Tom Suozzi is a new entrant in the county ring. (During his first term as Glen Cove mayor, however, he did serve as one of the county supervisors under the pre-legislature system.) He has been attending club and association meetings from one end of Nassau to the other to introduce himself and learn about local issues and problems.
Halfway through his fourth two-year term -- the first Glen Cove mayor elected four times -- the 38-year-old lawyer and certified public accountant comes from a family of Glen Cove politicians. His father, Joseph, formerly a State Supreme Court and Appellate judge, was once the city's mayor, as was Tom's uncle, Vincent 'Jimmy' Suozzi. Indeed, Tom isn't the first in his family to run for county executive. Joe Suozzi ran for the post in 1958 and lost.
The mayor is proud of his work in Glen Cove during his seven years in office. He inherited a city, he says, with massive deficits. "Our bond rating was one step above junk status and today we have the highest bond rating since the 1970's. And in the year 2000 we had a surplus." Also, Glen Cove just won the Main Street Award from the New York State Conference of Mayors for most revitalized downtown.
Suozzi's major project practically since taking office has been to turn a dangerously polluted and almost abandoned section of the city's otherwise enviable Gold Coast waterfront on the Long Island Sound into a self-sustaining, environmentally rejuvenated regional attraction. The cleanup is still going with the help of federal, state and local funds, thanks largely to his persuasive efforts in bringing usually competing agencies together. While some in Glen Cove characterize the mayor's style as too self-promoting and arrogant, few of even his harshest critics deny the need for the cleanup of the officially designated federal "superfund" site at the city's shoreline or doubt the sincerity of his passion to redeem it or the energy with which he has attacked the city's problems.
An issue that plagued Democrats in their mostly unsuccessful Town of Hempstead council challenges in November was, they say, a wide funding disparity between themselves and their Republican opponents. Realizing that money is a golden key to election victory, Jay Jacobs, Suozzi's campaign chairman, touted a Carle Place fund-raiser on Nov. 30 that assembled 500 supporters at $250 apiece as a sign of strength. "This [was] the single largest political gathering in Nassau County in terms of money and people," Jacobs said. "The Democrats learned a lesson in the Town of Hempstead: If you don't have money, you can't get the message out. Tom Suozzi has money-raising potential."
More than potential, some would say. By his own account, Suozzi has raised over $700,000. "No Democrat has ever raised more than $600,000 in the history of Nassau County," Suozzi said, "and this is still a year away from the race."
The Glen Cove mayor has his campaign mantra ready. Not surprising, Suozzi blames Republican mismanagement for the county's woes. "One-party rule doesn't work and we've seen what happens when you have it. One-party rule is what brought the richest county in the country to the brink of bankruptcy. You must have voices objectively trying to make things better.
"Our message is to fight for the taxpayers of the county. What we have now with the Republicans," Suozzi said to a ballroom full of supporters at the Carle Place fund-raiser, "is the last vestiges of one of the strongest political machines in this country. I need the people in this room to help me break it."
This month will likely see those candidates who most want the job officially toss their hats into the ring. It will be a long fight 'til the final bell rings in November.
