By JOSEPH KELLARD
Even though the incumbent, Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), is nearing his 20th year in the Assembly, he doesn’t necessarily see himself as a career politician. “I’m not staying in politics, I’m staying in public service,” said Weisenberg when asked how long he expects to keep running for re-election. “I’m going to be there to the best of my health and my wife’s health.”
Michael McGinty, Weisenberg’s Republican challenger, said his campaign’s focus is on neither Weisenberg nor on winning or losing the election. “I think it’s about focusing our attention on a state Assembly which is New York City-driven and that I think is dysfunctional,” said McGinty, an Island Park native. “We need another strong voice from Nassau County, and I like to think I could provide that voice.”
McGinty’s resume details a career in municipal finance, including 20-plus years of budgetary and fiscal review work with the county’s board of supervisors and legislators as well as with the county’s receiver of taxes, McGinty’s present position. For the past 30 years he has been active on the Nassau County Republican Committee, and in that time has sat on the zoning board for the Village of Island Park.
Asked about his priorities if he is elected, McGinty was quick to name three issues: pursuing a moratorium on the state portion of the gasoline tax, cutting spending and reining in school property taxes. He explained that he would push for relaxing the state’s gas tax until today’s unstable economy improves, and he believes the revenues lost from this measure would be returned to the local economy in the 20th District, which includes the Long Beach barrier island, the Five Towns, Oceanside, Island Park, East Rockaway and Lynbrook.
“I think the 40,000-plus people in this Assembly district will take that money they save on the gas tax and spend it in other ways and generate state revenue,” McGinty said. “But you’re going to give them the opportunity to spend the money and drive the economy.”
Weisenberg, a retired school teacher, Long Beach police officer and lifeguard, talked broadly about his goals. “My plan is to make sure that we maintain all that we can to provide a quality of life and dignity and respect for our people,” he said. When asked for specifics, he talked about what has come to define his Assembly career most: fighting to secure financial aid to assist mentally and physically disabled children, to fund things like handicapped-accessible equipment or playgrounds at schools and parks.
One such piece of legislation, Jonathan’s Law, signed in May 2007 by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, entitles parents and legal guardians access to all child abuse investigation files and medical histories. Weisenberg noted that it took several years to get the law he sponsored passed, and his fight for it exemplifies his self-described role in the Assembly as a maverick who pushes relentlessly for his constituents.
In response to critics who see him as focusing on too few issues, Weisenberg pointed out that he has worked to address issues as diverse as home insurance and the environment, highlighting funds he secured for dredging and beach restoration on the Long Beach barrier island. “Most of the Assembly doesn’t like me because I’m one of those people who fights for my bills,” he said. “I don’t bend.”
Weisenberg emphasized that he has sponsored or co-sponsored more than 250 bills that have become law. Just two weeks ago, Gov. David Paterson signed a Weisenberg-backed bill that prohibits any other municipality from tapping into southwestern Nassau County’s sole water supply, the Lloyd Aquifer, a bill New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposed.
Weisenberg is also big on doling out about $163,000 in state discretionary funds he receives annually, paying for such things as firefighter equipment, adolescent health services, animal rescue and library and arts programs. “They provide a safety net for our not-for-profit agencies so we can have an ability to help these people that serve others,” he said.
Part of McGinty’s focus is on spending cuts, which he said he would examine on a program-by-program basis. Citing state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s contention that over the next four years, spending will increase 34 percent while revenues climb just 21 percent, McGinty said the difference must be made up by capping property taxes or limiting property tax growth annually while cutting spending. His sights are set on unfunded mandates, which, he said, comprise nearly 70 percent of the state budget.
“If the federal government wants a mandate, then they ought to be responsible for funding it,” McGinty said, mentioning Medicaid as a prime example. “It should do the same for any program it mandates on the state and local level.”
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
