Community Corner

Candidates Square Off at Forum

Eight men and women running for City Council and County Legislature fielded questions from a standing-room-only crowd.

It was standing room only at the in the auditorium of the Thursday evening, where a collective eight candidates running for Nassau County Legislature and fielded a host of written questions from constituents.

The forum began with the candidates in the 4th Legislative District race, incumbent Republican Denise Ford and Democratic and first-time challenger Darlene Tangney, a trustee on the Long Beach Board of Education, who had three minutes each to answer questions on issues that included the re-development proposals for the Nassau Coliseum and HUB area, the Bay Park sewage treatment plant and clean-up in Reynolds Channel, family incomes in a still struggling economy, civil service contracts, rent stabilization, and the take over of the county’s finances.

Other questioners asked if the two candidates had ever read the United States Constitution, if they had prior work experience managing budgets, and their thoughts on County Executive Ed Mangano’s response to Monday's .

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Ford and Tangney, who are competing for a legislature seat carrying a two-year term, were followed by the candidates vying for three open seats on the City Council: Council President Thomas Sofield Jr., Vice President Mona Goodman and second-time candidate Marvin Weiss, who are running on the Republican-Coalition ticket; and three Democrats, City Councilman Len Torres, second-time candidate Fran Adelson and newcomer Scott Mandel.

Like the legislature candidates, the six City Council hopefuls offered opening and closing statements that sandwiched their answers to questions that touched on such issues as bipartisanship, North Park gentrification, webcasting Council meetings, traffic safety, the Quiksilver Pro New York surfing contest, unions and medical benefits, and taxes and spending cuts.

Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The forum, cosponsored by the and library, is the first in a series of forums in which the candidates will meet with constituents in the lead-up to Election Day on Nov. 8.

Later today and in the coming days, Patch will have coverage of the candidates’ responses to many the questions posed to them, as well as their statements, at Thursday’s forum.


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