Nassau County Legislators Barbara Johnson and Lisanne Altmann took part is a panel discussion sponsored by the Port Washington-Manhasset League of Women Voters at the Port Washington Public Library on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Anne Stokvis, former president of the Nassau County League of Women Voters as well as of the local League, served as moderator.

Ms. Stokvis began the discussion by giving a brief history of the creation of the Nassau County Legislature four years ago after the government by the Board of Supervisors was found to be unconstitutional. Ms. Johnson represents Port Washington, Manhasset, Roslyn and parts of Old Westbury. Ms. Altmann represents Great Neck , Manhasset Hills and Herricks. Both are Democrats, placing them in the minority in the county legislature. Ms. Johnson is a member of the finance committee, the government services and operations committee and the public safety committee. Ms. Altmann is a member of the office of legislative budget review committee, the planning, development and the environment committee and the minority affairs committee.

Both legislators were highly critical of the Nassau County Budget which, they said, depends on hypothetical tax revenues and on one-shot infusion of funds, such as that which will result from the sale of the Nassau County Medical Center to a quasi-public entity.

Ms. Johnson pointed to a lack of long-term planning on the part of the Gulotta administration. Neither legislator gave high marks to the recently proposed Nassau County Plan which was developed under the chairmanship of Paul Ponessa. They pointed to the fact that the proposed "Nassau County Hub" was not even mentioned in the plan. "How can you produce a plan and leave the centerpiece of the county out of it?" Legislator Johnson asked rhetorically. Ms. Altmann did say that Republican Richard Nicolello, chairman of the planning, development and environment committee, has been doing an excellent job, holding hearings around the county to get public input for the Nassau Plan.

The subject of reassessment was touched on briefly, with both legislators believing that it will be coming but not in the immediate future. Ms. Johnson, in particular, said that a reassessment that would penalize homeowners would have a disastrous effect on her district which is better than 90 percent residential. She predicted that reassessment, when it does come, will be phased in gradually over a number of years. The legislators also responded to a question from Phoebe Goodman, director of the Nassau Citizens Budget Committee, concerning funding for education. Although there was general agreement that the present system of funding the public schools resulted in inequities, there were no absolute solutions proposed.

Two days after the meeting, the Nassau County Legislative Democrats issued a press release criticizing the Gulotta budget as "masking a structural imbalance, is confusing to the public and discourages long-term planning." They proposed a bill which would require future summary budget reports to include more information, thus enabling legislators a better chance to analyze the budget.