Nassau County may have a new presiding officer come Jan. 3 if members of the 19-member legislature vote in favor of Roger Corbin (2nd L.D.), the current deputy presiding officer, over current seat holder Judy Jacobs (16th L.D.).

On Dec. 20, Corbin and fellow Democrat Lisanne Altmann (10th L.D.) were joined by Republican Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (12th L.D.) to announce that a coalition had been formed to unseat Jacobs. Additionally, in a meeting that same day, Nassau County GOP Chairman Joe Mondello also agreed to back Corbin.

At the press conference, Schmitt stated the change will provide both parties with a fair opportunity at being heard. According to the minority leader, the legislature was "reduced to a rubber stamp" for County Executive Tom Suozzi under Jacobs' leadership.

"The Democratic majority on the legislature is fractured. There will be an election on Jan. 3 for presiding officer. Someone needs to get 10 votes. I have nine. Roger Corbin has three or four. Judy Jacobs has five or six. Nobody has 10. I don't want to be presiding officer of a legislature that is a Democratic majority," said Schmitt during an interview with Anton Newspapers. "To break the logjam, several members of my delegation have agreed to support Roger Corbin as presiding officer."

In response to his reason to unseat Jacobs, Corbin said, "Ms. Jacobs has her own style and it's not for me to say whether it is good or bad. She brought us through some trying times. Six years [of the] worst times in this county's history but now its time for us to go to another level. I have a different style. Now we have to go to the next level to try to preserve our suburban way of living and quality of life here in Nassau County. We've got so many things coming up and it's important, as presiding officer, that we work for the betterment of the residents of this county." He added, "I feel that, going forward, my style is more conducive to change as opposed to someone else whose style might be to keep the continuity of what we are doing. We, as elected officials, don't want to get stuck in the mud."

In her own defense, Jacobs said, "I have done the serious job that was required to right the ship of Nassau County, [which] still needs a serious leader to continue down the right path. This is not the time to abandon that successful road that we are on or abandon the principles, fairmindedness, integrity and honesty that got us there."

Of the Republican leader's decision to back Corbin, Jacobs said, "I think it is an extremely dangerous time in the history of Nassau County when the losing party at the polls is the one that is controlling not only the minority leader office, but attempting to control the majority leader office. If they are successful, it is a sad commentary. It certainly doesn't speak for good government or honest politics. When you win the majority and work so hard to win the majority, you are letting down your entire party and most of all you are letting down the people of Nassau County who asked us to continue."

According to Corbin, Republican legislation has always gone "deep six and not seen the light of day." "To be honest, maybe their legislation should be heard and debated. That's what we are doing." He added that even with Republican legislators backing him as presiding officer, there are still going to be many instances in which they will not agree.

"They are not going to vote with us that much and we aren't going to vote with them that much," he said. "They have some ideological stuff that we just can't deal with and we have some ideological stuff that they can't deal with. Nothing is changing on that level. We are still a 10-9 majority. We still control [the legislature]. It's just going to be different how we do business."

While Corbin states that he has "secured 12 to 14 votes in his favor," several legislators from both the Republican and Democratic sides remain undecided as to how they will vote come Jan. 3. As a result, it is still too soon to say whether Corbin will garner the minimum 10-9 vote needed to become presiding officer.

Legislator David Mejias (14th L.D.), a Democrat opposed to the coalition, said, "The Democratic majority turned around the worst-run county in America and we're not raising taxes three years in a row. It would be a shame to return the county legislature to the machine politicians who nearly bankrupted us."

Republican Legislator Richard Nicolello (9th L.D.) has not yet decided how he will vote. "I am not committed to either one [at this time]. This is something that should be handled among the Democrats. There are still a couple of weeks until the vote and I will wait and see if [the Democratic party] resolves this issue on their own. If they do, it is a non-issue," said Nicolello. "If they can't work it out and it comes down to a split, then I will have to make a decision."

Suozzi could not be reached for comment, but his spokesperson Joe Calderone said the county executive remains supportive of Jacobs. "Judy Jacobs has been a good partner in helping to turn around the county and we continue to support her," said Calderone.

Corbin, a resident of Westbury and current legislator of District 2, and Jacobs, a resident of Woodbury and current legislator of District 16, are both Democrats who have served on the County Legislature since its inception in 1995. Jacobs served as Democratic minority from March-December 1999 and has served as Presiding Officer since 2000 when the Democrats garnered the majority. She currently serves as chair of the legislature's rules committee and is vice chair of both the planning and development and budget review committees. Corbin, a resident of Westbury, was appointed deputy presiding officer in 1999 and currently serves as chairman of the government services committee and the is vice chairman of the finance committee.

The 19 legislators will vote for presiding officer and minority leader. The lawmaker who receives the most votes becomes presiding officer while the one with the second most votes of a different party will be minority leader and deputy presiding officer is then appointed by the presiding officer. Should Corbin be elected presiding officer it would be in his role to appoint his deputy and he has publicly indicated that he would select Altmann, who has also been a Democratic lawmaker on the legislature since its inception.

As of Anton Newspapers' Dec. 23 production schedule, Altmann said, "I am proud to be supporting the first African-American presiding officer in Nassau County history. I look forward to a vigorous bipartisan government that that will benefit the taxpayers of Nassau County."

Regardless of the outcome of the Jan. 3 vote, Jacobs will remain a legislator. "There is a lot of confusion in the community. I am the legislator of the 16th District. I am their legislator and that has always been my priority," Jacobs assured. "This is something internal within the caucus. It has nothing to do with the election that just took place."