Post by onthejob on Nov 3, 2011 23:50:17 GMT -5
Nassau moves don't start until after election
November 3, 2011 by CELESTE HADRICK / celeste.hadrick@newsday.com
Nassau's recently approved budget assumes savings or new revenue from an array of painful moves -- including closing police precincts and the possible layoffs of hundreds of employees -- that won't occur until after Tuesday's election.
The initiatives planned by County Executive Edward Mangano include the sale of the county sewage treatment system, settlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax challenges, switching the county's bus service to a private operator by Jan. 1, and, for the first time, billing school districts and other nonprofit organizations for sewage disposal.
The lack of details already has sparked controversy.
Angry bus riders and drivers temporarily shut down a budget hearing last week as they demanded that Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) disclose the county's proposed deal with Veolia Transportation to take over the bus service.
Democrats say Republicans have deliberately put off public hearings and details about the controversial moves to avoid fallout at the polls on Tuesday, when all 19 legislative seats are up for election. Republicans control the legislature with an 11-8 majority.
Legis. Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn) said Schmitt "knows there are some very difficult votes coming up and he's trying to protect his members purely for electoral purposes."
Schmitt said politics played no part in the timing of the upcoming votes.
"This is the working of the legislative process," he said. "When the issues are laid before the legislature, there will be ample opportunity to question and comment." He said most of the scheduling is up to Mangano, who must file the appropriate bills before the legislature can act.
Mangano aide Brian Nevin said the administration is completing details and the initiatives will be submitted when completed.
Stanley Klein, a political science professor at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and a Suffolk GOP committeeman, said he is not surprised that details have not been released about moves that might upset voters. The rule, he said, is "no bad news before an election."
November 3, 2011 by CELESTE HADRICK / celeste.hadrick@newsday.com
Nassau's recently approved budget assumes savings or new revenue from an array of painful moves -- including closing police precincts and the possible layoffs of hundreds of employees -- that won't occur until after Tuesday's election.
The initiatives planned by County Executive Edward Mangano include the sale of the county sewage treatment system, settlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax challenges, switching the county's bus service to a private operator by Jan. 1, and, for the first time, billing school districts and other nonprofit organizations for sewage disposal.
The lack of details already has sparked controversy.
Angry bus riders and drivers temporarily shut down a budget hearing last week as they demanded that Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) disclose the county's proposed deal with Veolia Transportation to take over the bus service.
Democrats say Republicans have deliberately put off public hearings and details about the controversial moves to avoid fallout at the polls on Tuesday, when all 19 legislative seats are up for election. Republicans control the legislature with an 11-8 majority.
Legis. Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn) said Schmitt "knows there are some very difficult votes coming up and he's trying to protect his members purely for electoral purposes."
Schmitt said politics played no part in the timing of the upcoming votes.
"This is the working of the legislative process," he said. "When the issues are laid before the legislature, there will be ample opportunity to question and comment." He said most of the scheduling is up to Mangano, who must file the appropriate bills before the legislature can act.
Mangano aide Brian Nevin said the administration is completing details and the initiatives will be submitted when completed.
Stanley Klein, a political science professor at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and a Suffolk GOP committeeman, said he is not surprised that details have not been released about moves that might upset voters. The rule, he said, is "no bad news before an election."