A state supreme court judge ruled late Jan. 19 in favor of Nassau County Presiding Officer Judy Jacob's (16th L.D.) 11th hour political maneuver to change her party registration from Democrat to unaffiliated (a.k.a. "blank") in an effort to prevent a bipartisan-formed coalition from unseating her. In his decision, Acting Supreme Court Judge Antonio J. Brandveen endorsed the Nassau County Democratic Committee's motion disenrolling Jacobs from the party. But contention among the legislature is far from resolved and when the vote deciding who will be presiding officer will take place is still unknown. As a result, Jacobs remains in the top seat as a "hold over."

Jacobs' motion to unaffiliate herself from the party she has been a member of for over 50 years came to light Jan. 3, the day the 19-member legislature was supposed to cast its vote for presiding officer. At this time, Jacobs declared herself unaffiliated and won an injunction temporarily blocking the coalition's attempts to unseat her. With the court ruling in her favor, Jacobs' unaffiliated party status could disband the coalition, which was formed in late December between Democrats Roger Corbin (2nd L.D.) - the current deputy presiding officer - and Lisanne Altmann (10th L.D.) and the Republican legislators.

According to Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (12th L.D.), the coalition was needed to fix what he referred to as a "fractured" Democratic majority that was reduced to, under Jacobs' leadership, "a rubber stamp" for County Executive Tom Suozzi. Through the coalition, legislators were expected to elect Corbin presiding officer; Corbin would have then appointed Altmann his deputy.

While Fred Brewington, an attorney representing Corbin and Altmann argued that Jacobs' party changes are not valid until the Tuesday after the November 2006 election, Judge Brandveen ruled otherwise. According to the decision, the court determined that the Nassau County Democratic Party's proceedings in disaffiliating Jacobs were "just" in accordance with Election Law §16-110 (2).

Under this section of the law, the chairman of a party's county committee "with which a voter is enrolled may cancel a voter's enrollment in such party." On Jan. 11, the chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee recommended Jacobs be disenrolled and, that same day, "the Nassau County Democratic Committee held a special meeting at which time a quorum was present to consider the chairman's recommendations, and by a majority, voted to disenroll Jacobs."

Brewington is in the process of filing a notice of appeal on the grounds that the court, in his opinion, "unfortunately did not handle all the issues and missed key legal matters that need to be addressed." An appeal must be made within 30 days of the Jan. 19 court rendering.

Since 2000, Democrats have had a 10-9 majority but with Jacobs' change to "blank" approved by the court, the legislature is now comprised of nine Democrats, nine Republicans and one blank (9-9-1). As a result, how the vote for presiding officer could pan out is still unclear.

Under Section 16 (1), (3) of the county charter, the lawmaker who receives the most votes becomes presiding officer while the one with the second most votes of a different party becomes minority leader; deputy presiding officer is then appointed by the presiding officer. Through the formation of the coalition, Corbin would have most likely received enough votes between himself, Altmann and the Republican legislators to garner the top seat.

But, as a result of the court ruling, positions within the legislature could be effected in various ways. For example, if the GOP keeps its alliance to Corbin one possible scenario is that Jacobs could garner enough votes between herself and the seven Democratic legislators who support her to make her the minority leader, ousting Republican Schmitt. Another possibility is that if Corbin and Altmann vote for Corbin, Schmitt could receive nine votes between himself and the other eight Republicans to become presiding officer.

Regardless of the court ruling, Altmann said she is "still committed to voting for Roger, Roger is still committed to voting for Roger and we are hoping the Democrats are committed to voting for Roger."

As of press time, neither Schmitt nor GOP spokesperson Ed Ward returned calls to Anton Newspapers. However, at a Jan. 10 Nassau County Village Officials meeting, Schmitt referred to the legislative issue as a "three ring circus" and when asked about the possibility of him becoming majority leader said it "would not be right" because it was not what the public voted for. "This is the first time I [am] trying to lose an election," he said.

Since Jan. 3, Republican legislators have refused to either meet or vote until Jacobs' party affiliation was settled and, despite the court's ruling the Jan. 23 legislative meeting did not take place. While the county's charter dictates that the legislature must hold an organizational meeting by Feb. 1, the charter does not specify a date in which the vote must be selected. However, as of press time, a legislative meeting and vote was scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. The outcome of that meeting will appear in an upcoming issue.

In an effort to stop the political chaos from continuing further, Jacobs is appealing to Corbin and Altmann, asking them to work together to decide who the presiding officer will be. "If it isn't me, let it be someone the Democratic caucus chooses but let it be done within the Democratic caucus [which was] elected as majority ... [The Democrats] were chosen by the people of Nassau County on Nov. 8 to be the majority and should pick [their] majority leader," Jacobs told members of the media during a Jan. 20 press conference in her Mineola office. She added, "I would like to see this resolved as quickly as possible. I don't think there is anyone on this legislature who wants things to stay like this."

Members of the Democratic Party - Craig Johnson (11th L.D.), Kevan Abrahams (1st L.D.), Jeffrey Toback (7th L.D.), Joseph Scannel (5th L.D.), Dave Denenberg (19th L.D.), Diane Yatauro (18th L.D.) and Dave Mejias (14th L.D.), agree. To show their support, all, with the exception of Abrahams who was unavailable to attend, spoke out publicly at their own Jan. 20 press conference, which was held on the steps of 1 West Street in Mineola just feet away from Corbin's office.

"This has been going on for far too long and yesterday's court decision made a very clear statement. The court has asked us to stop acting like litigants and start acting like legislators again," Johnson told the media. "Although it is their right to appeal, we are asking [Corbin and Altmann] to put that appeal aside ... join us in a meeting behind closed doors and work out the issues pertaining to presiding officer... If Roger Corbin still thinks he should be presiding officer, all we are asking for him to do is make the case. Let us, as a majority, determine that."

Mejias agreed, saying, "The biggest problem we have with Roger is not necessarily that he should or should not be presiding officer. It's that he did not return our phone calls. He did not talk to us ... You cannot be a general if you don't talk to your troops and you cannot lead people who do not want to be led."

Corbin, who was meeting with lawyers in his district office on the morning of Jan. 20, ducked out of the county building in the midst of the Democratic press conference. Calls to his office were not returned to Anton Newspapers. Brewington, however, stated that, as of press time, no one has contacted either of his clients to schedule a meeting. "They know that [Corbin and Altmann] are represented by counsel and no one has contacted me. I don't know how they expect to ask someone to sit down when a phone call to their representatives was never made," Brewington said.