Thomas Sobczak's Letter to the Editor of January 24, 2002 ("A Call for Good Government") appropriately expresses righteous indignation with the Nassau County GOP.

I am proud to call myself a Republican, and I have been a Republican since registering to vote 21 years ago.

The Republican Party believes in empowering the citizenry so that it may find creative solutions to the problems they face in their everyday lives. The Republican Party believes that individual spirit has made America great. The Republican Party promotes entrepreneurial growth as the answer that will help all Americans.

To the contrary, the Democratic Party believes that for every societal problem, there needs to be a new governmental bureaucracy to find the solution. The Democrats believe in sucking the individual spirit from the citizenry by taking their hard-earned dollars.

The local GOP lost sight of the reasons why I continue to be a proud Republican, and for that they deserve all of Mr. Sobczak's rage. However, there is hope. The sooner the local GOP understands that it is more important to have "a political soul" than purely pursuing the preservation of power, the quicker the local GOP will return to prominence.

It is obvious that the Nassau County Democrats and North Hempstead Democrats will make the Republicans' job much easier. They will continue to force oppressive tax increases down the throats of the residents. If there was any whining being done recently, it was by Mr. Sobczak's "champions," who did not get the highest post-election tax increase that they sought.

Mr. Sobczak's letter speaks of irony. The real irony is Mr. Sobczak's view on councilmanic districts. The Brookhaven GOP, the Hempstead GOP, and the North Hempstead Democrats have identical goals. They stand united in their pursuit to preserve their political power. None of these organizations are interested in the reforms that would provide a more representative government. What a shame!

But again, there is hope. The North Hempstead Democrats are destined for the same fate as the Brookhaven and Hempstead GOPs. When the politicians get done with all of the partisan rhetoric and name-calling, the people of North Hempstead will choose the best form of government for a diverse town with 250,000 residents.

James P. O'Connor

Westbury