This week, the Hicksville Illustrated News is again presenting profiles of candidates running for Oyster Bay Town Councilman/ Councilwoman. There are three councilman positions up for election this year. This is an at-large election, meaning the top three vote-getters out of all the candidates will win a seat on the town board. The two candidates profiled this week are not only running against each other; they are running against every other candidate as well.

For Anthony Macagnone, the most important reason to win a seat on the Oyster Bay Town Council is to give local working people a voice, a voice which he says they have lacked under the regime of the Republican-held board.

A carpenter and union leader from Farmingdale, Macagnone first made a name for himself locally when he challenged Kemp Hannon to the 6th State Senate seat last year. Although he lost the bid against the popular incumbent Republican, he earned a surprising percentage of the vote considering a dramatic lack of funds. This was after his message about the need to get back the American Dream for working people reached many through word of mouth and newspaper articles. Among those who took notice were several leaders of the Nassau Democratic Party, newly organized under Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli.

While Macagnone's previous campaign was purely grassroots, with his wife and young daughters helping him with much of the legwork, his quest for a town council seat has enjoyed financial support from both the Democratic Party and organized labor. He has also earned support from his local community of Farmingdale, as seen, for example, in car bumper stickers at school board meetings there. He has even launched a web site: www.macagnone.com. to rally excitement about his campaign.

"Working people have been ignored, and their needs have been ignored. And, now it seems we have somebody looking out for their needs," the candidate said in a recent interview. "Everybody has a special interest group, and mine are working people. I'm proud to say that I support working families."

Macagnone has a critical eye on the management of the Town of Oyster Bay, and said that many don't realize the problems the municipality is facing. For example, he asserted that the town has an over $30 million deficit, although Republican incumbents deny that there is any hole in the budget. "It's similar to Nassau County. Nassau County has a $300 million deficit. And, people are fed up. People are very unhappy that Nassau County owns 1 percent of their house right now, with the transfer tax," he said. "I've had people say, 'Well, when was the last time Tom Gulotta was at my house cutting my lawn.' And, I have to agree with them. Nobody's out there helping the working people right now."

The candidate noted that the deficits in both the town and county were caused by excessive borrowing and spending, and that current elected officials are unwisely selling off public property to pay off debt. Pointing to such deals as the town's sale of 65 acres of open space in Plainview to a developer and the county's sale of the Nassau County Medical Center to a public benefit corporation, he said, "They're mortgaging our future - the future of working families all over Nassau County." He added that Nassau is the only county in the state with a deficit, and that neighboring Suffolk has a surplus.

Because of an excessive amount of employees, he added, the Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course is only making a minor profit - $7,000 according to last year's budget. This is compared to the Town of North Hempstead Golf Course, for example, which he said yielded a $1.8 million profit this year. He added that the town needs to cut a lot of its fat, such as the town car used by the town controller, which he said is unnecessary.

Macagnone believes the town is being overdeveloped, and that a Master Plan is needed to both curb that and set guidelines for building restrictions, signage, etc. "Every inch of land, they're putting a house on. It's starting to look like Queens. No offense to Queens, but I moved out of New York City to enjoy a little more suburban life," he said. "We need to prevent that from happening. And, the only way of doing that is if people get elected who are going to be committed to doing that."

He added that the southern part of the town is already too crowded, and that he does not want to see the same fate for the northern part. "We have to consider the future. We need open land. We need setbacks. We need some beauty. We don't have that right now," he said. "And with the town's current financial restraints, I don't think they can allow for it right now." For example, he expressed concern about the fate of the Underhill Property in Jericho, which he said should be preserved because it lies atop a groundwater protection area. In that case, the local community has asked the town to stop it from being developed, but the town does not have the funds to purchase it.

Macagnone grew up in Farmingdale, and after living in Manhattan for a few years during the '80s, he went back to his hometown to raise his own family.

In addition to being a union leader, his community involvement has included being a soccer coach, serving on a community committee to stop the expansion of Farmingdale's Republic Airport, and as a member of the Coalition to Save Long Island Jobs. Also, while living in Manhattan, he started a civic group to help rout out crack dealers in his lower east side neighborhood. Known as the East 13th Street Crack Patrol, the group received guidance from Curtis Sliwa, founder of the famed citizen crime-fighting group, the Guardian Angels.

As a town councilman, Macagnone said he would continue to stand up for what he believes in, a quality which he said the current board has lacked. "One of the reasons Suffolk County is doing fine is because members of any party - whether Republican or Democrat - got up and said, 'You know, this is wrong,'" he said. "Whereas in the Town of Oyster Bay, they're all Republicans. Everyone's too scared to get up and do that. They're afraid of repercussions from the Republican Party, I guess."

If elected, Macagnone said he would work to make the Town of Oyster Bay a better place for the next generation, and to encourage more participation from residents in their town government and communities. "It's time to give regular people a chance," he said.