Voters Bring About Power Shift In Nassau County Legislature

Supervisors Murray, Kaiman Hang On for Another Term

(Editor’s Note: The following are unofficial results as of press time, according to the Nassau County Board of Elections.)

The voters have spoken. Familiar faces will return to the Nassau County Legislature with the exception of Dave Mejias (14 L.D.) and Jeffrey Toback (7 L.D.).

Their losses shift the power back into the hands of Republicans by an 11-8 majority. Presiding Officer Diane Yatauro, though honored to be re-elected to another term as a county legislator, is disheartened by the loss of her party’s legislative majority.

New York Conference Of Mayors Calls For Amendments

‘The Devilish Details’ of New Law for Village Dissolution

The sponsors call it the Empowerment Act for short, but local governments are calling it the Disenfranchisement Act because the sweeping legislation passed this June, going into effect in March 2010, requires voters to vote to dissolve or consolidate local government before they know whether such actions would save money or not.

“There’s a lot of confusion about the act and it’s up to you to educate your residents so they’ll know that signing a petition for dissolution sets into motion a complicated, expensive process where the cart is before the horse,” said Wade Beltramo, special counsel for the New York State Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) to a roomful of mayors and village officials from Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties at a NYCOM meeting held at Mineola High School on Oct. 29. Beltramo spent the evening giving a quick course in the new act, which is summarized below.

New Brick Pathway Opens At Centennial Gardens

As part of the annual national “Make a Difference Day” celebrations on Saturday, Oct. 24, the entire community was invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently completed brick walkway surrounding Centennial Gardens and Bird Sanctuary in Floral Park.

The ceremony, which took place at 10 a.m., included the official unveiling of Centennial Gardens’ newest and largest addition to date at its main sign entrance and flagpole area near the corner of Floral Parkway and Raff Avenue. The Floral Park Conservation Society has annually participated in this national day of neighbors helping neighbors since its first ceremony dedicating the corner entrance and formal flag area.

Floral Park Employees Reach Milestones In Their Careers

At the Oct. 20 Floral Park village board meeting, Mayor Kevin Greene and the board of trustees congratulated the following employees for 25 years or more of service to the village:

John Daunt (25 years) began working for the village as summer help in the Department of Public Works. In July 1984, he was hired full time as a laborer and in 1986 he moved into his current position as parking meter supervisor. In this position, he collects the monies from all the parking meters in the village and ensures that they are continually in working order. A graduate of Floral Park Memorial High School, John has lived on Stewart Street for over 40 years with his parents, Mary and John Sr., a former village employee. John enjoys playing darts, collecting comic books and watching all types of sporting events. He also is an avid poker player and likes to visit Atlantic City. John’s many years of service to the village have made him a valued employee of the Public Works Department.

Access to Election Ballots Available For Those Who Are Disabled

For the upcoming Nov. 3 General Election the Board of Elections will once again be providing the ImageCast Ballot Marking Device (BMD) at each polling location throughout the county for voters with handicapping conditions.

Ballot marking devices allow persons with disabilities to vote independently. The machine is a scroll through touch screen device equipped with an audio component to be used with headphones. The device is also equipped with a sip and puff feature; multiple language capabilities; digital format to allow for speeding up or slowing the reading of instructions or races; and alerts for over or under votes.

Muscarella, Tumminello Vie for 8th Legislative District Seat

On Nov. 3, residents of the Nassau County’s 8th Legislative District will choose their representative in the Nassau County Legislature for the next two years. Incumbent Vincent Muscarella is being challenged by Gaspare Tumminello. The district encompasses Franklin Square, Stewart Manor, West Hempstead, Garden City and Garden City South as well as parts of Elmont and Floral Park.

Silver Alert System Will Help Locate Missing Adults With Alzheimer’s 

60 Percent Will Go Missing During Course of Disease

 Senator Charles Schumer is pushing legislation to create a nationwide network for locating missing adults and senior citizens with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other mental impairments.

The Silver Alert Act would create a program, modeled after the AMBER Alert, which would provide federal coordination and assistance through the Department of Justice to local and state law enforcement to assist efforts to locate missing senior citizens throughout New York City and across the country. Schumer said a nationwide alert network is critical because missing adults can cross state and county lines. 

Garden Memorializes Teens Killed in Alcohol/Drug-Related Accidents

On Thursday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Sewanhaka High School to fulfill an Allstate Grant awarded to the school to plant a reflection garden in memory of the 16 teens who are killed in alcohol/drug-related car crashed every day. Sixteen plants were planted in a garden near the gazebo with help of Mr. Tesoro’s Ecology Club and Ms. Forgione’s SADD students.

FP-Bellerose Board of Education Seeks Candidates for Trustee

Oct. 23 New Deadline for Applying

At the Sept. 14 meeting of the Floral Park-Bellerose School District Board of Education, the board accepted the resignation of Trustee Patrick Salmon with regret. Salmon served as a Floral Park-Bellerose School District trustee since 1998 and acted as the board’s vice president from 2003 to 2009.   

Suozzi Proposes ‘90/10 Solution’ for ‘New Suburbia’

Says Targeted Growth Would Preserve Suburbs, Lower Taxes   

County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi held a meeting at Nassau Coliseum to present his plan for a “New Suburbia” in Nassau, proposing that strategic development of 10 percent of the county would help preserve in the other 90 percent, “all that is good about suburban life.” He addressed and then took questions from community leaders, government officials, civic groups and business interests, all of whom were called upon to join the “90/10 Coalition,” which will collectively address the four major problems in this county - property taxes, a lack of young people, traffic congestion and pockets of poverty. The group will help maintain things like single family homes, low crime, good schools, parks and open spaces, while also planning “mega projects” - like the redevelopment of Nassau Coliseum and the Glen Cove Waterfront, meant to create industry, jobs and sales tax - and “cool downtowns,” which would bring young people back into Nassau.