By Matt Hampton
Solages, 30, is a lifelong Elmont resident who, growing up, also spent a great deal of his time in Franklin Square. “I feel like I was raised by two communities,” he said. For him, those communities have become synonymous with service — and with trying to make the world a little better, one neighborhood at a time.
As a student at H. Frank Carey High School, Solages received a coveted Student of the Year award. His name — already familiar in the community thanks to his family’s law practice — is on an honored students plaque in a school hallway. “Sometimes when I get discouraged, I like to go back there and look at that plaque,” Solages said. “I say to myself, ‘Hey, I can make a difference.’”
He has made his mark at more places than just his alma mater. He attended Boston College’s prestigious law school before doing an internship with the Peace Corps. Afterward he clerked for a federal judge before interning at the Bronx district attorney’s office.
In addition to working in the family law practice, which has two offices in Nassau County, Solages is the treasurer of the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development, a group that has spearheaded numerous studies and was instrumental in aiding the Hempstead Turnpike corridor revitalization, a process that is still in its early stages.
Solages, a Democrat, said he considers his run for the county clerk’s seat to be the next step in his public service career. The clerk’s office, currently occupied by Republican Maureen O’Connell, makes sure the county’s legal proceedings move efficiently and according to plan. O’Connell has made efforts to modernize the office, helping it transition to the digital age and process paperwork quickly.
But Solages said that the way the office currently operates isn’t exactly indicative of a 21st century bureaucracy. “It’s about making government work — accountably, visibly, fiscally responsibly,” he said. “I think that people are asking, ‘What has my county clerk done for me lately, or ever?’ and I want to make that office visible and accountable for people.”
Solages claims that one of the most commonly shared opinions in the community right now is that taxpayers aren’t getting enough bang for their buck in the county clerk’s office. “People pay high taxes here, and they want to see improved services for what they’re paying,” he said. “I would like to introduce several online processing services that would make the office run more efficiently and reduce waste ... not just in technology but also basic management practices.”
Taxpayer’s problems, he said, have a number of causes. Though high taxes lead to increased revenue in all areas of
government, even in lean times, that invariably leads to government waste and redundancies. When that happens, Solages said, people turn to a new political party for results, and Democrats are the party that can move things forward now.
“We see the county executive, what he’s done the past eight years,” Solages said. People want responsible government, they want to see proper stewardship — people who are fiscally responsible, that’s what people want right now.”
One idea Solages has for the clerk’s office is a revised set of office hours, including at least one night a week during which the office would be kept open late. People who work difficult, time-consuming jobs often can’t find the time during the work week to get the clerk’s office to file necessary paperwork, and extended hours, he said, would go a long way toward making the office more friendly to the professionals who so often depend on it.
His overriding goal, Solages said, can be summed up easily. “I’m a small business owner, and small business owners are the lifeblood of our community,” he said. “I want to empower people with information.”
Comments about this story? MHampton@
liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.
