I urge my fellow residents to consider Frank Russo's positions before pulling the lever for either the Democrat or Republican candidates for NY State Assembly. As a member of the Port Washington School Board, I'm especially interested in issues that impact children. He is the only candidate who opposes partial birth abortion; a hideous crime where the small child is delivered feet first before the abortionist kills the baby.

He supports requiring anyone with knowledge of sexual exploitation of a minor to report such activity to the authorities. I frankly don't hear our other candidates standing up for our most vulnerable and exploited young people.

One of his more creative ideas and the centerpiece of his candidacy is the issue of school taxes. In recent years, when the voters rejected the school board's annual budget, our local school board sometimes put the exact same budget up to the voters a second time. Current law allows local school boards two chances to pass a budget. Frank wants to change state law giving the voters control over their money. He proposes no second vote and if rejected the budget would remain at the previous year's level. This would require school boards to think long and hard and find out what the majority of the citizens want before they submit for public vote a major tax increase. I think this idea has merit and deserves additional debate and discussion.

Before just blindly voting for a party, consider a local resident who has a heart for our most vulnerable children and appreciates how high property taxes hurt families. I'm voting for Frank Russo on the Conservative line because he has put issues into the public debate the other candidates seem unwilling to consider.

Peter Wezenaar