While the political landscape has changed since the last Nassau Legislature elections two years, those who are willing to run for office in the 14th Legislative District have not.

The slate of candidates for this year's race for the seat mirrors that of two years ago. Running are incumbent Republican Salvatore B. Pontillo of Farmingdale, Democrat Kevin Gorman of Wantagh, and Independent Rosemary Styne of Bethpage.

All three ran in the 1997 elections as well, with Legislator Pontillo winning re-election with an overwhelming majority of the vote. This year, his challengers are hoping that public backlash about the county's financial woes will help them to fare better.

"In Nassau County, we've had cronyism, we've had cynicism, and downright cowardliness when it comes to facing the county's problems," said Gorman, noting that the county's current multi-million dollar budget deficit was caused by years of fiscal mismanagement by both County Executive Thomas Gulotta and the Republican majority legislators. "This has brought us to the edge of fiscal ruin. To get out of this, we basically need fairness, we need justice, and we need democracy, and that's not going to happen with the people who are currently in power."

"They permitted the budget to go through," said Styne, noting that because the Legislature must approve the budget proposed by the county executive, they are just as responsible for the deficit accumulated over the years as he is.

Pontillo said that he has played a major role in coming up with solutions to the county's budget problems, both through the proposal of a year-round Assessment Review Board expected to save the county $5-10 million a year, and his part in the Republican Majority Legislators' proposed deficit elimination plan, which incorporates the assessment board savings and $40 million in spending cuts, including a 5 percent salary cut for all legislators. The plan, which was recommended to Gulotta a few weeks ago as he prepared the fiscal year 2000 budget, also included $50 million from the real property transfer tax enacted by the Legislature this year and an unspecified $35 million in new recurring revenue.

Pontillo noted that for three years he pushed for state legislation increasing the assessment review board's operating duration from three to 12 months per year, until it finally was enacted recently. According to Pontillo, the measure cuts down on the amount of interest the county pays on bonding, which is done to provide tax refunds to property owners who successfully appeal their assessments in court. The change also cuts down on the number of backlogged cases, Pontillo added. "It was a real battle back and forth, and I may have stepped on some toes on this one, but it was the right thing to do, and the right thing to do for the people," he said.

Not one of the three candidates is a stranger to politics and community work. Gorman is a state Democratic committeeman, and this is his third run for the 14th Legislative seat. He is a founder of the Wantagh Babe Ruth Baseball League, and a member of the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce, Division 7 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Levittown Community Council. A former banker, he is currently a certified financial planner and administrator with a Bethpage-based company. He said he wants to reform the county's finances, the assessment issue, and push for better county planning. "I would be on the county Legislature trying to create a better Nassau," he said. He noted that he is invigorated by the reorganization of the Nassau Democratic Party under its new chairman, Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli.

Styne, too, is making a third run for the 14th District, and is chairperson of the Independence Party for the Town of Oyster Bay. She is also director of the Nassau Community College Alumni Association, chairperson of the Legislative Technical Advisory Committee of Nassau County's Department of Senior Citizen Affairs, and is on the Restoration Board formed by the Department of Navy to study possible uses for 105 acres of property in Bethpage that the Navy is transferring to the county for re-development. The site was once used for Grumman defense manufacturing. She noted that she is concerned about Nassau's financial problems, and the decline of small businesses in the county's downtowns. "You just have to get some independent thinkers in there - ones that don't have to answer to political bosses. That's me," she said.

Pontillo is a former commissioner of the Town of Oyster Bay Departments of Planning and Development, Housing, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Ethics, and former Farmingdale Village Trustee. A real-estate lawyer with a practice in Farmingdale, he is running for re-election to his third two-year term as county legislator. He said he has worked hard as an advocate for constituents, such as on senior tax relief, legislation to benefit veterans, and to help senior citizens apply for the New York State STAR (School Tax Relief) program. Pontillo added that he has also helped to alleviate traffic and other problems faced by residents. "From very early on, I kidded about this being the best 60-hour a week part-time job I ever had, but it's come true." He said he wants to be re-elected so that he can continue to provide a high level of constituent services, and work to eliminate the county deficit in order to put the county on firm financial footing.

The 14th Legislative District encompasses Farmingdale, part of Levittown, North Massapequa, Plainedge, part of Seaford and part of Wantagh. Election Day is Nov. 2. Next week, the Observer will feature a closer look at the candidates' ideas for dealing with the deficit and their opinions about other local issues.