Lisanne Altmann, outgoing 10th District Nassau County legislator, and legislator-elect Judi Bosworth joined forces to speak at the November meeting of the Great Neck Village Officials. Legislator Altmann, who has served as Great Neck's representative for the past 12 years, chose not to run for re-election, and will now be succeeded by Judi Bosworth, formerly a member of the Great Neck Public Schools Board of Education, as well as former president and vice president.

Legislator Altmann opened the dialogue with a few words, first stating that it has been "a privilege to work with all of you ... but maybe it's been enough time." Speaking of Ms. Bosworth, Legislator Altmann went on to state: "I cannot imagine a more wonderful person to succeed me," and she noted Ms. Bosworth's "patience and ability."

Referring to prior experience and professional relationships, Legislator Altmann said that she and Ms. Bosworth have "two people in common, who we love --- Tom DiNapoli (state comptroller and former state assemblyman) and Bill Shine (former superintendent of schools)." She added, "We come from the same lineage."

And then the outgoing legislator turned to her successor and told Legislator-elect Bosworth, "This is your show tonight."

Ms. Bosworth thanked her predecessor, for "being so gracious," and added that she now has "big shoes to fill." Ms. Bosworth went on to tell Legislator Altmann, "This is your night, it's our night, but it's really yours ... our home community can see the transfer and how we all work together."

Ms. Bosworth spoke of her own move to Great Neck 28 years ago, coming for the schools, the parks, the library, the medical and religious institutions. Today, she wants to be "very sure to keep the very special quality of life of our town." This, she said, is of vital importance to her and to Legislator Altmann.

Ms. Bosworth went on to discuss a study concerning property taxes, a study showing the problem of property taxes being too high. She said that the study also showed that almost as many of those polled feel that all special districts should have elections on the same days. Both issues, high property taxes and special districts, she added, are "tough issues."

Focusing on property taxes, Ms. Bosworth said that even though that tax did increase, the school budget did not increase as much. She said that "reassessment adds to the burden." And she noted the issue of the redistribution of the base proportion of the property tax.

Ms. Bosworth did say that development of the county's HUB should offset property tax, but Legislator Altmann added that it "won't happen for a while." However, Ms. Bosworth did note that the development of the HUB will contain a mixed use and that there is hope for affordable housing there.

Regarding the hot topic of special districts, the legislator-elect started off saying that she is unsure if consolidation would really be cheaper, and she does have a concern if this would bring down the quality of services. "Local government keeps up our quality of life," Ms. Bosworth said, adding, " but there is room to make progress."

She then noted several areas of potential improvement, including shared services (such as school districts sharing private bus service), and "smart government," where there is inter-municipal cooperation. Ms. Bosworth noted that already, in Great Neck, there is a list of equipment owned by each village, equipment that can be shared.

"There are so many things on the horizon," Ms. Bosworth said, as she touched on some emergency management issues too. "None of us exists in a vacuum, none of us are alone," she said. "I look forward to getting to working with you, getting together with you ... we can all help one another."

During an open discussion that followed, Legislator Altmann touched on Nassau County's finances and "the trouble in the national economy." She said that county taxes should be raised incrementally, so as not to suddenly have a huge increase. "You must govern from strength, not fear," she said.

Ms. Bosworth stated that although residents do not want tax increases, they do not want diminished services either.

"The answer," said Legislator Altmann, "is leadership ... and you must tell people the truth."

Ms. Bosworth then went on to speak of her future constituents, "an intelligent, educated community and a population that understands." She emphasized, "We must respect that intelligence."

Ending the legislators' presentations, legislator-elect Judi Bosworth told her audience, "You give it your best.!"