By Andrew Coen
Merrill said he decided to challenge Candella, the board's chairman who is seeking his third five-year term, because of what he considered to be the district's commissioners' poor financial management of the district's $14 million budget. The poor financial controls were cited in a 2005 audit by Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, who also criticized sanitary officials for not cooperating with the investigation.
Merrill, who manages a multi-million-dollar budget as the director of operations at Weill Cornell Medical College and previously worked as a department administrator at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said he would like to use his knowledge and experience to help restore financial controls and stability to the district. The Cedarhurst resident, who acknowledged that residents are happy with their current service, said the status quo needs to be changed to study how to offer services at a cheaper rate possibly through consolidation.
Candella, a longtime Lawrence resident, has said he is proud that Sanitary District 1 offers many unique services to its 18,000 customers, such as backdoor pickup, and is the only sanitation department in the state to have its own recycling plant. Candella responded to Merrill's criticism of the commissioners not being cooperative with Weitzman's audit by saying that the attorneys handed all the paperwork for it and it is time to move on.
Candella said he is opposed to the idea of consolidating services such as sanitation, feeling that it would ultimately be more expensive and bad for residents.
Merrill, a Democrat, has the backing of Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), who said he is supporting the challenger since the Republicans have controlled Sanitary District 1 for too long and a one-party government is not healthy.
The vote for sanitary commissioner is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday, July 10, at District 1 headquarters on Bay Boulevard in North Lawrence.
Comments about this story? Acoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
