In a bipartisan and unanimous ruling, the Nassau County Board of Elections has ruled that the petitions submitted by Bob Benazzi, independent candidate for Glen Cove mayor, are indeed valid, following an objection made recently by registered Democrat and Glen Cove resident Nina Held, who works at the Nassau County Board of Elections. According to William Biamonte, Democratic Elections Commissioner, any registered voter is entitled to challenge a candidate's petitions.

On examination, Commissioner Biamonte and his Republican counterpart John DeGrace found that of the 689 signatures on Mr. Benazzi's petitions, 361 were valid and 328 were deemed invalid. Mr. Biamonte said the decision on the invalid signatures included some from people not registered to vote in the district, some with incomplete addresses and some with corrections that did not carry necessary initials. Mr. Benazzi had needed 317 signatures to get on the ballot on his independent Glen Cove First party line.

Following the decision, Mr. Benazzi released a statement which said in part, "I anticipated that my opponents would engage in some dirty tricks by attempting to get people to sign my petition after they had already signed someone else's. They obviously hoped to blindside my campaign by hoping that I would not get enough legitimate signatures. We fooled them by getting two times the number of necessary signatures just in case they were up to no good, which turns out to be the case."

Speaking with this reporter following the county decision, Mr. Benazzi said, "I am very satisfied that the board of elections found in my favor." He added that he would have liked to have gone into local Democratic campaign headquarters to speak with someone on the subject, but "I couldn't find it. There are no Democratic campaign headquarters in Glen Cove."

Mr. Benazzi had originally announced that he had been served with legal papers objecting to his candidacy by lawyer Steven Schlesinger, the Nassau County Democratic Party's attorney, and stated that, "For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Democrats are so worried about my being on the ballot this fall." He also stated his belief that "Incumbent Mayor Ralph Suozzi, first cousin of the Democratic Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi, is apparently receiving unrequested political support from his cousin." He added, "When Mayor Suozzi ran for office two years ago, he rejected the Democratic establishment by forming his own party to run against the former Democratic incumbent, Mary Ann Holzkamp. Now, after disrespecting the Democrats' wishes, here he is using their lawyer to challenge my right to be on the ballot."

Mr. Benazzi continued, "What's so curious is that it appears that Ralph Suozzi still doesn't want the Democrats' help and they're giving it to him anyway. If you go down to his headquarters, all you see are signs and literature for his Glen Cove Voters Party. You'd never know he was affiliated with the Democrats.

"Frankly," he said, "I find it very hard to believe that the current mayor's cousin, also a Suozzi, and the former head of the Glen Cove Democratic Party which has thrown its support to cousin Ralph Suozzi, would permit Mr. Schlesinger to use the prestige of his position as attorney for the Nassau County Democrats, to seek to interfere with a local election. But," Mr. Benazzi said, "that's exactly what it looks like. They can try dirty tricks, but that's not what the voters of Glen Cove want. I think these sorts of tactics will backfire, not just against my opponent, but also against those in public office who assist in this effort. It looks bad and it is bad," Mr. Benazzi concluded.

When questioned, Mayor Suozzi told this reporter to "ask the Democrats," as he had nothing to do with the filing of the objection. At press time, Ms. Held could not be reached for comment, nor could Mike Santeramo, executive director of the Nassau County Democratic Committee.