The recent election has been hailed as an historic moment in the annals of Nassau County politics -- the Executive and Legislative branches of County government in the hands of the Democrats for the first time since 1917. The first Democrat to be elected County Executive since Eugene Nickerson won the seat in 1962. New faces. A fresh start. A different perspective. We can only hope!

Let's face fact, however. The election was not so much about Democrats and Republicans, as it was about responsive and responsible leadership. No one party has a monopoly on good government, nor should it. The electorate really is smarter than we give them credit for -- at least sometimes. They have the uncanny ability, albeit after years of being blindsided by a show of smoke and mirrors, to weed out those who are incapable of managing the affairs of the people, while returning to office many of those who manage quite well, thank you. They can, as they should, separate the Gulottas from the Guardinos, yanking those who live only for the photo opportunity, while lauding those who try, at least, to turn every opportunity into a picture perfect example of how government should be run.

Okay, so government, on all levels, is far from perfect. Such is the human condition it mirrors. Every elected official has promised to bring on board "the best and the brightest." The ideal of reaching out across party and ideological lines to harness excellence in service to community. Rest assured, there will still be patronage. There will still be partisanship.

There will still be endless bickering over minutia. What the recent election

evidences, however, is that while we can, and will accept imperfection along the way, we will no longer condone an unwavering allegiance to party -- by whatever label -- and we will demand that those elected to represent us, do so, with compassion, with concern, and with accountability. Imagine that, a government truly 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.' An historic moment, indeed.

Seth D. Bykofsky

(The writer is President of the West Hempstead Civic Association.)