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Ciotti vs. Mirza, round two
They face off again in 3rd Legislative District
By Brian Zanzonico and Dana Williams
On Nov. 6, voters in Nassau County's 3rd Legislative District will choose between a six-term legislator and a second-time challenger -- the same two candidates who went head to head in 2005.
The 3rd District encompasses Elmont, Franklin Square, North Valley Stream, Bellerose Terrace, South Floral Park and portions of Valley Stream.
Incumbent John Ciotti, a Republican from North Valley Stream and an original member of the Legislature, won the 2005 race by 824 votes. His challenger, Elmont Democrat Ali Mirza, garnered 47 percent of the vote -- nearly 1,400 more votes than Ciotti's opponent in 2003, Lawrence DeAngelis. This time around, Mirza is hoping to unseat Ciotti. "I think I can win," Mirza said.
In 2005, Mirza was the driving force behind bringing Elmont to the attention of Sustainable Long Island, a not-for-profit economic and environmental group, to help revitalize the area near Belmont Park. "A strong commercial base goes toward paying school taxes and property taxes," he said.
In this year's campaign, at the League of Women Voters Candidates Forum on Oct. 11 at Elmont Public Library, Mirza said he is still working with the organization to build Elmont's commercial base, in the hope that residents' quality of life will improve.
Mirza, who owns the Mirza Group insurance firm and works in the county's Constituent Affairs Office, said that consolidating special sanitary and water districts will give residents much needed tax relief. "It's a very simple," he said. "The Town of Hempstead has its own sanitation department, and we have Sanitary District No. 6. They both do the same job. If the Town of Hempstead is efficient, abolish the other districts."
Mirza said he is opposed to a plan to freeze property taxes for five years, an initiative Ciotti supports. The proposal, which appears to be supported by a majority of Republicans in county government, would allow no increase in the assessed value of residential property for five years. "Freezing assessments doesn't guarantee taxes won't go up," Mirza said. "It doesn't solve anything." His answer to the tax issue is to build the commercial base and, he contends, the revenue "from that will in turn lower taxes."
Ciotti, a graduate of Valley Stream North High School, believes that freezing reassessments will help lawmakers make things easier for the senior citizens who, he said, helped build communities across Nassau County. He said that if he is re-elected, he will focus on the county's tax structure and fight to pass a property-reassessment freeze.
"By freezing tax reassessments, it will allow for more predictability in residents' budgets, and the whole idea is all about predictability," Ciotti said. "Right now, homeowners do not know what the county portion of their taxes is going to be ... and freezing reassessments stops this from happening."
Ciotti helped bring in $2.7 million in funds to the 3rd District, which, he said, will be used for aesthetic improvements on Elmont Road, Dutch Broadway and Meacham Avenue in Elmont. At the candidates forum, he announced that he has a project planned for the Dutch Broadway Athletic Complex in Elmont, which includes the installation of new soccer fields. Ciotti, a longtime local attorney, has served on the Legislature's Judiciary, Minority Affairs and Budget Review Committees, among others.
Comments about this story? FSeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
They face off again in 3rd Legislative District
By Brian Zanzonico and Dana Williams
On Nov. 6, voters in Nassau County's 3rd Legislative District will choose between a six-term legislator and a second-time challenger -- the same two candidates who went head to head in 2005.
The 3rd District encompasses Elmont, Franklin Square, North Valley Stream, Bellerose Terrace, South Floral Park and portions of Valley Stream.
Incumbent John Ciotti, a Republican from North Valley Stream and an original member of the Legislature, won the 2005 race by 824 votes. His challenger, Elmont Democrat Ali Mirza, garnered 47 percent of the vote -- nearly 1,400 more votes than Ciotti's opponent in 2003, Lawrence DeAngelis. This time around, Mirza is hoping to unseat Ciotti. "I think I can win," Mirza said.
In 2005, Mirza was the driving force behind bringing Elmont to the attention of Sustainable Long Island, a not-for-profit economic and environmental group, to help revitalize the area near Belmont Park. "A strong commercial base goes toward paying school taxes and property taxes," he said.
In this year's campaign, at the League of Women Voters Candidates Forum on Oct. 11 at Elmont Public Library, Mirza said he is still working with the organization to build Elmont's commercial base, in the hope that residents' quality of life will improve.
Mirza, who owns the Mirza Group insurance firm and works in the county's Constituent Affairs Office, said that consolidating special sanitary and water districts will give residents much needed tax relief. "It's a very simple," he said. "The Town of Hempstead has its own sanitation department, and we have Sanitary District No. 6. They both do the same job. If the Town of Hempstead is efficient, abolish the other districts."
Mirza said he is opposed to a plan to freeze property taxes for five years, an initiative Ciotti supports. The proposal, which appears to be supported by a majority of Republicans in county government, would allow no increase in the assessed value of residential property for five years. "Freezing assessments doesn't guarantee taxes won't go up," Mirza said. "It doesn't solve anything." His answer to the tax issue is to build the commercial base and, he contends, the revenue "from that will in turn lower taxes."
Ciotti, a graduate of Valley Stream North High School, believes that freezing reassessments will help lawmakers make things easier for the senior citizens who, he said, helped build communities across Nassau County. He said that if he is re-elected, he will focus on the county's tax structure and fight to pass a property-reassessment freeze.
"By freezing tax reassessments, it will allow for more predictability in residents' budgets, and the whole idea is all about predictability," Ciotti said. "Right now, homeowners do not know what the county portion of their taxes is going to be ... and freezing reassessments stops this from happening."
Ciotti helped bring in $2.7 million in funds to the 3rd District, which, he said, will be used for aesthetic improvements on Elmont Road, Dutch Broadway and Meacham Avenue in Elmont. At the candidates forum, he announced that he has a project planned for the Dutch Broadway Athletic Complex in Elmont, which includes the installation of new soccer fields. Ciotti, a longtime local attorney, has served on the Legislature's Judiciary, Minority Affairs and Budget Review Committees, among others.
Comments about this story? FSeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
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