A Blatant Rope-A-Dope

So Democratic Legislator Roger Corbin wants to be Presiding Officer. To do so he needs a majority of votes in the legislature to beat current PO Judy Jacobs.
In order to do so, Corbin is making a deal with the devil in the guise of Peter Schmitt. In a news conference, Schmitt announced he is forming a "coalition" with Corbin and makerick democratic legislator Lisanne Altman.
Schmitt cries like a little girl that he and the Lazy 8 have been "completely shut out of the legislative process for the past six years under Judy Jacobs." Interestingly Schmitt doesn't understand that being in the minority, like the Democrats were for the first four years of the legislature, means not having the power. It works like that. Were the Democrats from 1996-2000 goven a seat at the table? Heck no.
Schmitt says "The Nassau County Legislature has become dysfunctional. We have been reduced to a rubberstamp for the county executive."
It's like a flashback to 1996-2000 when Schmitt as Deputy Presiding Officer and the rest of the majority republicans approved whatever Gulotta wanted which led to the financial downfall of the county.
Far from being a "rubberstamp," the Democratic legisltors have consistantly challenged County Executive Suozzi.
Keep in mind, Schmitt is a Liar.
Now comes the math. Sorry.
Schmitt pledges his caucus' votes for Corbin giving Corbin 11 votes (9 reps plus Corbin and Altmann) and Judy Jacobs gets 8 votes. Corbin is Presiding Officer.
But wait! Schmitt is an untrustworthy liar.
Schmitt takes his 9 votes for himself as normally would happen, Corbin gets 2 votes (Corbin and Altmann) and Jacobs gets 8 votes.
Guess who is Presiding Officer?
Peter Schmitt.
Corbin can't be stupid enough to fall for such a poorly executed rope-a-dope.
And Altmann? It's a power-play for her. She's the "maverick." She gets the attention for going against her party. Altmann is lying low to let her "moves" sink in.
Schmitt wants power, not a "coalition." Schmitt is such a tone-deaf political tactician (see his managing the losing Sabellico campaign) he thinks in the end he can pull off a blatant rope-a-dope.
Nice try, Schmitt.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Nassau republicans have to decide on how they feel about County Executive Suozzi running for governor. Oh sure, during the campaign Greg Peterson and the GOP took swipes at Suozzi's supposed ambition for the state-house. They said he was more concerned about running for governor and that he wouldn't be around much if he ran yadda, yadda yadda.
Now that the campaign is over, it's time for some serious thought. Do they "help" Suozzi in order to get him out? The County Charter is not completely clear about a CE vacancy but here would undoubtedly be a special election. Getting rid of Suozzi and fielding a candidate in an open election might give the republicans a chance to win the office back. But in order to get Suozzi out, he would have to win a primary and in order to win a primary, he would have to be the best candidiate with the most accomplishments. Do republican legislators make everything easy for Suozzi to do? Up until now, Minority Leader Schmitt and the Lazy 8 have done everything they can to say 'no' to Suozzi. Moving the county forward was not in thier best electoral interests so they oppose Suozzi wherever they can. Do they give that up to get rid of Suozzi? Do they come off as rubber-stamps for Suozzi so he looks good? That won't help their own re-election prospects with the base GOP voters if they do.
After they do get rid of Suozzi, what next? A special election to fill the CE office. Who would run? The Nassau GOP really has no county-wide marquee candidates. State Senators like Balboni has his own ambitions, Fuschillo isn't ready, Skelos is happy being the number 2 in the senate and right now Albany is not very popular with voters anyway. Plus Senate majority leader Joe Bruno isn't too pleased with a Balboni run for AG because an open seat in the New Nassau Paradigm menas the republicans could very well lose that seat.
Does TOBAY Supervisor John Venditto step in? He wants DA and with a Dem in the office, he can challange her in 4 years.
How about TOH Supe. Kate Murray..... okay i said that with a straight face. She has the name but outside TOH she won't do well.
TOH reciever of taxes and failed Nassau Comptroller candidate Don Clavin? This year was his shot to get out of TOH and make his move and he got clobbered.
Leg. Mangano has aspirations - like Minority Leader - and CE would be of interest. Rule Schmitt out right away because he would get clobbered easily. So who would the GOP have run? if they couldn't get anyone real to run this year, how could they hope to get someone next year?
Keeping Suozzi in Nassau is tough on them too. He's there till 2009 then unless something else comes up. By 2009 he and the Dems will have had a decade of control in the county and a record of accomplishments that will be hard to beat. By 2009 there will be enough elected Dems with the stature to run and win a County Executive race leaving the republicans locked out again.

It's not easy being a nassau county republican.

Getting Them Nervous?

I guess this post from Urban Elephants is flattering. Urban Elephants is a republican-centric website out of the five boroughs. I've read through the site a few times in the past but not on a regular basis. The posts that I have read aren't ignorant angry screeds typed out hunt and peck style each key smashed in with ungainly sausage fingers like we've seen from other sites. Urban Elephants is well-written (not that we agree with the writing) and thoughtful.
Seems there is a worry that local websites/blogs from Democrats have the advantage. So far we do. There are some Long Island republican sites we plan on covering the next few days but they fal into the angry screed style. Here is the post:

"The New York Political Blog War
Readers here should be aware of the growing movement of energetic liberal bloggers setting up space online targeting specific Republican elected leaders. These are not the occassional rants/criticisms lumped into larger blogs, but blogs dedicated solely to one person.
Veto Vito
Peter King Watch
Schmitt Watch
Nassua GOP Watch
Now this does not mecessarily mean such easily-set up sites can make an impact, but there is residual impact. The larger media loves fights. They will never write about a general blogger bashing Fossella, but the will not a single blog dedicated to fighting Fossella. A one-person crusade against everything is not news. A one-person crusade against one politician has the potential to become Cindy Sheehan-ized in the wrong hands.
Readers should consider proper defenses. Pro-candidate blogs? Anti-Dem elected officials blogs? Counter posts? Etc.
We cannot lose the blog war in New York.
Scott Sala's blog"

As far as impact, we and our sister site have contributed to news stories in various media on Long Island. Wish it was more though, but it's still early.
I welcome more blogs added to the fray but it would be nice if the sites stuck with facts and avoid making stuff up as I will be pointing out in future posts and did point out about the Coalition for Long Island's Future website.

KATEMURRAY! Gets a Raise

The photo-op queen of the TOH got herself a raise. Mike Derry her spokesman tells Newsday "It certainly recognizes the scope of responsibility the supervisor of the country's largest township has to deal with,"
Really? According to KATEMURRAY!, she doesn't control much. She doesn't control any of the fire and sanitation "special tax districts" in her Town. She has alot of time to get her picture taken at every possible venue. How much responsibility does she have that deserves a 13% salary increase.
Back in 2004 she got a 5% raise going from $109,000 to $15,000. This year she get 13% and goes from $115,000 to $130,000.
Who gets a 18% raise over 2 years?
Where is this money coming from?
Not only does she get a raise but she brings the Town Board up by $5000 to $60,000, the Town Clerk gets $5000 to make $89,000 and "fiscal watchdog" Don Clavin gets a 7.89% raise of $7500 making his salary $102,500.
Wouldn't it have been nice if they had given themselves the raises before the November 8th elections? Instead the Sneaky Petes did it a month after. not much intergrity in that group of elected officials and it says alot about defeated Nassau County Comptroller candidate Clavin's lack of principles.

Denise Ford

The Democrat running as a republican won re-election. Isn't it about time she switch party registration? She votes party-line with her republican boss Peter Schmitt and has yet to waver on a single issue.
Back in january 2004 when she took office the Long Island Press ran an article on her.
Reporter Lauren Hill wrote "But party affiliation doesn't always predict voting strategy. As a registered Democrat from a predominantly Democrat city (there are 19,923 registered Dems to the 13,031 registered Republicans,) she is indeed a "wild card." Although she owes her job to Republicans, no one knows how she will vote."
Well after two years, we found out. She votes with the republicans who paid for her. As the saying goes "Dance with the one that brung ya."
Funny though because back in early 2004, Ford said in the same article "I'll take each issue as they come along. I don't think I'm any party—I think I'm my own."
She takes each issue and then dutifully votes the way Peter Schmitt wants her to.
Interestingly, the party she belongs to (on paper anyway) has the most "wild cards." The Democratic majority in the legislature can count on members like Lisanne Altman for example, breaking ranks when they have a differnt opinion. That really can't be said of the republicans who Ford has chosen to caucus with. If Ford disagreed with Schmitt and the GOP plan, she certanly hasn't been vocal about it. Her silent assent to every hair-brained scheme concocted by her leader speaks volumes about her being on her own. We covered this over at Schmitt Watch back in January 2004.
After her recent close re-election, Ford told the Oceanside/Island Park Herald "We have a race again in two years, and I know we¹ll bring back the majority,"
That's what the republicans have been saying since 1999. Her side - the Republican side - have lost every election since. And exactly what will she bring back in the majority? The same fiscal malfeasence Schmitt and the other republican legisaltors foisted on the county before they were sent to the back bench.
Ford also offered this little gem "I'm happy that I'm re-elected, and I¹m going to work harder than I ever have before."
So for the past 2 years she wasn't working as hard as she could for her constituents?

NEWSFLASH: ELECTION RESULTS UPDATE

UPDATE: For 2008 election results please go here.


After a re-canvassing of districts in the 14th LD, there are new numbers from the Nassau County Board of Elections. Democrat Dave Mejias has increased his margin of victory by 290 votes. The numbers could increase.
As of today the numbers are:
Mejias - 8043
Sabellico - 7351

So much for King and Schmitt talking smack about this race. So Mejias' margin of victory was better than the two close races with Republican incumbents.

Ciotti-Mirza - 681
Ford-Solomon - 601
Mejias-Sabellico - 692 (so far)

Schmitt Misreads Election Results

You can always count on Schmitt to misread the facts right in front of his face. Other than being lucky to be in a "safe" republican district, Schmitt has very little political skills. He might have worked his way through the republican party but all that takes is the right amount of butt-kissing and waiting your "turn."
According to the Massapequa Post, Schmitt said of the election results ".....it was clear voters weren’t voting party lines. "That’s evident by the town’s overwhelming support for Republicans,"
What was clear is that for Democrats to win in heavily republican districts and in Nassau County in general, they need a number of republicans to cross party lines. The Town of Oyster Bay elections favored republicans because they voted party lines for those candidates. Republicans have the voter registration edge in the Town and won. In the legisaltive districts, Democrats did well despite voter registration numbers.

Schmitt also says "...that Republicans could also take some consolation in that fact that while they didn’t gain anything, they didn’t lose anything either."
What is he talking about? Republicans LOST the District Attorney race. Democrat Kathleen Rice, a newcomer, beat Dennis Dillon by a healthy margin.

Schmitt was just as delusional two years ago when he told the Post the same exact thing "We didn’t lose anything and we didn’t gain anything,"
Two years ago Democrat Harvey Levinson beat republican County Assessor Charles O'Shea. How is that not losing anything.

One thing is for sure, Schmitt sticks to his talking points no matter how many times he is proven wrong by the facts.

Schmitt continues about this years race, "Two years from now there will be no county executive race, then we’ll see if Mejias" who he called Suozzi’s stamp, "can stand on his own."
Well let's see..... two years ago in 2003, Dave Mejias beat republican Greg Carman and there was no county executive race. Dave Mejias stood on his own two years ago and won and then he won re-election in the face of a massize and expensive attack campaign by the PBA and the republicans. Mejias ran and won against two very well-known and well-financed republicans in a republican district. Seems Schmitt is a little sore that he ran Sabellico's campaign so poorly.

UPDATE: King on Nassau County Election Results

A reader points out that Rep. Steve Isreal did not beat an incumbent but ran and won in an open election. While not as good as taking out a republican incumbent, Isreal did win in a republican district.
Thanks for the heads up.
Also, King made the 400 vote margin for the Democratic majority in the legislature race an issue. Sure, Mejias won by only 403 votes. That is still good for a Democrat in a republican district.
And in fact, the republicans kept two of thier seats in the legislature by 681 votes in the Ciotti-Mirza race and 601 votes in the Ford-Solomon race. All other incumbent races were won with huge margins. To put it simply, two republican incumbents were in tight races compared to one Democrat.

Cue Laugh Track: Peter King Chimes in on Election Results

Our esteemed Congressman Peter King. that was not said with a straight face.... tells The Long Island Press “Things are going well for the Democrats. Denis Dillon’s defeat was a blow, but the Republicans came within 400 votes of taking the legislature. There’s no doubt it went to the Democrats, but it wasn’t an earthquake.”
Really? No Earthquake?
The Republican County Executive candidate Greg Peterson lost by 36,031 votes to Democrat Tom Suozzi 178,133 - 142,102. Republican voter registration still out-numbers Democrats in Nassau.
As for the Legislature, King is talking about The Mejias-Sabellico race. Mejias won by 403 votes in a heavy repubilcan district. Mejias was also subject to an expensive hate-campaign by the Nassau PBA. He still won. In 2003 Mejias won by 381 votes. Seems Mejias is not only keeping voters, he is slowly gaining. In a republican district.
King also says "We have a real problem statewide, but I don’t know if there’s been a trend. If the people are satisfied with how their leaders are performing, they will get re-elected no matter what party they’re in."
Again, King is getting it wrong. There certainly is a trend.
Since 2002, the republicans have lost 8 senate seats shrinking thier margin to 53-45. In the Assembly, Democrat Marc Alessi won a seat in a special election in the republican dominated 1st District. The Assembly is dominated by Democrats 106-44.
Not a trend?
In the past 8 years, King has turned out to be the last republican congressional delegate from Long Island. McCarthy, Isreal and Bishop each defeated incumbant republicans and have been re-elected easily.
In Suffolk County, Democrats now control the Town of Brookhaven, the County Executive seat and the legislature.
Not a trend?
State-wide, Pataki is stepping aside because he will not be re-elected. The republican field is weak and presumptive Dem nominee Spitzer looks to sail to the Governors Mansion.
Democratic Senator Schumer cruised to re-election and it looks like Democratic Senator Clinton will do the same next year.
Not a trend?
In 2006, he will join his former colleagues as an ex-congressman.

King is looking through Bush-colored glasses which turn disaster into success.

A Funny Thing Happend at a Polling Place

There are many stories of shenanigans on election day out there and here is one of them:

On Election Day November 8th, 2005 12th LD candidate Craig Heller barnstormed the district to reach more voters.
By the afternoon, Heller was at the Unqua Elemnetary School on Unqua Road in Massapequa Park. Being an attorney and a smart guy, he knew he could campaign 100 feet from a polling place. That's the law. There was even a sign posted by the poll workers to designate the line in the sand so to speak. These signs are ubiquitous at polling places around the county and state.
So Heller handed out literature to voters walking to the polling place and engaging some in conversation.
There didn't seem to be a problem until a man walked out from the polling place and confronted Heller. He pointedly said "You can't be out here." To which Heller responded "Yes I can. I am outside the 100 foot boundry." Actually, Heller was about 20 feet outside the boundry.
Heller pointed to the sign well behind him and said "See, there's the sign. I can be out here as long as I don't cross that line."
The man seemed to be flumoxed and marched over to the sign posted on the tree and tore the sign down. He crumpled up the sign, pointed to the street and said "Now you have to stand over there." Turning on his heels, he marched back into the Unqua school.
Odd. Very odd.
Not being swayed by a petulant man-child and the attempted intimidation, Heller remained where he was standing and continued to greet voters. A couple of people asked if he was supposed to be out there and he explained about the missing sign.
About 15 minutes later, another man came out of the polling place and replaced the sign. He approached Heller and said "It doesn't help you being out here. You may lose votes by standing out here."
Heller was unconcerned about this subtle form of intimidation and again said "I am allowed to be here. I am far away from the sign." He then recounted what happend to the original sign. The poll worker said that the man who did not do that was not a poll worker but most likely a poll watcher.
Since there were no Democratic poll watchers at that location and other would know better, the sign ripper was a republican pol watcher which means he was probably a commiteeman. What's the problem with republicans and ripping down signs anyway? Is this their "thing?"
Anyway, there is the story of a petty little republican trying to intimidate a Democratic candidate at a polling place.
I bet he was proud of what he did.
I bet he told all his buddies.
I bet he doesn't realize how stupid he looked.

Still Here

We're still around. It's been a few days since the last post and we have alot of election night stuff to cover and post-election information to add.
Nassau GOP Watch continues....

Mejias Defeats Sabellico

Last night, Legislator Dave Mejias came in victorious once again in a district that is overwhelmingly republican.
Defeating republican Tom Sabellico wasn't easy because Sabellico is a fixture in the community and has a well-known name. The first indication that Sabellico was in trouble was the fact that Greg Carman who ran 2 years ago had an even better-known name. The Carman name is on buildings and street signs all around Farmingdale. Carman came from a locally famous family and none of that helped.
Sabellico had at his disposal the invaluable help from his campaign manager Legislator Peter J. Schmitt. Schmitt is an infamous liar and a cheap-stunt campaigner. That all rubbed off on Sabellico and residents were turned off.
PBA mailings assailed Dave Mejias to no end but that didn't help Sabellico at all. Mejias is an effective legislator and great with constituent services. It is a credit to the 14th LD that they voted for the best person and saw past all the lies being thrown out there by the republicans.

By the Numbers
2003
Mejias (D) 6,106 - 52%
Carman (R) 5,725 - 48%

2005
Mejias (D) 7,587 - 51.36%
Sabellico (R) 7,184 - 48.64%

Sabellico did improve the numbers over Carman but that was to be expected with the big push by the republicans and the PBA slime campaign.

Mejias proved himself with re-election and while the district is not "safe," Mejias can expect to be around for as long as he wants.

Democrats Hold Nassau and Take DA Office

So last night was a HUGE night for the Democrats and an incredibly sad one for the Republicans. The status-quo was maintained in the Legislature, Suozzi was re-elected as was Weitzman and the Clerks office remains in GOP hands.
The BIG earthquake is 25 year vet Denis Dillon losing the DA race. After 8 undefeated elections, newcomer Kathleen Rice cleans his clock.
Below are the results for the county races. We're going to be doing some historical breakdowns of a few races and get into the Town races next.

From the Nassau County Board of Elections

COUNTY EXECUTIVE
GREGORY P PETERSON (R) 114,115 - 37.87%
THOMAS R SUOZZI (D) 178,133 - 59.11%
ROBERT A BRUNO (C) 9,097 - 3.02%

DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DENIS E DILLON (R) 143,827 - 48.65%
KATHLEEN M RICE (D) 151,819 - 51.35%

COUNTY COMPTROLLER
DONALD X CLAVIN JR (R) 134,111 - 46.90%
HOWARD S WEITZMAN (D) 151,819 - 53.10%

COUNTY CLERK
MAUREEN C O'CONNELL (R) 149,275 - 52.94%
TRICIA M FERRELL (D) 132,669 - 47.06%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 1ST DISTRICT
KEVAN M ABRAHAMS D 7,899 - 84.57%
DALE ANTHONY EDMONSTON R 1,319 - 14.12%
TIMOTHY HOIST C 122 - 1.31%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 2ND DISTRICT
MICHAEL J ALEXANDER (R) 1,818 - 21.46%
ROGER H CORBIN (D) 6,654 - 78.54%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 3RD DISTRICT
JOHN J CIOTTI (R) 6,503 - 52.76%
ALI A MIRZA (D) 5,822 - 47.24%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 4TH DISTRICT
DENISE A FORD (R) 9,024 - 51.72%
ROBERT H SOLOMON (D) 8,423 - 48.28%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 5TH DISTRICT
JOSEPH K SCANNELL (D) 10,303 - 68.14%
JOSEPH J KOCH (R) 4,817 - 31.86%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 6TH DISTRICT
FRANCIS X BECKER JR (R) 10,635 - 67.73%
DANIEL A ALTER (D) 5,068 - 32.27%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 7TH DISTRICT
JEFFREY M KATZ (R) 7,049 - 45.40%
JEFFREY W TOBACK (D) 8,479 - 54.60%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 8TH DISTRICT
VINCENT T MUSCARELLA (R) 13,351 - 75.30%
JOAN HAZLETON (D) 4,380 - 24.70%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 9TH DISTRICT
RICHARD J NICOLELLO (R) 10,739 - 67.50%
MILTON ESPINOZA (D) 5,171 - 32.50%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 10TH DISTRICT
HARRY A DEMELL (R) 4,147 - 28.68%
LISANNE ALTMANN (D) 10,311 - 71.32%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 11TH DISTRICT
MARK H DEMETROPOULOS (R) 4,260 - 28.87%
CRAIG M JOHNSON (D) 10,496 - 71.13%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 12TH DISTRICT
PETER J SCHMITT (R) 11,316 - 69.81%
CRAIG S HELLER (D) 4,893 - 30.19%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 13TH DISTRICT
NORMA L GONSALVES (R) 10,886 - 61.84%
PATRICIA M MAHER (D) 6,718 - 38.16%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 14TH DISTRICT
THOMAS M SABELLICO (R) 7,184 - 48.64%
DAVID L MEJIAS (D) 7,587 - 51.36%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 15TH DISTRICT
DENNIS DUNNE SR (R) 11,162 - 68.70%
JOHN M CLARK (D) 5,085 - 31.30%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 16TH DISTRICT
JOSEPH B GIRARDI (R) 6,236 - 35.24%
JUDITH A JACOBS (D) 11,461 - 64.76%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 17TH DISTRICT
EDWARD P MANGANO (R) 10,270 - 71.38%
JAMES P KEOUGH (D) 4,117 - 28.62%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 18TH DISTRICT
DIANE V YATAURO (D) 9,595 - 60.02%
MARTHA S OFFERMAN (R) 5,887 - 36.82%
HENRY K NOWICKI (C) 505 - 3.16%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR 19TH DISTRICT
STEVEN D RHOADS (R) 5,499 - 32.92%
DAVID W DENENBERG (D) 11,207 - 67.08%

Fun Times with Town of Oyster Bay Town Clerk Race

We've already hi-lited how Steve Labriola took credit for what his predecessor did, and now Labriola makes some interesting statements in the Massapequa Post profile of the race.
In august, Democratic challenger Bill Funk pointed out that forms on the Town website had "sample" embossed over them and the ability to download the forms and fill the out was impossible. "The online forms have the word ‘sample’ slashed across them and no none can use them" Soon after this was brought up, the "sample" disappeared and now the forms can be used. It saves alot of time to fill out forms before you get to the Clerks office.
Labriola responds to Funk "Nonsense, said Labriola, adding that Funk’s statements show a lack of knowledge about the clerk’s position. "The town runs on a mainframe computer system that speaks another language," said Labriola whose office hired a consulting team, Admit, to link the mainframe with the PCs in the clerk’s office."
Lets see if we can get this straight.... the Town of Oyster Bay is on a "mainframe" system. How old is this system? Why hasn't the Town upgarded to Servers?
And the Town "mainframe" is not hooked up to the PCs in the Clerks office?????
Who bought these systems and set them up without Town-wide access???
Here is the kicker though, to upload document to a website like the Town of Oyster Bay website does not require the use of the "mainframe." The website is hosted by "govoffice.com."
From the govoffice.com FAQ page "The idea behind GovOfficeTM is to empower goverments at any level to create "best practices" web sites to communicate and reach-out to citizens without the need for computer programming expertise. GovOffice, an online system, accessible from virtually any computer connected to the Internet, which enables you to quickly and easily input content into a private and secure database, make revisions to the content, and select display and interactive options. Content is entered by following a "point and click" Wizard process, and text is entered using a familiar Microsoft Word-type editing screen. GovOffice dynamically creates a Web site using the content from the database "plugged into" your design choices. "

So what we have here is Labriola just plain lying. Why did he do that? Because he can. And boy is that sad.

Funk pointed out in the Post "It took them a year and half to fix the problem. Someone in-house should have been able to do it much faster than that. This demonstrates their lack of awareness and oversight."

And Funk is absolutely correct. We need real manager and thinker with up-to-date technology abilities to run the Clerks office.

Labriola tries to get out of his corner by backing deeper into one by saying "Labriola said that most of the forms Funk referred to—applications for licenses to do business in the town—are samples because the applicants are required to file them in person. In addition to the forms, applicants have to have their fingerprints taken and the town needs to complete background checks on them."

Funks point was that applicants can have the forms filled out PRIOR to driving to Town Hall in Oyster Bay. How hard is that to understand??

And it doesn't stop for the clueless Labriola:
"Since part of the clerk’s job is to either accept of reject licensing applications, Funk believes that the standards should be clear and readily available for review.
"I would inform residents through mailings and the website, that way they would know how if they meet the town’s requirements before application,"

Labriola responded "We can’t educate people in that sense," counters Labriola. "If people are interested in applying for a license or permit, it is up to them to know what needs to be done. What does he expect us to do, put out an ad for taxi drivers and say ‘pedophiles need not apply?’ That shows his inexperience."

So offering Town residents and businesses how to apply for licenses and permits can't be done?
They have to fend for themselves?
It is up to the Town Clerk, the job Labriola is resting in until Venditto retires, to help people navigate the process. This and the website lie shows Labriola's inexperience.
And what the hell does "pedophiles" have to do with anything? Labriola just threw that in because he had nothing and figures this will confuse the readers enough they don't think about his idiocy.

November 8th, Vote Bill Funk.
We need really need him there.

Contradictions Part 2

How many "less" Police officers are there in Nassau County? Ask any republican candidate or PBA Capo Gary Delaraba and the numbers are all over the place.

Gary Delaraba in the Long Island Press "He's 375 police officers short "

Legislator Peter Schmitt says "There are 593 fewer police officers on the streets of Nassau County today then when Suozzi first took office (in 2001)."
Schmitt also says "Our Police Department has 600 fewer officers on the streets today, than when Tom Suozzi took office..."

County Executive Candidate Greg Peterson says "Under the Suozzi administration, more than 500 experienced law enforcement officers have left police service.

Legislature candidate Tom Sabellico says "we now have 550 less police officers than four years ago"
Sabellico also says "there are also 500 fewer county police officers than five years ago"
At a League of Women Voters candidates night, Sabellico used a number in the 300 range.

Legislature candidate Jeffery Katz says "This has resulted in a total loss of police manpower of about 800 officers."

The FACT of the matter is that since Suozzi and the Democrats took over, Police Academy classes have been graduating at capacity. In fact, Suozzi was there at the first graduating class in FIVE years. In REALITY under republican control, there were no academy classes graduating for 4 years.

Contradictions Part 1

From 14th LD candidate Tom Sabellico's website:
"Police overtime is bloated and response time is down."
"I believe that we can increase the force without any extraordinary expense because of the savings generated by less overtime."

PBA President Gary Delaraba endorses Sabellico "14th District - Thomas Sabellico"

Gary Delaraba goes through arbitration to gain money for "lost overtime." According to the NYTimes "Mr. Suozzi has lashed out at the police union's president, Gary DelaRaba, over an arbitration award raising his salary to $175,000 on the ground that he lost overtime and promotion pay because of union duties. Mr. DelaRaba's salary is $66,000 more than Mr. Suozzi's and $20,000 more than the police commissioner's. "

When asked about how he could take the PBA endorsement from Delaraba while railing against "bloated" overtime, Sabellco could not answer the question. Farmingdale residents call TeamSabellico at 516-370-5512 or e-mail him at teamSabellico@aol.com. Ask Tom what he really believes in and why he took the endorsement.

Who else complained about too much overtime and took Delaraba's endorsement?
Why it's Tom Sabellico's campaign manager, Legislator Peter Schmitt "Overtime pay for this year is budgeted to be $35 million," said Schmitt. "In an attempt to alleviate the overtime problem, the County has decimated the Special Operations Unit of the Police Department."

Funny but even Delaraba opposes overtime "It's a crisis situation"

More Sign News

Looks like the Long Island Press got the story about the sign stealing going on in Nassau County.
The story "On the Fence" by Timothy Bolger in this weeks Press has some interesting tid-bits that add some complexity to the story we reported a week ago.
"A phone call or two, according to police, revealed that the owner of the vacant lot had given Steppe permission to take Democratic political signs down. And so, despite the campaign workers' complaints, Steppe was released and the charges dropped.
But perhaps this landlord was hedging his political bets. Denenberg says that this very same property owner had given him permission to put the signs up.
"I guess it was impressed upon [the owner] to change his mind to get this guy out of jail," says Denenberg."
The Press story finishes
"And the vacant lot in Merrick? It is now adorned with signs for both Republican and Democratic candidates."

Election Day is two days away but the Dems are ever-vigilent to the theiving ways of the desperate Nassau GOP.

Here are some more recent pictures from Sunrise Highway in Bellmore.
Notice the Dem sign discarded over the fence and the republican signs taking its place. The republicans were too lazy to even take the sign away.

More Vandalism of Democratic Candidate Signs and Stolen Signs

This is a systemic problem affecting races from the Legislature to Town Council races.
First we have the story of a Town of Oyster Bay Town Council Candidate. Jay Cherlin lives in Massapequa and is not a career politician. he's just a guy who wants to make living better in the Town. What does he get? He gets the following:
"At 8am on my way to work my cell phone rings and it is my daughter. She says, "Dad, you're not going to believe what happened." Some guy rang our doorbell, my daughter goes to the window in time to see him steal our lawn signs from our property and place them in back of a yellow Town of Oyster Bay vehicle.
Was he trying to intimidate us, making sure someone at home knew the Town status quo did not appreciate any competition, or was he just stupid?"

We're going to go with Stupid Intimidation. Venditto's goons have been out in force even going into stores and taking down signs put up with permission.

The following are pictures from the 3rd Legislative District race. Democrat Ali Mirza has had signs destroyed and stolen all over the district.






More pictures from more locations to come.

Sign Stealer Caught

Every fall during election season, signs from Democratic candidates are stolen from private property and destroyed. This year Dems have had enough.
From a reliable source:
"Hello,
As you may know, we have had many of our 4x8 signs and other signs stolen in the Merrick-Bellmore area. Tonight, a dedicated group of Democratic Committeeman and Zone Leaders conducted a stake out. Our thief showed up. He started taking our signs and was arrested. He's spending the night at the 7th precinct with a committeeman and an "executive leader" waiting to bail him out. Here are the pictures."



DEM SIGNS IN BACK SEAT


THE REPUBLICAN GOON IS CAUGHT




BROKEN DEM SIGNS IN BACK SEAT


ARRESTED

Updates Galore at Peter Schmitt Watch

If you are interested www.schmittwatch.blogspot.com.