Nassau Nausea, As Mangano Delivers State Of The County
An "Emergency Property Tax Stabilization System." Hmmm. Is that anything like the Emergency Broadcast System, or Long Island's Emergency Evacuation Routes?
By "stabilization," do you mean maintaining the status quo of horrifyingly high property taxes, Ed? A multi-year plan versus annual reassessment? So, we'd be stuck where we are, overburdened by the outrageous property tax, for even longer than the present "lag" already accounts for?
An "inherited" problem, Ed? Gee. Where have you been for the past fourteen-plus years? Sure you didn't mean part of the problem that you and your colleagues on the County Legislature helped create?
Did we mention that the new look of the Nassau County website is most pleasing to the eye? Almost as blue as the Newsday site. And we absolutely love the Humingbird Nest Cam! [We didn't see any birds when we clicked on the link. Only an ad for a pest control company that will get rid of birds. Quite effective...]
We're with you on cutting wasteful spending, Ed. Does that include the hiring of friends and political cronies? Will this exercise in being spendthrift translate into a decrease in the bottom lines of our property tax bills?
We clicked on the job opportunities link. What jobs? Where? When? For whom? And please, times are tough enough for your average Nassau County resident. Must we be beseiged, web page after web page, with photos of Peter Schmitt?
By the way, get past the new look of Nassau County's home page and you pretty much have the same old Nassau County website, sans any reference (other than a swift kick in the shin) to the Suozzi administration. Only the faces have changed. Or not. Click on the County Exec's home page, and what's the first thing we see? A photo of Ed Mangano and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray surveying damage after the recent noreaster. [If a tree falls and Kate's not around with a camera will there still be a photo op?]
But we digress...
About that State of the County Address. You would think that someone with half a brain at the County -- Schmitt, sit down (we said half a brain...) would have the full address (video and text) posted on the County Exec's website more than 12 hours after the speech. No such luck as of the time this blogpost was published. Just more of the Humingbird Nests, and the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam. Thank heaven for the Newsday blogs! [You can read the Mangano address in its entirety, as well as the the Democrats' response, which, interestingly, precedes the Mangano speech on the blog.]
Yes, "the state of our county is deeply troubled."
The County Exec began his address quoting Honest Abe. "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts."
The real facts, indeed. Not hyperbole. Not blame the other guy. Not smoke and mirrors. Facts.
Did you say "truth," Ed? Can Nassau County residents handle the truth? Can anyone in government tell us the truth?
Yes, Ed is taking back our parks (he can keep most of them), reinventing the assessment, and changing the State's Presidential Primary date to follow that of New Hampshire's.
Ahh. The State of the County. It's a mess, and we're going from worse to worserer. But heck, at least we now have a terrorist control center in Bethpage. "A small step for Bin Ladin. A giant leap for Homeland Security."
By the way, did we mention that Ed Mangano and the Nassau County Legislature repealed that irksome Energy Tax? Hope you're enjoying the savings. [That and $2.25 will get you on a Nassau bus.] Oh wait. It won't take effect until June. Will we get a rebate check in the mail?
You can -- and should -- read Ed Mangano's speech in full, deciding for yourself whether it is long on promise but short on delivery.
Ed conculded with more words from Lincoln: "Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."
Stand firm, Ed. Not stand pat. Not go back to the last time your party held roost over both executive and legislature. Not empty words uttered from the podium without a true plan of action to see them played out for the benefit of the populace.
Diane Yatauro, offering the Democratic rebuttal, closed with these words:
You made a promise of bi-partisan dialog, And you pledged to lower our taxes. Well, my friend, you have been in office for 3 months and to date you have not met with me or spoken about your plans to lower our taxes.
My caucus represents 8 of your districts, Which totals more than a half million residents. As the Minority Leader I await an invitation to work with you.
Nassau County is our home; working together we can create a stronger County.
I am grateful to have had this opportunity to speak with you.
Thank You and Good Night.
Good night? How cound any of us have a good night, here in a county both deeply divided and, as conceded by Mr. Mangano, "deeply troubled."
Perhaps that tagline should have been, "Good night and good luck!"
Too bad most of the kids in this video will grow up and leave Long Island. Keeping Generation Next here should be, if not a top priority for the Mangano administration, then, at least, an honorable mention.
Since quoting Lincoln now seems to be the fashion of the day, remember that Lincoln was also fond of saying the following: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all the people all the time." Ultimately, Mangano will be judged by his actions, not speeches, and in this regard, I'm still waiting for him to show that he really is going to deliver on his promise to engineer a "tax revolt", which will require quite a bit more than just rescinding the heating oil tax and mucking around with the assessment system. Indeed, at some point, in what I think will be the very near future, people are going to want to start seeing meaningful results from Mangano, and not just words. By the way, here's another Lincoln quote: "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow, by evading it today."
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