The race in the 14th Assembly District between incumbent Marc Herbst and challenger Barbara Bubin-Buonagura will come to a finish next week and the candidates are rallying their campaigns for the stretch run.

Herbst is making his third defense of the seat he first won in a special election in 1994, and he feels his many years of experience and the track record he has as assemblyman will carry him to his re-election. Buonagura, a first time candidate for public office, has rooted her campaign in the fight for middle class rights.

Herbst asserts that economic development and the current tax situation are two important issues facing the district. To exemplify these issues, and to illustrate their bond, he points to the Grumman property and its evolving development.

"The Grumman Corporation, with the downsizing of the defense industry, has affected the community and has been a tax burden. It has caused a tax shift and a loss of jobs and I think we need to have economic development and a stabilization of the tax base."

He noted economic incentives, such as inexpensive electricity provided by the Power for Jobs program, legislation which he sponsored, that are being used as tools to attract and to keep businesses within the district. The development of Lily Popcorn and Goya Foods, Inc. on the Grumman property, he asserts, are products of this practice. These incentives are also tagged with job creation requirements.

Buonagura, a retired insurance broker from Hicksville, has dedicated her campaign to addressing the property taxes that seem to be suffocating many middle class families and the environmental issues that concern every Long Islander.

With regard to the environment Buonagura points to the Grumman property and the commercial asphalt plants on West John Street as two areas in particular that concern her. She fears that in trying to secure an income from the property [Grumman] government is forfeiting public safety and a higher quality of life.

"Yes, we would like to have jobs but not at the cost of the suburban quality of life here," said Buonagura. "The land is very polluted. Let's clean up this land first. Let it rest already. You also have to be careful with what you put in there so that it is not going to continue polluting to the surrounding area."

Buonagura explained that her husband has been a union worker for over 30 years and subsequently she, a Hicksville resident, is more in tune with the problems of the middle class on Long Island.

"I best represent the middle working class families because I have been one of them all my life," said Buonagura. "So when a piece of legislation is up in Albany I can best understand how it affects a working family in this assembly district."

Herbst has been a life-long public servant after first becoming interested in government in high school while working with the Plainview-Old Bethpage Board of Education. He later worked as the assistant to the Oyster Bay town supervisor and board and was the deputy receiver of taxes for the Town of Oyster Bay. He received his bachelor's degree from SUNY Empire State College and was awarded his master's degree in transportation planning and engineering from Polytechnic University.

The new state Regents standards have many school districts in the state looking for an added financial commitment from Albany and both candidates are concerned with getting more state aid to help the school districts meet the growing needs of their students.

"Funding for schools has always been a concern and I don't think that Long Island ever gets its fair share because of the cost of living," said Herbst. "When you start talking about raising standards though, you have to make sure that if you are raising standards you give the districts and the teachers the chance to do so."

He continued, "One of the concerns I have now is that we are raising the standards, but are they setting unachievable goals that might have a negative impact overall."

Buonagura, who graduated with honors from Hofstra University in 1991 with a degree in political Sscience and a minor in business administration, stated she is worried about the students who might be left behind by the state's ambitious requirements, even if increased state aid is made available, and especially if it is not.

"If you raise the standards to get a Regents high school diploma for those who are slightly learning disabled, or dyslexic, or just slower learners you are precluding them from becoming productive people when they get older."

The impact of taxes to the residents of Nassau County, one of the highest taxed counties in the country, was identified by both candidates as a major priority of the campaign. Marc Herbst boasts that the STAR program, legislation he voted for, has reduced property taxes an average of 27 percent for all homeowners and 45 percent for senior citizens.

"The STAR program is an innovative program that will finally put real property taxpayers in a better situation," said Herbst. "So rather than relying on the homeowners the state government will finally take up those costs."

Buonagura feels that although the STAR program is a much needed and deserved relief to the elderly its benefits could be countered in time by other factors.

"My concern with the STAR program is that because it is based on the surplus, any Pataki budget cuts, say to school construction, could force the school districts to raise their budgets to cover these projects," said Buonagura. "The benefits from the STAR program might be negated by an overall increase in school taxes," said Buonagura.

The discovery of possible cancer clusters in Levittown earlier this year and previously in Wantagh has alarmed many residents about the safety of their environment. The Wantagh site was eventually ruled as not being a cluster and initial reports of the Levittown site also found no irregularities. However, county officials have asked for further indepth studies to be performed on the area.

"This absolutely should concern the state. There is a cancer registry and we have had them come down to work with the Nassau County Department of Health with these ridiculous situations," said Herbst. "We have to move forward and if there is any type of link to the ground water or pesticides or whatever, we have to take any type of action necessary to protect the homeowners."

Buonagura said she has taken an active role in speaking on behalf of her local community and their concerns, such as the residents neighboring the Grumman property. As a wife, mother, and employee most of her efforts were constricted in the past, yet now that she is retired she plans to devote more of her time to public service.

"I did not spread out over all of Hicksville, it was in my own little corner of the world, I have the time now," she said of her involvement in public matters.

"I believe I have received a positive reaction from the community, from the residents that I meet," said Herbst. "They seem to believe in the direction that the state is going and encouraging me to continue to cut taxes, bring jobs and lower electric costs to this region."