Backing sets up potential political rematch between Suozzi and Mangano.
Tom Suozzi is back.
That was the rallying cry issued by Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs on the steps of the
Nassau County Supreme Court
building Wednesday, signaling the party's backing of the former county
executive in his bid to reclaim the seat he lost to Ed Mangano in 2009.
Jacobs said for months he had encouraged Suozzi, who served as county
executive from 2002-2010, to seek the rematch already dubbed the
"Thrilla in Mineola" by the Democratic leader.
"... I felt the need was so great to have someone who could take on Ed Mangano and win," Jacobs said.
Jacobs said that voters in 2009 may have had the impression that
Suozzi "took them for granted." However, according to the chairman,
Suozzi has learned from his 2009 defeat and will not make the same
mistakes again.
"[Suozzi] did his job governmentally, he dropped the ball
politically, and I think he's learned from that," Jacobs said. "It's a
humbling experience to be defeated. ... But we're paying for that and I
think, unfortunately, the county of Nassau is paying for it, too."
Suozzi, 50, is not the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for
the county executive seat. Roslyn School Board member Adam Haber
announced in January that he was "
all in" against Mangano.
Jacobs' backing comes the same week when rumors began to swirl about
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman's potential run at the county
executive position. While Kaiman has not officially declared his
candidacy, Jacobs said he will "work to unite" the Democratic Party.
"I will be talking to [Haber] in the next couple of weeks," Jacobs
said. "... If there's a primary to be had, then there's a primary that
will be waged, and we will do everything that we can to win that
primary."
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Face it: raising taxes to make up for revenue shortages is a fiscally responsible thing to do. Cutting taxes in the face of deficits is fiscally irresponsible and rightly hurts an entity's credit rating. Suozzi didn't just raise taxes. He also reduced the county work force. He also took on union contracts. He didn't get everything done he wanted to, and he blatantly put his aspirations for higher office above the immediate needs of the county at the outset of an economic emergency. True. I am no Suozzi fan. But Mangano is a failure as executive, completely irresponsible and rightly called out for it by NIFA. Reigning in our taxes is not going to happen overnight. Too many obligations, protected under state law, too many entrenched interests. But at least Suozzi, not a perfect or even great leader by any means, gave it a go in some areas. Mangano hasn't done a damn, sensible thing.
If you like at NIFA they will even admit some of the things they let Souzzi get away with in his budgeting and bonding practices they are not letting Mangano do. So you need to have a fair playing field in comparing the two of them. Reigning in our taxes will NEVER happen. The county execuvtive does not have that kind of authority. The only way to deal with contracts is what Cuomo proposed in limiting arbitration awards. Otherwise the police costs will continue to escalate to a point where we cant afford it. So just raise county property taxes another 20-30% and throw on top of that a regressive energy tax and all looks good. But here is a tax we probably all could live with - tax all political contributions. Going to a dinner for Suozi or Mangano - pay a 15% tax on top of the price of the ticket. Making a contribution - another 15% tax on top of that.
I hope Suozzi runs. Nothing funier than a three time loser.
Suozzi will probably win because people will recognize his name, and his name isn't "Mangano".
Ok, Gullotta put us in this mess but it's 2013. Every major issue plaguing the current administration can be linked back to Souzzi's. So, what did he really do for the the County? Instead of having a more accurate picture of Washington's crossing, what someone should have done is get a more accurate picture of just how he "balanced the budget". I believe issues at the jail in 2009, really big issues over at DPW with Cedar Creek and Bay Park sewage plants in 2010, 2011, 2012 ... and the pool at Eisenhower Park ... they're perfect examples of how he actually "balanced the budget". We simply do not need our own singing ... "Three Tenures"
Can anyone help?? Any intelligent life here on earth?
It was great to see you and hear you in the news this past week. Your enthusiasm, charisma and knowledge is needed at this time in Nassau. Everyone can learn from past mistakes..Your current knowledge is what counts. Good Luck to you and your family as you pursue this endeavor once again.
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Comptroller/documents/AuditofHousingandCommunityDevelopment_11_15_12.pdf
Former Fiscal Manager to administer Housing Assistance to two communities in Nassau County. Housing grant money was wired to these accounts and OHHS hired ADP to prepare Section 8 voucher payment checks. However, employee reimbursement and other irregular payments were Disbursements totaling $1.3 million for both Housing Authorities were made through the two bank accounts established with Chase for the period 2009-2011. OHHS utilized two separate ADP accounts for check processing. Due to the ongoing HUD investigation, the Department has been unable to provide any documentation to support disbursements from the Chase Bank accounts. For both Village Housing Authorities, certain transactions in the Chase checking and the ADP disbursements indicate that payments may have been made to ineligible individuals.
payments were made from these accounts, circumventing the County’s normal purchasing, claims approval, contract, & hiring process. Since the documentation is with the HUD Inspector General’s Office, the current OHCD personnel were not able to provide the documentation to support these payments. We have examined these ADP runs & determined that some payments appear to be irregular, needing further investigation of the supporting documents once released by HUD. The payments were as follows: Payments of $29,246 for professional services, including accounting, legal and information technology services, which should have followed the County’s procurement and contract approval process; Payments of $55,457 for employees’ expense reimbursements, which should have been disbursed through the Comptroller’s Office’s Claims review process. IRS Form 1099’s were generated for employees’ expense reimbursement; Payments of $8,909 for food and entertainment for which the business purposes are not known, but included a party tent rental company;
should have been processed by the Nassau County Human Resources and paid through the County payroll system; Payments of $3,780 to a relative of a consultant to OHHS for which the business purpose is not known; Payments of $28,370 for donations which may have been prohibited by Federal Circular. Of these donations, $16,375 were to non-profit organizations which had ties to the former Director; Payments of $920,033 for Village Section 8 vouchers. Payments of $22,070 for subscriptions and training; Payments of $12,675 for office supplies and shredding; and
We also scanned records from 2006 to 2008 to determine if there were additional irregular payments and found: The former Director was paid a total of $24,530.58 from these two accounts for which there is no support; Payments of $16,148 to a Caterer, for which a business purpose is not known; Payments of $2,440 to a party transportation company located on the North Fork of Long Island, for which a business purpose is not known; Payments of $1,541 to a limousine company, for which a business purpose is not known; and Payments of $10,000 to a housing organization that the auditors were unable to locate and verify, the website domain is no longer assigned to the organization and the phone number has been disconnected. Further investigation revealed that this organization’s exempt status was automatically revoked by the IRS for failure to file a Form 990 Information return for three consecutive years.
Fraud, waste and mismangement however as outlined in the audit by the Nassau County Controller in November 2012 accounted for The comptroller's audit found that Lassandro’s “significant mismanagement” of the County’s Section 8 Voucher Program “culminated in overspending in this area above the associated revenue received and resulted in a shortfall of $6.2 million. This grant fund shortfall was charged to the County’s General Fund in 2011. “ The unauthorized payments included $24,530 to Lassandro herself, with no supporting paperwork WHY HAS THERE BEEN NO ARREST? DOESN'T ANYONE CARE? http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Comptroller/documents/AuditofHousingandCommunityDevelopment_11_15_12.pdf http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/ex-nassau-housing-official-admits-theft-1.4222430
It is time to ask Mangano and HUD what they are doing about this fraud. Since talking to HUD is difficult; Mangano who allowed this to happen under his watch is the one who needs to be asked. Think about a 6.2 million short fall in Nassau County's fund in 2011. And hundreds of thousands of dollars that have not been accounted for. Wouldn't we all like that?
January 25, 2013 - Story by - John Guthrie Yates /cub reporter, on loan from “The Rosary Rag” , Roosevelt NY Well I did it again. I told myself don’t do it, don’t do it. You’ll probably just get yourself upset again. The guy next to me started stepping away. Hey, I don’t care if I talk to myself, I do it all the time. A lot of people do it. I just gave him my best De Niro “ you lookin’ at me ?” I bought the paper, went home and sure enough, there it was, page A6. Newsday, Sunday January 6th … “Who’ll challenge Mangano?” … First thing that came to mind was … well it wasn’t the first thing, The first thing was actually … “Who really cares ?” . It’s cold, it’s 20 degrees outside. We’re all still getting over the holidays and figuring how to pay for all that stuff. This ? No ! This would be something like “the last thing on my mind”. It’s still January. And then it hit me … “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. “I don’t know … You tell me … But aren’t the first 3 clowns directly or very very close to quite a few of the serious problems we’re faced with lately ? Does Nassau really need its own really bad version of “The Three Tenures” ? My wife told me to stop it, “you’re talking to yourself again”. Well I told her … I’m not finished yet. Aren’t the first three somehow responsible in part or in whole for most of the Nassau’s current problems ? Wish Suozzi had painted a more accurate picture as to just how he came up with all those balanced budgets. Looks like we started to find that out in 2010. 8 Years to fix what he “inherited” … all he did was “Kick the Can”. That’s a kid’s game not a business plan. The next clown, Sandy and LIPA … I rest my case. Denenberg, his political career should have gone “Hindenburg” years ago. His “Oversight” … ? Nothing more than a really bad example of “Hindsight”. The other two … Who are they … ? How could he be smiling, he obviously doesn’t understand what he’d be getting into. The guy, I don’t know … doesn’t he seem just a little scary ….