By Brian Zanzonico
"My opponent, since there's nothing else to argue about, has pointed to wording in an article," Ciotti said at the Elmont East End and Progressive-Weona civic clubs' Meet the Candidates Night on Oct. 5. "For five elections, I've never had an opponent try to racially divide a community. Shame on you for trying to divide this community."
Mirza told Newsday late last month that he was offended by comments by Ciotti, published in the Aug. 25 issue of the Herald, that to combat skyrocketing school taxes, school districts should require documentation of legal residence before enrolling a student in a school in order to "flush out illegal families." According to the Newsday article, Mirza said he took "flush" to mean the action of a toilet, which was intended to appeal to racially biased voters. Ciotti said that he meant "to bring the issue to light" in the district, which encompasses Elmont, Franklin Square, Valley Stream, North Valley Stream, Bellerose Terrace and parts of West Hempstead.
Mirza said that despite what Ciotti said, he is running on the issues, which include plans for economic development, quality of life, safety, infrastructure and governmental waste. "It's not about race, ethnic background, religion, Democrats and Republicans - it's about our communities," Mirza said at the meeting.
Ciotti, who has represented the district since the Nassau County Legislature's inception a decade ago, said in an interview after the meeting that Mirza's comments to Newsday have no merit because Ciotti's record proves otherwise. A ranking member of the Legislature's Minority Affairs Committee, Ciotti said he was once chosen by the county's Commission on Human Rights to deliver a keynote speech at Hofstra on bias and prejudice and why they shouldn't exist. He added that he has spent his time in office working to bring the community together.
"I don't look at race, color or creed," Ciotti said. "He has no issues to stand on. Rather than face the issues, he's attempting to be divisive. The community knows [me] better than that."
He also said that Mirza's characterization of him as a racist is "hurtful." "By flush, I meant to bring to the forefront," Ciotti said. "But the problem is, an article gets circulated and people think I'm a bigot. It's so unfair."
In an interview with the Herald after the civic meeting, however, Mirza said he never told Newsday that he took offense to the comment because of its racial implications. He said he was offended that Ciotti was talking about cracking down on illegal housing in an election year, when he had done nothing about it for the previous 10 years. "My objection was not that [Ciotti's remarks were racist]," Mirza said. "My objection is very clear, very simple, very straightforward. Where were you for the last 10 years? That is the only objection I made, and the only objection I'm making again on record here."
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