Ten years ago we wouldn't have seen the kind of direct frontal assault on a sitting Assembly speaker like the one attempted last month. There were always too many Democrats who perceived that their re-elections were tied to financial, technical and institutional support provided by the speaker's largesse.

Only a handful of assemblymembers could raise six figures in any given election cycle. Today, there are a number of assemblymembers who can raise $100,000 at a single event, and personal campaign funds have swelled, allowing members to finance sophisticated political campaigns without direct help from the Albany leadership. Many have made legislative service a career choice, making ambitious junior members rethink the risks of attempting a breakout from behind blocked paths.

In 1998, state legislators made a critical decision behind closed doors that will make attempted coups more common and perhaps inevitable. Legislative pay was hiked by a record margin. True, a case can be made that most state legislators should be paid nearly $100,000 per year in salary, stipends and benefits. But this level of compensation officially transformed, after more than three centuries, our part-time citizen-legislators into full-time officials, and it was not their place to make this change without public debate.

The job is too attractive, worth large personal investments of cash in a campaign. Non-incumbent working and middle class candidates are even more at the mercy of political organizations and contributors. Assemblyman Michael Bragman could attempt a takeover in large part because of the credibility and cachet he's earned with his personal million dollar campaign fund.

We made similar mistakes with the Nassau County Legislature, creating districts and salaries just large enough that in most years the average citizen cannot mount a strong campaign without the support of established political operations. We may be about to make the same mistakes with our town boards, and citizens need to speak up about this if they don't like it.

All three Nassau townships are in various stages of splitting or thinking about splitting their town boards into councilmanic districts, scrapping the outmoded, ineffective and exclusionary at-large system. Hempstead is holding councilmanic elections this fall. After nine years of resistance, North Hempstead officials have appointed a commission to study town board reapportionment. Officials who will be representing one-fourth or one-sixth the number of constituents with a greatly reduced need for cross-town travel shouldn't work on the assumption that salaries, personal staff and other items will remain the same. In North Hempstead, some councilmembers will mostly represent constituents living in incorporated villages, greatly reducing daily responsibilities.

Sure, the positions will take some time, some work. Elected officials frequently attend events to enhance personal profiles, which is fine. But they shouldn't confuse this personal political function with their public jobs. It's time to rethink these positions from top to bottom, and to decide just what kind of public positions we need and want.