By Doug Miller
Kelly said he was asked to run for the Legislature by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who needs to hold on to his one-seat legislative majority in order to mount a successful second term - and a possible 2006 gubernatorial run.
"Ultimately it's because of my family," said Kelly. "After conversations with my wife, my children, my sister and my mother, it became clear that taking my political career to the next level is not what's best for us."
Meanwhile, Scott Nigro has stepped down as leader of the Long Beach Democratic Party, several people close to the leader have said. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Steven Polcer, the deputy chairman, until a new leader can be selected.
Nigro, a former city councilman, was elected leader last May, after Eugene Cammarato resigned to become a deputy Nassau County Democratic chairman. Nigro did not return several calls for comment.
Kelly's decision may mean the end of the road for the councilman, who was largely written off by the Long Beach Democrats for another term after he endorsed the Republican coalition slate in the 2003 election, a move that was seen as vital to the GOP's upset win.
When the coalition took office, several members of the Long Beach chapter of the Nassau Democratic Committee - the people who decide who gets to run locally on the Democratic line - lost their City Hall jobs. Many of them continue to blame Kelly. He met with the committee in February to discuss his candidacy and to get a feel for its support. He said later that it felt good to clear the air, but didn't think he had won many converts.
The Democrats have not yet announced a slate for November's council race, but it is widely expected that incumbent Leonard Remo will be joined by Denise Tangney, an activist and a sister-in-law of Michael Tangney, the commanding officer of the Long Beach Police Department's traffic division; and Robert Tepper, a deputy Nassau County attorney and the son of Long Beach City Court Judge Roy Tepper.
Should Kelly decide to run to keep his seat, it is not too late for Tepper or Tangney to step aside. If the party sticks with them, Kelly has the option of running in a primary. That seems unlikely, however, and despite all their ups and downs, Remo said Tuesday that it's Kelly's job if he still wants it.
"I'm a supporter of Councilman Kelly's decision to do what he needs to do," Remo said. "He's an incumbent Democrat, as am I. I think he has represented the people of Long Beach with nothing but good and honest government as his guide."
As a first-term member of the minority party who won by the slimmest of margins two years ago, Ford is seen by Democrats as vulnerable, although her popularity has not waned. She was president of the West End Neighbors Association when her husband, Harry, a New York City Firefighter, died battling a fire in Queens in June 2001. Public discontent with the Democratic leadership in the city, combined wither her experience as an activist helped her squeak by incumbent Michael Zapson.
Ford did not return a call for comment.
A dinner was held at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Garden City on March 24 - Holy Thursday, appropriately enough - hosted by Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs and attended by Nigro; former Long Beach Democratic chairmen Eugene Cammarato and Larry Elovich; Polcer; Joshua Ketover, who ran as a Democrat against state Sen. Dean Skelos last November; Zapson and Remo. According to several people who attended, Jacobs attempted to work out a deal in which a Kelly legislative candidacy would be more palatable to the men at the table, most of whom resent Kelly to one degree or another.
Instead, it was decided that a poll would be taken of Democrats throughout the Fourth District, which includes Island Park and most of Oceanside, as to who would be a better candidate, Kelly or Warren Vegh, a Long Beach Chamber of Commerce vice president and Long Beach Library Board trustee who is the preferred candidate of several of the men.
Kelly's decision makes that issue moot, and clears the way for Vegh to take on Ford. Vegh is a phys. ed. teacher who also runs a successful pool-cleaning business (his BMW's license plate reads "Poolman"). While his appeal with the electorate is difficult to gauge - he was the No. 2 vote-getter in last May's three-man library election - he is unlikely to have members of his own party striving to bring him down, as Kelly undoubtedly would have.
Vegh did not return a call for comment, but he told the Herald last month he was still considering whether to run. He does face the possibility of a primary challenge by Jerry Lamonica, an Oceanside Democrat who failed in two bids for Town of Hempstead office.
The party is, however, spared the drama of having a leader at odds with its flagship candidate. Nigro was one of the council candidates in 2003 that Kelly abandoned on the eve of the election.
For now, Ketover is expected to emerge as the face of the party, if not the standard bearer, during the fall campaign by acting as a spokesman. He may be on a short list of candidates for party leader.
If so, it would mean a reversal of fortune for the city's Democrats, since Ketover was Suozzi's hand-picked candidate to run against Skelos. "For years, the Long Beach Democrats were powerful enough to pick the Nassau County leader," said Elovich, who was party chairman in the 1970s. "Now the county is trying to pick our leader. It's tough to watch."
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