The Nassau County Legislator Minority Leader, Massapequa's own Peter Schmitt, is frequently quoted in the local daily newspaper concerning wasteful spending by the "other" political party, including the wasteful use of Nassau County cars.

For that, I say thank you, Legislator Schmitt, for regularly letting us all know.

So I'm sure Mr. "Let's Cut Wasteful Spending" Schmitt won't mind his Massapequa constituents knowing that he frequently uses a Nassau County car to travel to events in his own neighborhood.

If that doesn't sound wasteful, please consider this.

Mr. Schmitt attended last Sunday's Loyalty Day Parade in North Massapequa, less than five miles from where he lives, in a Nassau County car.

To have done this, he would have had to travel 14 miles from his Massapequa home to Mineola to sign out the car, then travel 14 miles back to Massapequa. After the event was over, Mr. Schmitt would have had to travel another 28 miles round trip to drop off the car and return to Massapequa in his own car.

That's a total of 56 driving miles (28 miles of taxpayer-paid-for, $3 a gallon gasoline, miles, plus 28 miles in his own car), for two Massapequa-Mineola round trips. For an event that's less than 10 miles round trip from Mr. Schmitt's Massapequa home.

So, on behalf of all of Mr. Schmitt's constituents who support his ongoing crusade to have Nassau County politicians spend County money as if it were there own, I ask Mr. Schmitt to please answer these two questions in your Letters to the Editor space.

• Why do you need a Nassau County car to travel to any event in your own neighborhood?

• How many times have you used a Nassau County car to travel to events in your district since you took office, with how many total miles driven?

Thank you in advance for your prompt response, Mr. Schmitt. Your constituents appreciate your continuing to fight for us.

Stanley Newman