State Senate Results

Republicans hold on to seats in Nassau

State Senate - District 5
Marcellino, Carl - 47,583 57.13%
Bielanski, Leslie - 35,703 42.87%

State Senate - District 6
Hannon, Kemp - 40,042 58.28%
Roper-Simpson, Casilda - 28,661 41.72%

State Senate - District 7
Balboni, Michael - 42,198 57.83%
Hand, Joseph - 30,768 42.17%

State Senate - District 8
Fuschillo, Charles - 45,021 60.92%
Small, Adam - 28,885 39.08%

State Senate - District 9 Name
Skelos, Dean - 51,533 63.65%
Goldberg, Odelia - 29,436 36.35%

Nassau Judical Results - Bad News for Republicans

The Nassau GOP did fairly poorly here... Dems win 9, GOP win 3.
The GOP spent alot of money on a nasty TV ad campaign and still came up short.
GOP Chairman Joe Mondello's losing record stands.

Dem Winners in Blue, GOP in Red

Supreme Court (vote for 2)
Reporting 100%
x Joel Asarch (D, I, WF) 174,138 27%
John Marks (R, C) 171,973 23%
Thomas Adams (R, I, C) 154,666 25%
Randy Marber (D, WF) 138,125 26%

Family Court (vote for 3)
Reporting 100%
x Conrad Singer (D, C, WF) 178,810 19%
x Ellen Greenberg (D, WF) 175,883 18%
x Robert Bogle (R, I, C, WF) 156,339 17%
Stacy Fleisher Bennett (D, I) 155,458 16%
Patricia Doyle (R, I) 142,966 15%
Merik Aaron (R, C) 140,578 15%

1st District Court
Reporting 100%
x Susan Kluewer (D, WF) 164,583 52%
Francis Ricigliano (R, I, C) 149,241 48%

2nd District Court (vote for 3)
Reporting 100%
x Valerie Bullard (D, WF) 93,296 17%
x Andrew Engel (D, WF) 92,709 17%
x Andrea Phoenix (D) 89,341 17%
Terence Murphy (R, I, C) 86,429 16%
Jane Shrenkel (R, I, C, WF) 86,057 16%
Darlene Harris (R, I, C) 83,354 16%

3rd District Court
Reporting 100%
x Scott Fairgrieve (D, I, C) 32,413 63%
Henry Stanziale (R, C) 18,974 37%

4th District Court
Reporting 100%
x William O'Brien (R, I, C) 42,565 53%
Edmund Dane (D, WF) 39,177 47%


Glen Cove city judge
100%
x Richard McCord (R, I, C) 3,785 100%

An Election Night Laugh

I was watching News12 Long Island and they had Jerry Kremer and Bruce Blakeman on a analysts.
When discussing how well incumbents did on the Island and how they alway get re-elected, Blakeman actually said "Long Island loves its incumbents."
This is that same Bruce Blakeman who was the Presiding Officer of the Nassau County Legislature that got thrown out of office in 1999 alomng with the majority of republican incumbents.

FYI - Local Voters Guides

Here are some Voters Guides to read before election day...

Long Island Press

Newsday Scroll down to list of races from sunday

League of Women Voters for Nassau County

For all of New York scroll down

Massapequanews.com Political Commentary

Christine Sohmer over at massapequanews.com provides local news through her weekly webcast. Christine and her staff get to every event and provide photoessays that go beyond the local newspapers. The site isn't a political site and Christine in her webcasts has spoken well of politicians from across the political spectrum.
Massapequanews.com offers a webcast devoted to tuesdays election.
Take a look and if you live in the Massapequas, visit the site.

An Election Incident at Waldbaums

On saturday, King, Faso (candidiate for governor) and Joe Saladino (local Assemblyman) went campaigning at the Waldbaums on Hicksville Road in Massapequa.
A posse of 30 people plus a limo set up shop so that the three candidates could press soem flesh.
The problem was that with such a large group, it was difficult for shoppers to navigate the entance and exit to the parking lot.
A store manager came out and asked the group to move along.
Saladino didn't like being told what to do but decided to relent when the manager said he would call the police.
According to witnesses, Saladino got a bit too big for his britches and was knocked down a few pegs.

Note to local politicians: It might be your district but that doesn't make you the boss.

Assemblyman Saladino is Big Fat Liar

The sad excuse for an Assemblyman has been caught in another lie.
Saladino tells the Massapequa Post "One of the biggest obstacles to passing laws such as the civil confinement law for sexual predators, however, has been the Democratic majority in the Assembly, he said. "Every time we bring bills to protect children, they are held up by Democrats who apparently are more concerned about the rights of abusers than the rights of victims," he said."

Wait one GOSH DARN second!!
A simple check of the record of the State Assembly AND Saladino's own record show he voted FOR a civil confinement bill brought up by the DEMOCRATS!!!!!

You can eaily access the bill by going to this link.
BILL NO A09282
SAME AS No same as
SPONSOR Silver
COSPNSR Lentol, Aubry, Rivera P, Weisenberg
MLTSPNSR Abbate, Alessi, Bradley, Canestrari, Clark, Colton, Cusick,
Cymbrowitz, DelMonte, Destito, DiNapoli, Eddington, Englebright,
Espaillat, Fields, Galef, Gantt, Gianaris, Gordon, Greene, Gunther,
Karben, Koon, Lafayette, Latimer, Lavelle, Lavine, Lifton, Lupardo,
Magee, Markey, Morelle, Ortiz, Pheffer, Pretlow, Ramos, Reilly,
Schroeder, Seminerio, Tonko, Weinstein, Zebrowski

Add Art 10 SS10.01 - 10.17, amd SS1.03, 7.23, 43.03 & 7.09, Ment Hyg L; amd
SS200.50, 310.50 & 380.60, CP L; amd S168-a, add S622, Cor L; add S38, Judy L;
amd S259-a, add S243-b, Exec L; add S43-b, St Fin L

Provides for the civil confinement of sexual predators.

Notice that Mr. 'I Save the Children from Predators' Saladino isn't even a co-sponsor of this bill.
He did vote for it though. "Saladin Y" or in regular english "Saladino Yes."

So what happended to "Every time we bring bills to protect children, they are held up by Democrats who apparently are more concerned about the rights of abusers than the rights of victims," ????

Joe Saladino will say ANYTHING to get re-elected.

If Joe has a problem with the bill, then vote against it. Don't lie and say Democrats care more about the abuser.

It would be nice if Joe actually cared about the truth.

NOTE: I gave Saladino a bye last time he had voiced his concern about the veracity of a story that was printed here. I took down the post to be nice.
No Longer.
You can see the original post here...

What Republican Wants to Give School Budget Control to Albany?

Joe Saladino does.

In his News12 debate with Democrat Craig Heller, Saladino says he wants to give control of YOUR school budget to Albany.
The same Albany lawmakers that can barely get a budget in on time and has run up a huge debt.
This means in YOUR school district, funding will be determined by lawmakers from outside the disrict that know nothing about the schools needs.

I know I don't want people from Monroe or Erie County deciding what is best for my kids school and I'm pretty sure they don't want Joe Saladino deciding how their schools should be run.

We can do better than Saladino.
We NEED to do better than Saladino.

We need Craig Heller who wants REAL school funding reform and wants to lower your taxes, not hand over control of your schools to Albany.

Problem Posting

We have a weeks worth of stuff because of technical issues.

Stayed tuned for some interesting stuff...

The Newsday Non-Endorsement Endorsement of Assemblyman Joe Saladino

A funny thing happens when you read the endorsements from Newsday or any paper for that matter. They usually say "Newsday endorses..."
And example from this weeks endorsements:
"Newsday endorses Lavine."
"Newsday endorses him (Barra) again."
"Newsday endorses Walker."
"Newsday endorses Sedacca."
"Newsday endorses Jackson."

What did they say about Saladino?
"Saladino has demonstrated, even in his short tenure, that he deserves to return."

What, no "We endorse?"

A Two-Fer - This Blog Mentioned in the Media

Our reporting on State Senator John Flanagan's ad taking a cheap shot at Democratic opponent Brooke Ellison got a mention in the New York Times "The problems presented by a campaign involving a disabled candidate were underscored when some Ellison supporters took offense at a 30-second Flanagan commercial they called insensitive and gratuitous. In the ad, an unnamed “Democrat for Flanagan” describes herself as a teacher, mother and golfer, then adds: “Huge — I have a huge handicap.”
On a blog, www.nassaugopwatch.blogspot.com, Democrats complained that the ad was “vile and reprehensible” and “in bad taste.”
Mr. Flanagan defended the ad, saying it was simply one of several unscripted testimonials from supporters in the district. Neither the candidate nor his campaign manager could explain why a comment about a golf handicap would be chosen for inclusion in a campaign commercial. They also declined to identify the woman in the ad.
Last week Mr. Flanagan introduced a new ad that praises Ms. Ellison as courageous and inspirational, even while questioning her credentials by describing her as “young” and “inexperienced.” (Mr. Flanagan, 45, was first elected to the Legislature at 25 — younger than Ms. Ellison.)"

And our other site Peter King Watch made an appearance in Newsday "In the online universe, the Peter King-Dave Mejias race is red-hot, and it's mostly a one-sided affair.
From satirical parodies on YouTube and MySpace to liberal blogs like kingwatch.blogspot.com, Mejias and his supporters are delivering King a drubbing. One of the more whimsical screeds is a music video that features King's head dancing to an up-tempo jazz beat called, "Have You Had Enough of Peter King?"

Wanna see the video? Go to: http://kingwatch.blogspot.com/2006/09/have-you-had-enough-of-peter-king.html

Hannon Ringing Death Knell for New York Republicans?

E.J. Dionne, Jr. writing in the Washington Post "The Empire State strikes back, Hillary, Spitzer lead attack on New York Republican machine in shambles, " quotes Sen. Kemp Hannon about the state of NY republicans. "State Sen. Kemp Hannon, a Long Island Republican who has spent nearly three decades in the Legislature, also worries that the coalition of "Reagan Democrats" that D'Amato helped build -- "they were Irish, Italian and Polish Democrats and some Jews" -- is a thing of the past. "I believe that Bush has destroyed that whole thing," Hannon says. "It's not here any longer in the Northeast." And the parts of upstate New York "not moving ahead economically whatsoever ... feel it a great deal."

Al D'Amato adds "You have a foreign policy which is groping and a domestic (Mark) Foley scandal, so you have a lot of disaffected people and I think it's going to result not only in the Democrats taking over the House, but also with substantial numbers."

Assemblyman Saladino's Opponent On MassapequaNews.com

Democratic candidate for state assembly and local attorney Craig Heller is a guest host on the massapequanews.com webcast this week.

Nassau GOP Losing Voter Edge

From year to year, the republicans are losing the wide gap they used to have in Nassau County. According to Newsday's Spin Cycle site ,
"Democrats are closing the registration gap in Nassau County, once a Republican stronghold.
Since March 1, 6,925 new Democrats have registered to vote in Nassau compared with 3,658 Republicans, according to Democratic elections commissioner William Biamonte. In that period, 5,225 new voters registered but did not enroll in any political party.
That brings the total number of registered Republicans to 331,280 compared with 300,063 Democrats and 177,780 unaffiliated voters.
If this trend continues, "we're moving towards being a Democratic county," Biamonte said. He declined to predict a time frame, but added, "Hopefully not that long."
- Celeste Hadrick on Long Island"

It's still a 31,000 voter gap but his is as close as it has ever been.
Democrats Tom Suozzi, Comptroller Harvey Weitzman, DA Kathleen Rice and Assesor Harvey Levinson all won county-wide.
The large number of unaffiliated voters means it's going to be harder to gauge how the voters are going to cast their votes. Whoever gets the majority of unaffiliated voters are the ones who will control Nassau.

From Our Neighbors in Suffolk

Yes this is Nassau GOP Watch but this stroy needs to be told...

"During an ad for John Flanagan (NY Senate district 2), the narrator has a complete non sequitur about golfing, during which she says "Huge, I have a huge handicap" and laughs.
This is significant because, as I'm sure you know, Flanagan is running against Brooke Ellison, a national advocate for the disabled. She's been paralyzed since she was hit by a car at 11. Brooke is extremely accomplished: she graduated magna cum Laude from Harvard in 2000 (and the Kennedy school in '05). She's been on the Today Show and in the NYT. Christopher Reeve's last project was directing The Brooke Ellison Story.
You can see the full ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3l-LxT3-q8
Chris Stoller from MyDD went to school with her, and did a great post about it: http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/9/26/204631/835"

A Two-Fer.. He's Just a Little "Off": UPDATE

What happend to the original post?
I ran into Joe Saladino and Steve Labriola hanging outside the opening of Peter King's campaign office. Saladino seemed visibly upset over things on this website.
Saladino disputes what was said that he did. He said that what happend was entirely different than what was conveyed.
Fair enough.

Since there is a dispute of the events, I told Saladino I would take down the post and that is what I have done. This was a matter of "He Said/She Said" and we'll leave it at that. I've known Joe for a few years and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say "yes, things can be misinterpreted."
I'm also not saying the source of the stories is wrong. Joe sees it one way and the source sees it another. He gets a bye this time.
He was alo unhappy with the Photoshopped images which placed him in historical photos as a way of adding a funny graphic to the story. Although the photos aren't offensive, I understand Joe's feelings about be misrepresented in the crowd at the Lee harvey Oswald shooting and at the destruction of the Hindenburg and I did not mean to convey that Joe had anything to do with either event.

Saladino wants to keep to the issues and a heartily agree. He had to go to another event today so he did not want to engage in "street debate" with me on some issues.
I welcome the opportunity to engage in a discussion with Saladino on the issues here or at any venue. I am not his opponent but I am a constituent.
I'd like to know why the state legislature has done nothing to solve the school funding issue.
I'd like to know why the "members items" fund has no accountability.


Anyway, the post is down because we want to be fair.

UPDATE: The Original Post is BACK....

Over at massapequaNEWS.com, Christine Sohmer tells us a couple of weeks ago at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, a local politician (JOE SALADINO) she will not name (JOE SALADINO) sat next to her and proceeded to eat from her plate. BLECH!
Being coy, she just says a politician who won a special election and won't name names.
JOE SALADINO

You'll remember that it was an unnamed local politician (JOE SALADINO) who wanted to be photoshopped into a photo-op because he wasn't there.



We at Nassau GOP Watch central found something very interesting when we slowed down the last massapequaNEWS.com webcast.
Keep your eyes open and look for a special visitor to the webcast...



Now for the two-fer....

Last weekend at a parade in Plainedge, Democratic Assembly Candidate Criag Heller was marching in the parade. As he went over to the side to shake hands with someone, Assemblyman Joe Saladino rushed in front of Heller to shake the hand first.
Heller was heard saying "That's nice" when it first happend.
Heller would introduce himself as "I'm Craig Heller and I'm running against the guy who just shook your hand."
This would elicit a laugh from the people as Saladino marched on to the next person.
Saladino brought along a BIG CHECK to hand out and get his picture taken.

9/11

Monday September 11th is a day to let politics go.There is alot to say and alot to be done but for this one day, there is something more important than politics.

Tuesday's Children is a non-profit working to help the families and count on donations to keep their important programs running.

National Search Dog Foundation

World Trade Center Police Disaster Relief Fund

Uniformed Firefighter‘s Association Scholarship Fund

The Port Authority Police World Trade Disaster Survivors’ Fund

From the Community Alliance: Peter Schmitt To Nassau's Parks: "Drop Dead!"

Peter Schmitt To Nassau's Parks: "Drop Dead!"
The Belligerent Nassau County Legislator Holds Up $$ Allocated For Park ProjectsWe all remember the Nassau County Environmental Bond Act -- that $50 million package passed overwhelmingly by Nassau voters back in 2004 designed to preserve open space, remediate brownfields, and to improve the condition of the County's public parks. [Okay. So some of us don't even remember 2004. :-)]
Anyway, the Environmental Bond Act Advisory Committee, back in March of this year, issued a report detailing recommended properties and projects for funding.The report, together with the Committee's recommendations -- based, largely, on nominations and proposals submitted by County residents -- was presented to the Nassau County Legislature, which, to the amazement of many (including this blogger), acted responsibly and relatively quickly in approving the bonding.In fact, Newsday, in a recent editorial, reports: "the county legislature has approved the bonding for $32.5 million out of the $38 million allocated for open space purchases, while deals to use the remaining funds for two other parcels are moving well along. Of the remaining $12 million, all but $205,000 is committed to specific projects, including 15 parks, two brownfields and various water-quality improvement projects. " [SEE, Take two on bond act.]
All well and good, up to this point.
Unfortunately, well enough is rarely left alone, even when it is accomplished admirably by our venerable County Legislature.
Sadly, Newsday also reports, in the very same editorial, that the bonding for park improvements -- to the tune of $12 million -- is being held up, and unduly so, by Mr. congeniality himself, Peter Schmitt."Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Seaford) is objecting to approving the $12 million in bonds, saying some of the park proposals include new dugouts, backstops and gazebos, which should be covered instead by the county's capital budget. The GOP position, however, ignores language in the act that specifically allocates money for parks. ""Mischief-making" is what Newsday call's Schmitt's ploy to delay funding and derail monies necessary and lawfully to be appropriated for the improvement of local parks.
"Holy Schmitt" is what we say. Stop with the arrogant, politically motivated upstaging and grandstanding. Show Nassau County residents the money that they have earmarked for our parks and open spaces.
-Nassau County residents are urged to contact Peter Schmitt to demand the release of some $12 million dollars in bond money for the improvement of our parks. In addition to the online contact form, Legislator Schmitt's office can be reached by telephone at 516-571-6212.

A Blind Item from massapequaNews.com

Over at massapequanews.com, site owner and reporter Christine Sohmer in her video news segment tells us of a local Massapequa politician who missed a photo-op at the Classic Car Night at the Massapequa LIRR station. Ms. Sohmer goes to all the local events, photographs the activities and visitors and posts the pictures on her site.
Seems this one politician missed the chance to be in the pictures and requested that he be added into the picture using the digital manipulation software Photoshop.
Who is this politician?
Ms. Sohmer won't tell.

Our money is on Assemblyman Joe Saladino.

Joe wants to be in every photo-op. Just check the local papers and see his beaming mug at every event.
With the magic of Photoshop, Joe can be added anywhere... and anytime. Joe will never miss an important photo-op past or present.

State Legislators Set Bribe to Get Your Vote

Watch as Skelos, Fuschillo, Balboni, Hannon, Saladino, Marcellino, Walker and McKevitt all tout the "rebate" check you will be getting this fall.
Guess when the check will get to you?
According to Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno it'll be October 31st, just one week before election day.
The rebate check as Skelos describes it "every homeowner on Long Island will receive an annual school property tax rebate check from New York State. The rebate check will equal 30% of the homeowner’s STAR savings."
Well.. not exactly "annual."
As the Albany-Times Union tells it "Under the agreement reached this year by Pataki and the Legislature, if next year's budget does not include money for rebate checks, an amount equal to the rebate homeowners would have received must be offered in the form of tax credits."

The rebate checks can be anywhere from $100- $600
Skelos says "When added to the STAR program, Nassau County homeowners will save an average of $1,300 on their school property taxes this year, with Enhanced STAR-eligible seniors saving $2,288."
That also is not exactly true.
You get the rebate check, the school tax bill comes - which is not any lower than before - and you pretty much just sign over the "rebate" to your local taxing authority. This isn't "found money" like they want you to think.
Spend the money on groceries, gas or a new tv, and your school tax bill will still be the same.
Basically instead of working to get more school aid to the schools and not just the piddly one-shot increases this year, the state government is cutting you a small check to pay a part of your school tax bill.
Your next school tax bill will be the same amount with no reductions.
And here's the kicker.. to process, print and mail these checks, the state is spending over a million dollars.
Wouldn't that money be better spent elsewhere.. you know like to reduce school taxes???

Senator Fuschillo says "Providing hard working, overburdened Long Islanders with tax relief has been my number one priority. Through this new plan, hundreds of dollars in savings will be delivered directly to homeowners in the form of a rebate check," said Senator Fuschillo. "This new tax plan, when combined with the record amounts of school aid included within the state budget and the millions of dollars in STAR savings, should help to ease the burden on families."
The property tax relief plan will provide taxpayers with a check for a portion of their school property taxes. This refund would be in addition to the existing Federal and State deductions for local property taxes, STAR payments and the State circuit breaker tax credit. Checks will be mailed in the fall, when residents receive their school tax bills."

Once again, this is pretty much a one-shot you won't be seeing again and does NOTHING to lower your real property taxes or school taxes.
This isn't "tax relief" but a gimmick to make you think they are trying to help you.
And in the end, the state will still have to come up with a budget next year to fund schools without the money they are "giving back" to homeowners.

Don't be fooled by the shell game. The Nassau state legisaltors have not done a thing to bring down your school taxes beyond election day.
The Times-Union says "The Senate Republicans, who are fighting to retain their four-seat majority this November, made property tax relief in the form of the rebate checks a top priority in this year's budget negotiations...
"The largest rebate checks will go to regions with the highest property taxes, which also tend to be key suburban swing districts with competitive Senate races.
In addition, homeowners who are 65 or older -- who historically have voted in high numbers -- will receive bigger rebate checks as they already benefit from a higher STAR exemption."
Politics as usual from Albany and they expect us to buy it.

The only suprising thing is that Skelos and the gang aren't handing out individual over-sized checks to each homeowner for a photo-op.
Then again, I might be speaking too soon.