After months of speculation on whether Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta would run for another term this November, Gulotta announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election. After another nine months in the position he has held since 1987, Gulotta's tenure as Nassau chief executive office will come to an end.

Despite Gulotta's plummeting approval ratings due to the county's fiscal dilemma and the lack of support from several members of the Republic Party including Nassau Republican Party Chairman Joe Mondello, Gulotta said his decision not to run was personal.

"This decision was a highly personal one made after careful consideration with my family, friends and supporters. I could not permit the actions or statements of politicians to influence a decision that is a personal bond between me and the residents of this county," he said in a statement.

Gulotta said he came to the decision over the weekend that he wasn't willing to make another four-year commitment. Although some Republican officials including County Comptroller Fred Parola said Gulotta was unelectable, his decision was not based on the opinion of others or the polls, he said.

"I've been in 11 elections. There has always been one form of controversy or another. If I had listened to the politicians or the polls in some of those elections, I would not have run. But every single one of those elections was highly successful because we were able to get our message out to the residents of the county," he said. "I'm confident that once the campaign had started to unfold and the strategies unfolded and we were able to get our message across, I believe that again we would have had the confidence of the residents of the county."

Gulotta even said that he may have viewed turning around the county's fiscal fortune as a challenge and a motivating force behind a re-election attempt.

With his decision, however, neither the residents nor Gulotta will ever know if he could have successfully run another campaign. Gulotta believes that if he were to run for re-election, the dominating issue of the campaign would be the county's fiscal problems. A campaign centering on Nassau's fiscal situation would prevent productive dialogue about many positive and constructive issues, he believes.

By excluding himself as a candidate, Gulotta said he hopes to strengthen the county's fiscal situation as well as improve the quality of life for residents without the influence of a political campaign.

Gulotta said he would devote the remaining months of his term "addressing the quality of life issues that have made Nassau County a premier county in the nation and ensuring the future fiscal strength of the county."

Although Gulotta has come under heavy criticism over the past 18 months, he said the county has become a better place to live, work and raise a family since he took over 14 years ago.

He cited the decline in major crimes and drunk driving-related deaths since 1987 as major accomplishments as well as the decrease in the commercial vacancy rate. He also mentioned the cutting of the county's workforce by 41.2 percent since 1987 while the county's percentage of overall property taxes paid by residents dropped from 25 percent in 1992 to today's 19 percent.

Perhaps the biggest accomplishment Gulotta expressed pride in is the growth of home property values in the county. In 1987, the median value of a home in Nassau County was $189,000. Today, it's $252,000, the county executive said.

However, the major criticism about Gulotta's recent stint as the county executive focused on the fiscal distress Nassau found itself in during a time of economic growth. Fiscal problems became serious enough so that Governor George Pataki formed the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) to oversee the county's recent budgets. The county also benefited from $67.6 million in aid in 2000, enabling the county to close its books with a $48.3 million operating surplus. NIFA will continue to oversee the county's finances for at least the next three years.

Gulotta admitted the county is not fully recovered from its fiscal shortfalls. "We can debate how that came about and who was involved, but as our county's chief executive officer, I accept my share of the responsibility. I never engaged in finger pointing," he said.

Although Gulotta announced his intentions to "undertake new and exciting challenges" as well as share experiences with his wife Betsy and children that a commitment to elective office would not allow him to do, Gulotta still believes he has work to do as county executive.

He said he would focus on working in a bipartisan fashion on ensuring that the county is on strong financial footing for many years to come. "If I were to be a candidate, I think it would be difficult to achieve that kind of bipartisan shift that is necessary to ensure the county's fiscal strength," he said.

Legislative majority leader Judy Jacobs said she was not surprised at the announcement. She said the decision was "a wise move for Tom Gulotta and a good new start for Nassau County."

Jacobs said the county is just at the beginning of solving its fiscal problems and hopes Gulotta will use the remaining nine months in office to make hard decisions that have to be made. "I believe it does present an opportunity for Tom Gulotta to actually, in a way, redeem himself," she said. "He's given many years and I'm sure he doesn't want to leave at the end of this year with this county in complete disarray. I would hope he would step up to the plate."

Legislative minority leader Peter Schmitt said he had no opinion about Gulotta's announcement. Schmitt and the other eight Republican legislators had called a press conference not along ago to announce they would not back a re-election bid by Gulotta.

"It's his decision. I take it for what it is," Schmitt said. "I assume he's searched his soul. I assume he discussed it with his family, friends and supporters and he reached his decision."

Gulotta's decision not to run, he said, is irrevocable, which means Nassau County will soon have a new county executive. Glen Cove Mayor Tom Suozzi and State Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli will face off in a September primary for the Democratic nomination for county executive. The Republican caucus has made no announcement of what candidate will receive their endorsement. Some names talked about included financier Bruce Bent, NIFA Chairman Frank Zarb and even former Congressman Rick Lazio.