By Jonann Brady
Republican candidate Kevin Kamen, 46, has called Scannell unresponsive to constituents and a "major disappointment." Meanwhile, Scannell, 41, responds that Kamen often gets his facts wrong.
With three Baldwinites running -- Susan Wilmer is a candidate on the Conservative Party line -- this race has centered on Baldwin, but the Fifth District, with 43,347 registered voters, also covers Rockville Centre, South Hempstead and parts of Freeport.
Kamen touts his financial background as the owner of a print-media evaluation firm and as president of the Baldwin Public Library for 26 years, where he has overseen two public bond votes to expand the library. As a member of the Baldwin Auxiliary Police and its current chief, Kamen says he also has "a clear understanding of the problems of gangs and quality of life."
"I am a man who speaks his mind and is aggressive in getting things done," said Kamen.
Scannell, who is seeking his third term as a legislator, served for 10 years as a Nassau County assistant district attorney and is chair of the county's Public Safety Committee, says he has delivered for both the county and the district.
Along with helping to restore the county to fiscal stability under County Executive Tom Suozzi's leadership, Scannell says that he is the first legislator in 30 years to deliver any major capital improvements to Baldwin, by securing over $500,000 in beautification money and $4.4 million to rehabilitate Milburn and Lofts Ponds and Silver Lake Park. He has also initiated a pilot program to send street sweepers down Grand Avenue.
Scannell says he is also the only legislator to open a district office in Baldwin and the first to hold town-hall-style meetings in the district. As for Kamen's accusation that he is inaccessible and doesn't return constituents' calls, Scannell says his office has created 1,800 constituent files in the last year alone. "[Kamen] should look at the facts," Scannell said. "I'm extremely proud I've brought the county legislature into the district more than any other legislator."
Kamen, though, contends that Scannell "doesn't have any creative, ambitious ideas. He has little projects on little pieces of Grand Ave. Give me a break."
Kamen said that, if elected, he would establish a district office, schedule office hours every Saturday and one night a week, and convene an economic council made up of government, business and civic leaders from the district to trade information and solve problems, such as bringing business into the communities.
"It's about us getting on the same page and communicating with people in the district," said Kamen.
As for fighting gangs, he said he would try to enlist the services of the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency to do sweeps of problem areas in Nassau County. "If we have to lock up these kids, we'll lock them up," he said.
"I'm gonna be a 24/7 legislator," Kamen added. "I'm gonna drive around with the police commissioner, with code enforcers, with sanitation."
For his part, Scannell says, he wants to continue to raise the bar for himself and deliver larger projects to the district. "In my third term, I want to continue to keep getting Nassau County out of this mess," he said. "We've turned the corner, but we need to keep the [Democratic] majority to finish the job."
