Frank DeAngelis of Franklin Square will challenge incumbent John Ciotti Nov. 6 in the 3rd Legislative District race, which covers Elmont, South Floral Park, Franklin Square and a part of North Valley Stream.

DeAngelis, who lived in Elmont for five years before moving to Franklin Square with his wife, Ann, and their two children, said he wants his community to be like his childhood community in Suffolk County and those that all of his friends grew up in here in Nassau.

A District One national staff representative for communication workers and a member of CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local 1106, DeAngelis said he's protected workers, negotiated their contracts and secured their much-needed benefits and health insurance. "Right now, as a staff representative, I'm in charge of two locals with a combined membership of just over 13,000 members and their families. I'm going to bring those work ethics to my district," he said.

When asked if there's anything he'd do differently as legislator, DeAngelis said, frankly, "A lot of things." Foremost, he said he'd bring change to the fiscal problems the county currently faces. "I think we're on the right track with an open government. We're working on fixing a problem that's been created over the years and I believe the direction we're going in now in the short-term is a positive approach," DeAngelis said.

He considers ridding the county of wasteful patronage as a quick fix to get Nassau on stable fiscal footing. "I would specifically look to get rid of the duplication of services, particularly within special districts like the water and sanitation districts. There are many county and town districts that do the same functions. The county of Nassau would be better served if we could combine those services," he said.

"For example," DeAngelis notes, "we have approximately 15 water districts in Nassau County, which all have equipment, buildings and multiple commissioners that are paid. Now, I'm not saying we need to combine staff because we need to have all the workers still present. But each district has three water commissioners that get paid $80 a day. From the examples we've seen, they're averaging $12-15,000 a year, plus medical benefits that average $7 - 9,000 per year.

"If we made three water districts out of the 15 - like a North, Central and South district - and had one commissioner per district that earned $75,000 a year, we'd save, just in benefits and salaries alone, about $609,000 a year. This money could obviously go towards paying off debt. Imagine what we would save with other special districts like sanitation? I understand it's county and town but I think that doesn't matter to a taxpayer because they're still paying taxes on that."

DeAngelis also thinks Nassau needs property tax reform. "We need lower property tax. We need to lobby for more state aid for school tax. School taxes are 80 percent of a resident's tax payment. Even though we don't control that, we need to actively, as legislators, go to Albany and lobby to get more aid. Then we need to regionalize the school tax system to make sure each community has equality in what is paid out."

On a more local level, particularly in the communities he'll cover if elected, DeAngelis said he will fight for safer streets. Specifically, he'll push for more of a police presence in Elmont, South Floral Park, North Valley Stream and Franklin Square. "I believe Tom Suozzi's plan deals with that. We're not looking to lay off or get rid of officers. I would never do that as a union person and I wouldn't do it as a legislator," he said. "We need to put our policemen on the streets to protect the neighborhoods and maybe get some civilians to come in and do the paperwork and auto repairs - jobs many police officers are currently doing."

Admitting he's not a "typical politician," DeAngelis said he's never run for political office because he's never aspired to be a politician. "I'm just a normal everyday working person out of the community that believes the government should be for the people, by the people. I've always worked behind the scenes but have been involved in politics for a long time through my work with the union."

DeAngelis, a founding member of the Working Families Party, created back in 1998 by major New York unions and community groups like Jobs for Justice to "fill a need for getting issues out there like living wages and health care," is running on their ticket. The Democratic and Liberal parties have also endorsed him. The Working Families party is the state's first community-labor party and DeAngelis is the first Working Families party member to run for office in Nassau County.

DeAngelis began his career at New York Telephone in 1980. An active CWA member, he became a shop steward with CWA Local 1106 in 1989 and was assigned to work on various projects for CWA District One between 1997 and November 2000, when he was appointed to staff representative. Priding himself on working tirelessly to get labor friendly politicians elected, he's also tried to organize support for labor's key issues.

"Organized labor has realized that we can't just 'talk the talk,' we've also got to 'walk the walk' by taking an active role in developing our legislative power," he said.

"We must fight for a fair tax system, a real living wage, a fair day's work with dignity and benefits for all who seek it, safer schools and affordable housing. We must stop the downsizing of county services for those residents that can least afford to lose them. These are the issues important to our community."