Off year elections are coming up fast and I figured it was as good a time as any to discuss the local elections here in a two part series. Below the jump we will focus on the Nassau County (NY) Executive race.
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
In odd years, we here in NY elect County and Town level politicians as well as other local pols. This year there is an open seat for the Nassau County Executive after Ed Mangano was indicted on federal felony corruption charges. That’s not to say he didn’t try to find a way to run for re-election considering he still hasn’t resigned as County Executive. It was only due to equally corrupt Nassau Republican Party that refused to allow him a spot on their ballot.
But Mangano will leave Nassau County with a parting present though. In June, Mangano decided to put a 40 of his political appointees into County union jobs and a few more into civil service positions so that whoever wins in November will not be allowed to fire them. This is due to the 6 month probationary period expiring before the new administration takes over. Not only will these political hacks get that protect, but they will also be eligible for the pay bump next year as well. Wonderful isn’t it?
Anyway, since the primary has passed, the contenders for the County Executive position are: for the Dems, current County Legislator Laura Curran and for the GOP former State Sen. Jack Martins.
Curran is a former journalism who had worked for both the New York Daily News and the New York Post. Don’t ask me how that happens; I have no idea. Curran has the dubious distinct of being temporarily kicked out of party caucus meetings due to voting for a Mangano written budget bill that added $50 million of debt to the county’s coffers without informing her colleagues of her vote or even that a vote was going to be occurring. (Mangano somehow claim the borrowing embedded in the bill was really revenue. Where have we heard that before?). Curran in the one televised debate between her and Repub turned Dem County Comptroller George Maragos, claimed she had never been kicked out of caucus meetings. A quick two second internet search brought up tens of articles specifying she had, in fact, been kicked out of caucus meetings and as of May was still not allowed back in. Yet she became the party’s chosen nominee. And don’t think this is the only Dem to be barred from caucus meetings. One was barred after being arrested for domestic violence (he’s still a member of the legislature after called from the minority leader for him to re-sign.) and another was barred for making racist remarks.
This is not to say there aren’t positives to Curran’s candidacy. She is the first woman to get the nomination from either major party for County Executive and would be the first woman to hold that title if she were to win. Curran also vows to create more transparency in the way the County does business by opening how companies are awarded projects. She vows to not put her name on all county signs and buildings. A giant waste of taxpayer money and something should really be termed illegal political advertising. She also has vowed to help push through a bill that would allow the County DA to bring corruption charges instead of having to wait for the feds to step due to an odious state law. She is also for smart sustainable building and improving public transportation including restoring bus lines that were axed under the current Republican administration which has left the elderly and the poor struggling to navigate around Nassau County.
Jack Martins, a lawyer and former mayor of Mineola from Old Westbury, is running on a similar ethics platform as Curran though he hasn’t come out against plastering his name all over the county. The big fiscal issue he is campaigning on is reducing fees, a big problem here in Nassau along with taxes. The Mangano admin drastically increases all sorts of fees in order to plug budget holes after the county was once again put under the control of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (something that seems to only happen under Republicans). Martins was one of the senators instrumental in passing the 2% tax cap bill a few years ago as well as pretty much killing the MTA tax that was only levied on businesses in the suburbs of NYC to help fund the MTA. (Note: I supported the changes that were implemented. That tax was very draconian.) There is little on his website about what his spending priorities are but I do know he is not much in favor of doing anything to help improve public transportation. Martins has launched attacks at Curran for supporting sanctuary state status for NY and has made other attacks regarding undocumented immigrants in. He has also blasted her for support New York Communities for Change which calls “a radical leftist group just like ACORN.”
Finally, both candidates are on record as supporting the horrible Anti-BDS law making its way through Congress.
I have contended in the past that Nassau County politics is the most corrupt in the country. I have written a number of diaries describing just some of the contemptible things politicians have done here. I encourage anyone who believes different to argue their point the comments.
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to look at the Town elections taking place. If you think the corruption in this diary was bad, just wait.
Diarist reserves all rights to his original writing only. Community material is not covered by this ©
Now onto the Tops!!
TOP COMMENTS for Sept 23, 2017
From your diarist:
Belle Ame writes this snarky comment about the Oval Office squatter not needing Frank Luntz.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for Sept 22, 2017, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for Sept 22, 2017. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter! (There is one picture that didn’t load properly, but the link should still work.)