"Albany is broken and we need to fix it," said Westbury resident Thomas Sobczak, the Democratic candidate for the 17th Assembly District (A.D.). "The biggest issue for an Assembly person today is to open government back for the people."

A former registered Republican and party supporter, Sobczak said he changed parties because he was disappointed with the way things were being run. "When the Republican Party really pushed the county's finances into the ground, I began to help the Democrats," he said. "The thing that really set me off was the real estate transfer tax. I realized that the party I had given a good portion of my life to was not conservative [and] only interested in its own power and ability to take money out of taxpayers' pockets and put it in their own. That's not democracy, that's not what Americans are all about ... " Sobczak added, "I believe the Democratic Party today is the party most responsive to the people and responsible to the people ... The Democrats are protectors of democracy and of our rights."

Sobczak said something has to be done to bring government back to the people. "When three individuals make all the decisions and all the rules and special interests behind closed doors and our legislators become superfluous in reality, we no longer have a democracy," he said. "We go through the motions of an election and our elected officials put their names on bills that may or may not pass depending on whenever the big three decide they are worthy of passing. I have a problem with that."

He added that there does not appear to be competition in politics anymore. "Ten, 15 years ago there was competition," said Sobczak. "Competition is good. If competition is removed from democracy you no longer have a democracy, you have oligarchy and dictatorship. And a dictator is wrong, even when the dictator is your friend."

If elected, Sobczak said he will open his legislative decision process to his constituents. "I will have town meetings, I will gather the information and I will explain why I am making certain decisions," he said. "I can't change everything overnight, but somebody has to finally stand up and say this is wrong ..."

On a local front, Sobczak said the top issues on his agenda are finances and taxes. If elected, the first thing he would like to do in Albany is explore replacing the property tax with an income tax. "I mean replacement, not 'addition to,'" said Sobczak. "I really believe that government has enough of our money... and we are spending it unwisely. Government is bloated. There are plenty of cuts that we could make on a state level [and] there are certain cuts on a county level."

He added, "The property tax unfairly burdens a small subset of the population where an income tax would spread that burden across the entire population. With an income tax, everyone would share the burden equally the same way they share the use of our police, our schools, our water [and] our fire [departments]. New York State needs to restructure without taking more money out of people's pockets."

According to Sobczak, it is time for other parts of New York State to give back to Nassau County. "For years, decades we have been draining money from taxpayers in Nassau and Suffolk County to spread around the state and subsidize places in Rochester and Albany. Now it's time for them to say, 'thank you for everything you have done for us over the years, now we want to give back to you.'"

Making things affordable to remain in New York, particularly Nassau County, is also essential, said Sobczak. "We really need to take a look at the financial issues. Health care is wonderful and I am all for leveraging New York's buying power to give us the health care we need, but if we can't afford to live here, what good is it? If you can't afford to live here, you can't take advantage of it," said Sobczak. "Let's work on affording to live here. Let's make it so our parents can live here and not have to move to Florida, Nevada, Arizona. Let's make certain that our children can buy homes here and not have to move to Ohio or California for jobs."

Sobczak earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University and currently works as an independent technology and management consultant. In the past, he has worked for the New York Academy of Medicine, the American University of Beirut and the Women's American ORT. He has also been a consultant to the US government on computer security matters.

Sobczak has volunteered on the political campaigns of Norman Lent, Norman Levy and Ray McGrath. He has also served as a member of Nassau's Democratic Committee, the Society for Military History and was a founding member and first president of the Nassau County Civil War Round Table as well as president of the Democratic Club of Carle Place and the Westburys. He served on the board of the Friends of Nassau County Recreation and the North Hempstead Traffic Safety Commission. Sobczak, who grew up in Baldwin, is also a past president of the Baldwin Young Republicans.

On his home front, Sobczak - a member of the Carle Place School District - is chairman of the Carle Place Public Library Funding Committee having written the initial legislation to create the special library district and worked across party lines to ensure its passage in Albany and signature by the governor. He was also a founding member of the Carle Place School District Technology Planning Committee and has served on the district's Budget Advisory Committee and Cherry Lane Elementary School Buildings and Planning Team. He currently coaches two Carle Place Soccer Club teams.

Overall, Sobczak believes he is the candidate of choice. "I have drive, I have results," he said. "I believe that my issues really speak to the people, and that residents, as they hear what I have to say, will vote for the right person and that would be me."