Democrat Steven November is calling for raised educational standards, environmental protection, and open government in his campaign for the 19th Assembly District.

November, a lifelong resident of the South Shore, grew up in Oceanside and currently lives in Merrick with his wife Lesley and their two children. He is a trial attorney and former junior high school teacher with a master's degree in science education. An environmentalist with a degree in biology, November has written about land banking, land acquisition programs and the federal and state environmental schemes.

According to November he got "fed-up" with what was going on in Congress in 1995 and decided to get actively involved in the Democratic Party. He added that he worked to get Steven Sabbath removed from the position of Democratic Party leader, "so we could unify and get ourselves together." He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Nassau County Democratic Party and is president of the Merrick-Bellmore Democratic Club. He is a coordinator for Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg. November cited Denenberg as being "a good person to learn from."

In his role as a coordinator for Denenberg, November has played a role in holding town meetings for local communities within Denenberg's district, at which the budget crisis, mosquito control and other local issues were discussed.

If elected to the Assembly, November would like to see Denenberg's town meetings extended to include all of the 19th Assembly District, many areas of which are not included in the legislative district. "We think that open government and accessible government is the way to go," said November. "We are doing that at a town level holding those nighttime town meetings that people can actually attend." November said he feels strongly that people should have access to the people who represent them. He plans, if elected, to take this a step further and walk his district even in the off-election years. "We bring to the table something that has never been tried before, the idea of open, accessible government is exciting." said November.

A community activist, November has been working with the Central Merrick Homeowners Association in their fight to prevent a cellular telephone tower from being placed next to a daycare center and right across from a school. He has also dealt with the North Bellmore Civic Association, who were unable to prevent a cell tower from going up, and November said that he plans to work with them to try and "dress-up" the tower to make it less of an eyesore.

The environment is an issue that November feels very strongly about and he stated that he will make the state Superfund program a priority, if elected. "I want to strengthen the policing for the South Shore estuaries." He added that he does not believe that the Comprehensive Environmental Review is policed well enough. "I think there should be mandatory and more detailed disclosure of Superfund sites as well as cancer clusters in Nassau County so we know and can do a more comprehensive study as to the basis for the existence of these sites and how we can remediate them, what causes them, and what the effects are on the community," said November.

The candidate also noted that education is a major issue in his mind, especially since he is a former teacher. "I know what kids need," said November. "Rather than just going to schools and reading to them, I've been out there teaching them." Through the Nassau County Bar Association's Lawyers in the Classroom program November still gets an opportunity to share his teaching abilities. "I want to protect the schools and at the same time as we raise the standards for students we should raise them for teachers and give them the tools they need, not just through state aid but through legislation requiring that schools get a certain amount of state aid for, for example computers, perhaps providing a tax credit for kids who buy computers to use in the home to further educational goals," said November. "If we're going to have higher Regents standards for these kids we need to provide for them the tools that they and their teachers need."

November also plans to fight for more funding for the county. He noted that over $110 million has already been cut in discretionary spending at the county level. November added, "If you cut any more you cut out public works and the parks and people aren't going to put up with that." November stated that he wants to see the state provide the county with some recurring revenue and he questioned why Nassau currently receives a smaller percentage of funding for Long Island Bus than Suffolk or Westchester counties do. "I want to restore faith in our electorate in the government and to provide state funding for those areas such as Long Island Bus and social service programs like Mental Health and Youth Board that are about to be cut," said November.

November vows, if elected, to work for the community and protect it. "People are fed up and they want a change," concluded November. "I am hoping that they will get me in there and I will show them just how much they deserve me in office, because I'll go to work for them."