The morning after Election Day, banners with the words, "Thank You," were pasted on Legislator Vincent Muscarella's campaign signs. Regrettably, the performance of Muscarella and that of our other local legislator, John Ciotti, was less than satisfactory. As members of the county legislature, Muscarella and Ciotti presided over Nassau County's financial meltdown during an economic boom.

Legislators Muscarella and Ciotti approved four of Tom Gulotta's smoke and mirror budgets replete with fiscal gimmicks. Ciotti, as chairman of the finance committee, was the top fiscal watchdog on the legislature. But in the newsletter he sent to residents in September he didn't say a word about the county's budget mess. There was not even a hint of a fiscal problem in his four page report, though it did contain six photos of himself and other smiling politicians who were up for re-election.

Neither Muscarella nor Ciotti made us aware of these disturbing statistics:

Nassau, one of America's richest counties, has a staggering $2.7 billion debt, a deficit of $300 million, a bond rating that was downgraded to near junk level, and property taxes that are among the highest in the nation. The cost to taxpayers of interest alone on the county's debt is $70 million. Nassau is the most-taxed county in New York State.

Suffolk County has 100,000 more people than Nassau but its payroll is 30 percent less than Nassau's. The bloated patronage mill in Nassau County costs taxpayers $400 million, enough to cover the current deficit. Nassau County's employee-to-resident ratio is near the largest of any suburban county in the nation.

While serving on the legislature, Muscarella and Ciotti did not object when Tom Gulotta added $250 million to the county's debt so he could get $70 million upfront from the MTA. Nor did these two legislators raise a red flag about the county's health insurance contract until the cost shot up by $50 million.

There was no alarm sounded by Muscarella or Ciotti when Gulotta proposed that the $1 billion the county is to get over the next 20 years as part of the national tobacco settlement be sold for $275 million so $170 million could be used to bail out the deficit rather than be set aside for anti-smoking education and treatment programs.

In the wee-hours on the eve of the election, Muscarella and Ciotti voted to pass a budget that was to give Republicans an advantage at the polls but one that failed to fix the county's problem that it spends more than it takes in. Nor did it cut the patronage system that fuels the party machine.

It is mind boggling that in the four years Muscarella and Ciotti served on the legislature they voted in lock step with the Republican presiding officer on all issues. Weren't they elected to represent all of the residents, regardless of political affiliation?

As taxpayers, we expect and deserve better performance from our elected officials.

George Rand