As a registered Republican in Nassau County, I recently received the letter sent by Nassau County Republican Chairman Joseph N. Mondello to the party "faithful." On the one hand, I'm glad to see the Republican party finally taking responsibility for the mess they have created and wanting to fix things before they lose an election. On the other hand, I'm taken aback at the content of the letter which is full of lies, distortions and non-sequiturs in what seems a plea for mercy.

It's a shame that Mr. Mondello paints County Executive Thomas Gulotta as the only villain of all of Nassau County's financial woes and sets up the 14 Republican legislators as the potential heroes. Gulotta has been a tireless worker for the taxpayer cutting welfare rolls, curbing crime and giving us the finest county facilities while the legislators have passed bloated budget after bloated budget and raised your taxes over and over again; twice in the past eight weeks and they promise to do it again just after the election!

Remember, although Gulotta is not blameless, only the legislature can pass a budget or raise taxes. I'm surprised that such an experienced political operative as Mondello could overlook such an important point of government. He also doesn't mention the Republican plans to further raise taxes on all but the wealthy and balance the budget on the back of the average county worker. Anyone would give back 5 percent to keep a cushy six-figure county job.

The Republican "plan," if it can be called that, is too little, too late and badly orchestrated. And I know that the taxpayers of Nassau County are far too intelligent to fall for such a line. I agree with Mondello that "It's time for a change in Nassau County." Where we disagree is that I know he and his party are part of the cause, not part of the solution.

We should all remember this on election day.

Thomas Sobczak