It's amazing that after only one year in office for Tom Suozzi, Pete Schmitt expects years and years of Republican fiscal mismanagement to be cured. The Nassau County budget mess is the result of Tom Gulotta and the rubber stamp of Pete Schmitt and his cohorts. If you believe the Nassau Republicans, the Nassau Democrats are the cause of all the ills of the county. Election after election saw the Republicans portraying Democrats of being fiscally irresponsible and a danger to the county if elected. Voters finally saw through the charade and gave the majority and the county executive seat to the Democrats.

Taxes in Nassau have always been high and this begs the question, What did Tom Gulotta, Pete Schmitt and the Republican legislature do with all that money? Nassau County is the richest county in the country, yet during an unprecedented time of economic growth in the country, while all other municipalities prospered, Nassau went deeper and deeper into the red. The no-show patronage jobs, the high-negotiated contract wages to secure endorsements and no-bid contracts have defined Republican fiscal policy. We find out that because of the BPA scam, Nassau County lost $70 million in one year while Pete Schmitt was the deputy presiding officer in the Republican majority. His excuse for not examining the proposal is that they just trusted what they were told by the executive and his cronies (the same ones indicted for fraud). This is a clear-cut case of malfeasance on the part of Schmitt and the Gulotta Republicans. They are elected and paid to at least read the proposals they are going to vote on.

County Executive Suozzi and the Democratic-controlled legislature are trying to clean up the mess left by the Republicans. The cleanup won't be easy or pretty but it falls on capable shoulders. Pete Schmitt complains about the "rushed" reassessments, yet if the Republicans had been responsible legislators years ago, the reassessments would have taken place over a longer period of time, legal costs would have been saved, and a court-mandated settlement could have been avoided.

If Pete Schmitt has a plan to save the county, I wonder where it was for all these years? Instead of taking pictures with civic groups, veterans, Boy Scouts, and anyone he can present an award to, maybe Schmitt should get to work and let us know about his glorious plan. We have not forgotten that it was Pete Schmitt and the Gulotta Republicans who got us into this situation and we won't forget that they aren't helping now. Complaints aren't solutions and TV ads and newsletters won't change that.

John Rennhack

North Massapequa