By John C. O'Connell
The Third District includes Atlantic Beach, East Atlantic Beach, Cedarhurst, Elmont, part of Franklin Square, part of Hewlett, Inwood, Lawrence, part of Lynbrook, part of Malverne, part of North Valley Stream, North Woodmere, Valley Stream, Woodsburgh and Woodmere.
Darcy was the mayor of the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream from 1994 to 1998. The Valley Stream resident was elected to the state Assembly in 1998 and represented the area in Albany until running for a seat on the town board in 2000. He has served as the Third District councilman since, and now seeks re-election to the town board.
Grasso, who also lives in Valley Stream, graduated from SUNY-Stony Brook in 1997 with a degree in business administration and political science. He has been a member of the Gibson Civic Association and the Valley Stream ethics board. He has been a Democrat committeeman and community representative for County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and for Representative Carolyn McCarthy. He is a chief registrar at the county Board of Elections. Grasso said he is a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve, working in naval intelligence.
Grasso ran against Robert Barra in 2002 for the Assembly seat Darcy vacated to run for town board in 2000. Barra won with 60 percent of the vote in that 2002 Assembly election.
One of the recent accomplishments of which Darcy is most proud is his action to enable five areas within the Third that were unserved by a library district to regain library service. "It was a long time coming," Darcy said, "and judging from the reaction I get, it is the single most important thing I think I accomplished in the first three years that I was over at the town."
Darcy says he is also proud that he makes sure that the district gets its fair share of town services and improvements. "We've put in over $15 million of improvements to roads and parking lots," he said. "We've redone or have plans on the drawing board to be redoing every park that is within my district." And in the incorporated areas of his district, where the town has limited interaction, Darcy says he is working on "cooperative agreements" between villages and the town that will mean lower costs for village taxpayers on roadwork and other projects.
Darcy also said he is proud of the town's cell phone program, done in conjunction with the National Council of Jewish Women. The town collected more than 7,000 donated phones, reprogrammed them, and gave them to seniors and disabled people so they can call 911 in emergencies.
Grasso did not respond to the Herald's requests for an interview. In his race against Barra in 2002, Grasso urged voters to choose him because, as a Democrat in a Democrat-controlled Assembly, he'd be more effective than Republican Barra in getting things done for the district. "Barra serves in the minority," Grasso said then. "His issues aren't being heard. What he's able to do is severely limited."
Now the Democrat, Grasso, seeks to defeat the Republican, Darcy, for a spot on the Republican-controlled town board, and he isn't repeating that argument.
At a recent League of Women Voters forum at the Hewlett-Woodmere Library that Darcy and Grasso attended, Grasso said that he is running "to present my views that the town should be doing better."
On the issue of taxes, Darcy said the town has been doing a "good job holding the line on taxes as best we can, and we're in very good shape financially." Grasso said at the forum that the town "did enjoy a surplus because of an economic boom and the town's 'rainy-day fund.' That's why they didn't have to raise taxes."
Darcy cited problems with illegal apartments in the town, people illegally converting one-family houses into two- and three-family homes. Darcy said the problem is most severe in the cases of absentee landlords who carve their old houses into two or three apartments for additional income. These illegal occupancies put a burden on municipal services, and even more of a burden on school districts. The town has passed code revisions that create new inspection rules and techniques that enable code enforcers to rely on certain external indicia to justify the issuance of summonses.
In response to a question at the forum on the environment, Grasso said that "we should become more proactive on the environment and use more biodegradable pesticides."
On the issue of affordable housing, Darcy said the town "has been on the cutting edge of the issue," and Grasso conceded that "the town has done a commendable job in affordable housing."
Grasso said that "community is the most important thing" and that he has the experience and enthusiasm to do the job."
Darcy says he "likes serving in government and trying to make a difference."
