I am writing in response to the recently published letter from Paul J. Amatuzzo entitled "DiNapoli's Chutzpah."

Mr. Amatuzzo declared that New York State Assemblyman (and Nassau County Democratic Party Chairman) Tom DiNapoli was engaging in an act of "chutzpah" when he offered Glen Cove Mayor Tom Suozzi the opportunity to run as the comptroller for Nassau County on Assemblyman DiNapoli's ticket for Nassau County Executive. Mr. Amatuzzo is apparently angered by his self-perceived notion that by running for comptroller, Mayor Suozzi would be taking a "back seat" to Assemblyman DiNapoli's bid for executive.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

One of the goals of this year's county election is to rescue Nassau from its current fiscal debacle, which developed after years of corrupt and wasteful Republican government. To succeed, the goal of the Democratic Party can be defined by one word, unity; it should not be the advancement of the political career of any individual politician.

Mr. Amatuzzo espouses his support for Mayor Suozzi by claiming that the mayor has been campaigning for the executive position longer than Assemblyman DiNapoli. While I understand that the Glen Cove Mayor has been raising money for this race for over a year now, if fund raising were the basis by which the party or Nassau's electorate chooses a county executive, then we should re-anoint Tom Gulotta as executive and dispense with the election.

Sadly, Mr. Amatuzzo utterly fails to appreciate the concept of unity as well as the truly significant opportunity available to the Democratic Party to further promote the causes of the Democratic Party and balance the power of Nassau County's government by denouncing Tom DiNapoli's achievements as chair of the Democratic Party as work that could have been done by a "trained seal." I have always believed that personal attacks as part of any political campaign, local, state, or national, are detrimental to the campaign and the public's perception of the candidates and the political process; such attacks are particularly offensive and harmful to a party's greater cause when they are thrown by one party member at another at a time when unity should be the watchword of the party.

Mr. Amatuzzo also claims that Mayor Suozzi should be elected because the mayor has done more for the people of Glen Cove than Assemblyman DiNapoli. This argument, too, misses the point. Aside from the self-serving nature of those comments, as a practical matter, it only makes sense that a mayor of a city (or village or hamlet for that matter) would "do more" for that municipality than a state assemblyman or senator. A mayor's job is to "do more" for the particular municipality he represents; an official holding a state position, however, is obligated to represent the interests of a broader and different constituency, and, indeed, it is for that very reason that I would like to see Assemblyman DiNapoli become our next county executive.

I believe Assemblyman DiNapoli has the integrity, energy, and vision that deserves the support and respect of voters throughout this county. He has spent 30 years building a reputation as a tough but fair elected official who has unselfishly devoted himself to the people of Nassau. I also believe that Mayor Suozzi has done an excellent job of revitalizing the city of Glen Cove, and I am hopeful that he will continue along a successful path as a Democrat. However, at this critical juncture in the county's political history, Mr. Amatuzzo should recognize that given Mr. DiNapoli's position as the head of the Democratic Party, his long-standing experience and outstanding reputation as a legislator, and Assemblyman DiNapoli's county-wide name recognition, the interests of the county and the Democratic Party, including Mayor Suozzi, would be much better advanced by unifying our resources and supporting Mr. DiNapoli's bid to become the county executive. Anything less would be akin to two baseball players arguing over who should catch the last out of the seventh game of the World Series - only to let the ball drop and the other team score the winning run.

Mitchell Dranow