Ed TV

Nassau County Exec Sweeps Clean On YouTube

It's not even an election year for Nassau's chief executive, and yet, the posturing through political ads has already begun.

Inspired, perhaps, by the widespread use of the Internet to rally support around the world, Ed Mangano (who finds himself, at the moment, without so much as control over the county's finances, and at odds with the County Comptroller, a fellow GOPer) has posted an ingenious, though somewhat disingenuous video on YouTube, entitled, Ed Mangano: Cleaning Up Nassau's Problems.

Granted, 270 views is hardly "going viral," and Mineola is not Cairo, but hey, when it comes to pushing back against the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA), or, for that matter, the truth (as in, saving us from a 16.5% increase in the property tax and turning a $133 million deficit into a surplus, the fact-o-meter stretching its limits), taking a broom to the county's problems by virtue of video is pure Madison Avenue.

The video is short, slick, and, even we must admit, pretty clever. And for most within the County Exec's purview, particularly those of limited attention span and myopic hindsight, the ad will more than satiate.

Yeah. Sweep away all our problems. Or are the issues that confront our county, our Island, merely being swept under the rug?

Enjoy the video. One of many more cutsie spots yet to come, no doubt. Then ask yourself, whatever happened to the tax revolt that "swept" Ed Mangano into office, and are taxpayers really being saved from reckless spending, crushing debt and punishing property taxes, making Nassau County more affordable, or simply being sold the same broom, over and over again, at the check out counter?

Truly, we'd like to believe Ed, to see him succeed. Who wouldn't? After all, relieving the burden of the taxpayer, the homeowner, the senior, the under 40 crowd, is a cornerstone of Long Island's revival.
The proof, we suppose, will not be in what we see on the small screen, but rather, what we read on the bottom line. Watch those property tax bills, and stay tuned to Ed TV.