Newsday Endorses Democratic Challenger Keith Scalia over Joe Saladino

Saladino got a tepid endorsement last time around. This year, Newsday just whacks him.

Newsday
There aren't any windmills in Massapequa, and there are many Republicans, but that isn't stopping Democrat Keith Scalia from titling at both with his campaign for good government.

Scalia, 37, a high school English teacher who also tutors and works for extra cash as an usher at Shea Stadium, wants to go to Albany to change it. Campaign financing is where he would start. Taking the money out of politics, said Scalia -- who accepts no donation over $20 -- would reduce patronage and the need for earmarks, the money legislators spread around in their districts.

Scalia, who lost in a race for a council seat in the Town of Oyster Bay, says preserving and repairing the state's infrastructure is important. He said better planning could have avoided the Hicksville parking garage debacle.

Incumbent Assemb. Joseph Saladino, 45, of Massapequa, says all the right things about reducing the property tax burden, and he seems to support every proposal that claims to do that, realistic or not. However, asked how he would cut the budget, Saladino says health care, school aid and tax-relief programs are off the table. Instead, he names eliminating Medicaid fraud and cutting frivolous spending, such as the $2 million needed to rename the Triboro Bridge for Robert F. Kennedy, as a solution.

Saladino has spent just over four years in Albany but has done little other than become overbearing and dismissive. Compared to Scalia's optimism about changing Albany, Saladino has already become a creature of its moribund thinking and ways. The editorial board endorses Scalia.