By Anthony Bottan and Dana Williams
Oct. 11 to hear Nassau County Legislature and Town Council candidates discuss their plans to lower taxes, strengthen commercial districts and maintain local neighborhoods¹ quality of life at Elmont Memorial Library.
The candidates touched on issues ranging from taxes to revitalization ideas, in a forum sponsored each year during campaign season by the League of Women Voters, to give residents a chance to meet incumbents and challengers before casting ballots. Election Day is Nov. 6.
Incumbent Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino (R-North Valley Stream) of the 2nd District, and challenger Scott Banks (D-West Hempstead), fielded questions about the services the Town of Hempstead offers residents and what they plan to do to lower property taxes. Banks, who served on the town board in 2000, said that without government oversight, special districts ‹ like sanitation and water ‹ can do what they want, and that can affect taxes. ³We need to open up the government,² Banks said.
Ambrosino, a former commissioner of Sanitary District No. 6, disagreed, calling the idea that taxes can be pared down by consolidating special districts a ³myth.²
³It won't happen,² Ambrosino said. ³It's a fallacy and political propaganda.²
Instead of eliminating special districts, Ambrosino argued, districts should work with the town to combine resources and services. The collective effort, he said, would help residents save money. ³It¹s absurd to me that a [Nassau County] plow can¹t plow in a snowstorm on Hempstead Turnpike,² he said. ³That¹s a way that we can work together to remove the snow ... and say, ŒLet¹s forget about territorial jurisdiction.¹²
Banks also said the districts need to be properly audited by the town government to make sure money is being spent correctly. He said that town officials can prevent the special districts ³from doing what they want and what they please.²
³There is wasteful spending going on in these independent districts ... we need to audit these departments, and we have to look at every way we can save the taxpayers money,² Banks said.
Third District incumbent Jim Darcy (R-Valley Stream) ‹ whose opponent, Gary Carlton (D-North Woodmere), did not show ‹ briefly discussed his candidacy. Darcy said he supports a supermarket in Elmont as part of an economic revitalization plan, and he hopes to find a year-round home for the county's Camp Anchor program, a summer camp for children with mental and physical disabilities.
Omar Jorge (D-Valley Stream), who is running against 6th District incumbent Francis Becker (R-Lynbrook), said that if elected, he would take three courses of action: reduce taxes, revitalize the community and find a solution to the shortage of affordable housing.
Jorge said he supports the consolidation of special districts, but is in favor of electing rather than appointing special district commissioners. The problem, he said, is that elections for commissioner are not held at the same time as other prominent elections, so most people are unaware of when they take place. ³We must stop these hidden elections,² Jorge said.
Becker did not attend the forum.
The candidates in the 3rd Legislative District, incumbent John Ciotti (R-Valley Stream) and challenger Ali Mirza (D-Elmont), offered their opposing views on freezing tax reassessments. The proposal, which appears to be supported by a majority of Republicans in county government, would allow no increase in the assessed value of residential property in Nassau County for five years.
Ciotti, an original member of the county Legislature, said he is in favor of the policy, adding that county officials managed to get 45,700 residents to sign a petition supporting it. The policy, he said, would help combat ³the For Sale signs² that continue to pop up across the county because people cannot pay their property taxes. Ciotti said that if he were re-elected, he would focus on the county's tax structure and fight to freeze property reassessments. ³We want to give back to the seniors who built this community,² he said.
Mirza, who ran unsuccessfully against Ciotti in 2005, said he is opposed to freezing tax assessments because it goes against the principle of tax fairness. He said the revenue from a strong commercial base can lower taxes, which is why, according to Mirza, residents of Garden City pay lower taxes than those of Elmont.
One Elmont resident complained about the number of 99 cent stores in Elmont, and asked Mirza what he would do to bring other businesses to the area. Mirza was unable to finish his answer due to the interruptions by audience members, one of whom yelled that Mirza was only at the debate ³to throw mud on Ciotti.² Another Elmont resident told Mirza that he only discussed problems, without offering solutions.
³With freezing reassessment, people living in Garden City and Brookville are not paying their fair share of taxes for their houses,² Mirza said. ³The people living in Elmont, Valley Stream and South Floral Park end up paying higher taxes.²
Eighth district challenger Michael Uhl (D-West Hempstead), a former West Hempstead Water District commissioner who is challenging longtime incumbent Vincent Muscarella (R-West Hempstead), called the reassessment-freeze idea a ³smoke screen,² because it conceals a bigger problem. ³To lower taxes, you have to spend less or make more,² Uhl said.
Ciotti spoke about how he was able to bring $2.7 million in funds to the 3rd District, which will be used for improvements on Elmont Road, Dutch Broadway and Meacham Avenue. Ciotti also announced that he has a project planned for the Dutch Broadway Athletic Complex, which includes the installation of new soccer fields.
Mirza spoke about how he helped to bring Sustainable Long Island, an economic development organization, into Elmont in 2005 to help revitalize the hamlet. He said he is still working with the organization to build Elmont¹s commercial base, in the hope that residents¹ quality of life will improve.
Ciotti and Mirza had a contentious battle for the Legislature in 2005, which included a Mirza quote in Newsday that he was offended by a comment Ciotti made to the Herald that in order to combat skyrocketing school taxes, school districts should require documentation of students¹ legal residence in order to ³flush out illegal families.² According to the Newsday article, Mirza said he took ³flush² to mean the action of a toilet, and that the image was intended to appeal to racially biased voters. Ciotti later said that he only meant to ³bring the issue to light² in the district.
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