Newsday editorial board's 2008 endorsements

District 1 (North Fork, Riverhead, Brookhaven): Marc Alessi

When Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Shoreham) learned that his challenger would be James Staudenraus, who once worked as a field coordinator for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, he wondered if illegal immigration would be an issue in the campaign. But a not-so-funny thing happened to the economy on the way to Election Day, and both Alessi and Staudenraus say that immigration is far from the minds of district residents these days. Instead, they're worried about high taxes and the cost of living.

Staudenraus, a 53-year-old Shelter Island resident, has a background in sales and currently works in his wife's linen-importing business. He wisely says the state needs to live within its means, and nothing should be off the table when legislators return to Albany to make budget cuts. When it comes to education funding, he favors a property-tax cap, since it addresses school spending.

Alessi, 32, who formerly represented the state comptroller on Long Island, supports the property-tax cap, as long as it's accompanied by a circuit breaker, which he would fund with an income tax increase for people making $1 million a year or more (often referred to as the "millionaires' tax"). He believes public education is "sacrosanct," and doesn't want to see across-the-board cuts.

Alessi, whose primary mission since he arrived in Albany in 2005 has been targeting LIPA fuel surcharges, is mentioned as a possible Brookhaven Town supervisor candidate, should Brian Foley win a State Senate seat, but he says he's committed to serving out his term if re-elected. We think he's a promising young legislator, and now that he's gone as far as he can with LIPA, it's time to turn his considerable energy to a new problem. He says it will be health insurance, an industry ripe for new ideas. We endorse Alessi.


District 2 (South Fork): Fred Thiele

The Wall Street collapse will have a greater effect on the Second District than on any other on Long Island, says Assemb. Fred Thiele (R-Sag Harbor). The largest industry here is second homes and servicing them, he says. His challenger, Michael Pitcher, agrees. During the recession of the late 1980s, workers who serviced the East End's vacation homes really suffered. And, taking a broader view, Pitcher doesn't see anything to replace the importance of the financial industry to the state's coffers.

So, what to do? Both incumbent and challenger believe the state needs to consider across-the-board cuts to make its budget, though Thiele wouldn't cut education. Thiele wants to go after Medicaid waste more aggressively and close underused upstate prisons. Both candidates feel that a property-tax cap, plus a circuit breaker, would help provide needed relief to homeowners, and both support the so-called millionaires' tax.

Pitcher, a 57-year-old who lives in Quogue, is the former editor of the Southampton Press and currently works as a legislative aide to Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer William Lindsay. He says he's making the run because he objects to unopposed races -- we give him a lot of credit for that. He also thinks a Democrat in the Assembly might be more effective at getting goodies for the district than Thiele, whose party has long been in the minority. Thiele, 55, argues that the quality of a legislator's ideas is more important than who's in the majority. He's demonstrated an ability to reach across the aisle, such as when he worked with officials from both parties to arrange for the LIRR to run extra trains during construction work on County Road 39. He's an effective Republican in a Democratic legislative body. The editorial board endorses Thiele.


District 3 (Patchogue area, Fire Island): Patricia Eddington

As a civic activist, challenger Scott Salimando led the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Suffolk County. If we could make a wish in his second run against Assemb. Patricia Eddington (D-Medford), it would be for a more civil tone -- by both. In their joint appearance before the editorial board, the atmospherics were decidedly stormier than average, too often over minor details.

Salimando, 54, an attorney from North Patchogue, favors the 4 percent property-tax cap. Eddington, 60, voted for the Assembly's answer to the cap: a circuit-breaker that would target relief to those who are paying above a certain percentage of their income in property taxes. Salimando calls it a "shell game."

At times, their dialogue sounded like a meeting of the Patchogue-Medford school board. Salimando's campaign literature argues that the district hasn't gotten its fair share from Albany on Eddington's watch, but she says she enabled it to get $6 million to climb out of a fiscal hole. And he does not think she's done enough to relieve the district of unfunded mandates.

Despite the sharpness of their tone, they agree on a number of issues, such as the need for no-fault divorce law and skepticism about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's defeated congestion pricing plan to relieve the traffic rush in Manhattan.

Though Salimando knows the issues better than the average challenger and argues them forcefully, he did not make a strong enough case, in these fiscally perilous times, for tossing out an incumbent who works hard for some of the county's most fragile communities. The editorial board endorses Eddington.


District 4 (Northern Brookhaven): Steve Englebright

As a government, law and history teacher at Freeport High School, Bruce Bennett has an insider's view of educational policy and school funding. The 43-year-old Centereach Republican believes that the unions are dictating educational practices, and we can all see the results in our tax bill. Bennett argues that there are many other educational models that could work -- but public money goes only to the traditional one. As for those tax bills, he believes the property-tax cap would be a good start toward reforming school spending.

Bennett is running against Democratic Assemb. Steven Englebright to steer Albany away from the "socialistic" direction in which he believes it's going, when government is seen as the answer to everything. Englebright, who serves on the Education Committee, is wary of the tax cap -- although he says he'd vote for it if there are no other options -- because he believes it would replace the democracy of the school budget vote with an automatic increase. And he believes that charter schools and other forms of educational competition would erode the public school system.

Englebright, 62, a geologist who lives in Setauket, took over the chairmanship of the Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports Development during the past session. He says he's committed to formalizing the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center as a state park. On energy, this year he sponsored one of the legislature's most important bills, on solar net metering, which enables commercial customers to generate their own solar energy and sell it back to the grid.

Englebright takes a deliberative approach to his work and we'd like to see him pick up the pace a little. But he's a solid, meat-and-potatoes legislator. He gets our endorsement.


District 5 (South-central Suffolk): Ginny Fields

The editorial board has had so many endorsement interviews with perennial candidate John Bugler that we're starting to feel like old friends. This year, in his fifth run for office, he's taking on Democratic incumbent Ginny Fields -- a rematch of their 2004 contest. Bugler, a 72-year-old Republican from Oakdale, is a former civil engineer with the state's Department of Transportation, and he continues to impress us with his enthusiasm and unorthodox thinking. This year, he arrived with an erosion-control plan for Orient Point. On the key issue of the day, property-tax reform, Bugler supports a cap so long as it's tied to the cost of living index. Of his opponent, Bugler says Fields is reactive, while he is proactive.

We did not endorse Fields in 2006, saying we felt she had done little to challenge the Albany status quo. This year, the 62-year-old Oakdale resident displays an admirable pragmatism about what it takes to get things done in Albany. She also burnished her credibility by supporting the intermodal facility in Brentwood, when most of the rest of the Long Island delegation urged the governor to kill the plan. Fields' interest in environmental issues should make her a natural for the Environmental Conservation Committee, and we hope the Assembly leadership will see her potential sooner rather than later.

On the state budget, Fields told us, "I promise you, it's going to be painful." She believes that, in the long run, Albany is going to have to cut school aid, because the money simply isn't there. We wish we'd heard that kind of realism from more candidates. The editorial board endorses Fields.


District 6 (Brentwood, Bay Shore, Central Islip): Phil Ramos

Incumbent Assemb. Phil Ramos faced businessman Waldo Cabrera in the September primary contest and won on the Democratic line. Cabrera, 41 of Brentwood, is still present on the ballot as a Conservative Party candidate. He believes Ramos is not attentive enough to his constituents. Ramos faces no Republican challenger.

The schools in this district are struggling, with many learning-disabled students and non-English speakers. The home foreclosure rate is high. A former Suffolk County police detective, Ramos, 52, of Central Islip, has grown considerably in office, but challenges await him.

The needs of the schools in his district, he says, lead him to oppose the school property-tax cap. He says it would hinder efforts to improve the schools. He agrees, however, that the State Education Department could cut costs by placing a cap on the number of administrators.

Ramos has led the fight against a rail-truck intermodal transportation facility at the former Pilgrim Psychiatric Center site. But such a facility could bring jobs and other benefits He raises valid environmental justice concerns -- that the area already has its share of power plants and superfund sites. Better than blind opposition, however, would be for him to take a leadership role in creating a compromise that works for everyone.

The assemblyman fended off a significant primary challenge from Cabrera, who was backed by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. That's a sign of Ramos' emerging strength, and the editorial board endorses him for another term.


District 7 (Smithtown, Brookhaven, Islip): Michael Fitzpatrick

Republican Michael Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Allen Huggins agree on a lot, especially when it comes to rooting out pockets of wasteful spending by state government. Both would freeze member items -- at least until the fiscal crisis is over, in Huggins' case. Fitzpatrick would do away with them permanently. Both would also require greater employee contributions to the state pension system. That similarity in their fiscal conservatism may tighten this race for Fitzpatrick, a 51-year-old St. James resident, compared with his last two, which he won by roughly 60 percent.

Huggins, 56, of Kings Park, is a marathon runner and senior assistant town attorney for the Town of Babylon. Where he and Fitzpatrick differ is on social issues. Huggins would reform New York divorce law toward a no-fault system; Fitzpatrick would not, saying reform would pave the way to easier divorce. Fitzpatrick is in court fighting New York's recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere; Huggins' first choice is legalizing civil unions, but if other lawmakers put forward a same-sex marriage bill instead, he would vote for it. Both are good candidates who understand public policy and the role of an Albany lawmaker. But Fitzpatrick has served with principle, especially as a tax-fighter, during his six years in office. The Newsday editorial board endorses Fitzpatrick.


District 8 (Southwest Suffolk): Elizabeth Bloom

Republican Assemb. Philip Boyle, 47, of Bay Shore, is in his second career with the state Assembly. He served for nine years until 2003, when reapportionment changed the district in favor of another candidate. But he was elected again in 2005 and has built on his legal background to shepherd public-safety issues. He sponsored a bill that became "Stephanie's Law," which bans videotaping people without their knowledge. And he's working to give law enforcement greater access to DNA records.

To balance the budget, Boyle would add investigators to root out Medicaid fraud, and he would vote to cap school property taxes. He opposes raising income or other taxes.

Elizabeth Bloom, 49, began organizing in her West Islip community after the Sept. 11 attacks, when she helped raise funds for victims' families. A senior court attorney in Nassau County Family Court, Bloom has a confident manner and a command of the issues. She would begin balancing the state budget by taking the cost and administration of pensions and benefits out of individual school districts and handing them to the state -- essentially making teachers civil service employees. After that, she would support a property-tax cap. She favors across-the-board cuts for state agencies.

While Boyle has fended off challengers before, the editorial board believes that in Bloom, he has met his match. He is short on steam and new ideas. We endorse Bloom.


District 9 (Northwest-central Suffolk): Karen Kerr-Ozimek

On the issues, Assemb. Andrew Raia (R-East Northport) and Karen Kerr-Ozimek, his Democratic challenger, agree on many and disagree on a few. He had his doubts about the congestion pricing plan for New York City, for example. As an environmentalist, she'd have voted for it. He supported a bill for civil confinement of sexual predators after they've served their criminal term. She expressed concerns about that approach and said treatment is the key. But their more fundamental disagreement is about who's best positioned for the job.

There's no question that Raia, 40, spends many hours meeting with constituents and attending a broad variety of events. He hopes to be married someday, but right now, his single status enables him to devote all of his time to representing the district. That's what people demand these days, he argues: a full-time legislator.

Kerr-Ozimek, 47, of Centerport, a former Nassau prosecutor, is now in private practice. As the mother of twin daughters, she sees herself as having a good insight into the struggles of average families -- and more ability to get things done in a Democrat-controlled Assembly. She also argues that her experience in negotiations with judges and opposing counsel in a district attorney's office equip her well for a variety of negotiations in the legislature. This is a tough call, given Raia's growth in office, but Newsday endorses an impressive newcomer, Kerr-Ozimek.


District 10 (Western Huntington, Bethpage): James Conte

The incumbent, Assemb. James Conte (R-Huntington Station) must be doing something right. In an area where registration is producing a lot more new Democrats than Republicans, and he's representing an increasingly diverse constituency, he has managed to represent the district well enough to keep getting rehired by the voters.

In 2004, he had a near-death experience: a scarily close re-election. That forced him to examine his political conscience and realize he had fallen into a comfort zone of meeting the same people over and over again. So he widened his outreach to the community and won a bit more comfortably in 2006.

His Democratic challenger this year, Jeffrey Stark, 57, of Huntington, is an accountant for Suffolk OTB. Stark chose not to meet with the editorial board in a joint appearance with the incumbent.

Conte, 49, has deep roots in the district, home to some of the richest and some of the poorest residents of Suffolk, and he still lives close to where he grew up. Commendably, he continues his work on promoting organ transplantation, a passion that grew from his own experience as a kidney transplant recipient, and he is working on legislation to direct the state to do a study of the incidence of autism spectrum disorders. His ideas on cutting the budget are sound, which will come in handy in the postelection session of the legislature, whether he wins or loses. The editorial board endorses Conte.


District 11 (Babylon Town): Robert Sweeney

The best story about Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) this year came from a statewide environmental group whose leaders met with him to discuss their priorities. As the meeting went on, Sweeney was brisk and efficient, without revealing his views on the bills. When they left the meeting, the group's staff decided he would be a tough poker opponent. Later, when he got action on their key bills, they were elated.

That's classic Sweeney, 59, whose calm, low-key persona is deceptive. He simply gets things done. In 2006, we praised him for obtaining passage of a package of bills that dealt with spending excesses by volunteer fire departments. Since then, he has become chairman of the key Environmental Conservation Committee, and his golden reputation in the environmental community attests to his effectiveness. He also obtained passage and the governor's signature on a bill curbing double-dipping abuses of the pension system. Beyond those statewide concerns, his work for economically distressed Wyandanch has been admirable.

If control of the Senate goes to the Democrats, the ability of the GOP-dominated Long Island Senate delegation to deliver for the region will be seriously eroded. At that point, with his seniority and consensus-making skills, Sweeney will have to work to get the Assembly delegation to fill that role. He can do it.

His Republican opponent, James McDonaugh, 39, of Lindenhurst, a smart and witty attorney, had to suspend his campaign as a result of health issues in his family. This page endorses Sweeney.


District 12 (Oyster Bay): Keith Scalia

There aren't any windmills in Massapequa, and there are many Republicans, but that isn't stopping Democrat Keith Scalia from titling at both with his campaign for good government.

Scalia, 37, a high school English teacher who also tutors and works for extra cash as an usher at Shea Stadium, wants to go to Albany to change it. Campaign financing is where he would start. Taking the money out of politics, said Scalia -- who accepts no donation over $20 -- would reduce patronage and the need for earmarks, the money legislators spread around in their districts.

Scalia, who lost in a race for a council seat in the Town of Oyster Bay, says preserving and repairing the state's infrastructure is important. He said better planning could have avoided the Hicksville parking garage debacle.

Incumbent Assemb. Joseph Saladino, 45, of Massapequa, says all the right things about reducing the property tax burden, and he seems to support every proposal that claims to do that, realistic or not. However, asked how he would cut the budget, Saladino says health care, school aid and tax-relief programs are off the table. Instead, he names eliminating Medicaid fraud and cutting frivolous spending, such as the $2 million needed to rename the Triboro Bridge for Robert F. Kennedy, as a solution.

Saladino has spent just over four years in Albany but has done little other than become overbearing and dismissive. Compared to Scalia's optimism about changing Albany, Saladino has already become a creature of its moribund thinking and ways. The editorial board endorses Scalia.


District 13 (Oyster Bay, Glen Cove): Charles Lavine

Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) was first elected in 2004 on the "Fix Albany" platform, and he has used his background as a criminal defense attorney to "get listened to on crime issues," he says. His current focus is on stopping illegal-arms smuggling into the state. His bill, now in committee, is a sensible approach to offer reduced sentences to criminals in return for information on where they got their weapons. He also supports, as we do, a cap on property-tax increases.

His opponent, George McMenamin, 64, of Sea Cliff, brings an interesting background to the race as a former New York City police detective, bank security consultant and sometime substitute teacher. He says it's "time for change" and taxes are too high. He opposes the property-tax cap -- "I don't like telling legislators there is only so far they can go" -- but when asked where the state can stop spending, he says, "I don't know exactly."

While McMenamin's work experience might make him an interesting addition to the mix in Albany, his knowledge of major issues seems limited. He gives no good reason to change course.

We endorse Lavine, 61, with the request that he use his self-proclaimed ability to work well with others to start solidifying a coalition in the Assembly of suburban representatives, so that areas like Long Island can strengthen their clout. That would certainly be consistent with the idea of fixing Albany.


District 14 (Southwest Nassau): Robert Barra

Before he was an assemblyman, Robert Barra (R-Lynbrook) was on the Hempstead Town Board. He was swept out of office in 1999, when Democrats won seats for the first time in nearly a century. If the message was "out with the old guard," it seems to have stuck with Barra. He's grown over his four Assembly terms, broadening his range in response to the influx of minority residents to the district. He's gotten funding for an anti-gang initiative in Valley Stream schools, for example, and points to his sponsorship of a basketball program where young people can meet each other "across language barriers." His bill requiring mental health checks for gun purchases passed this summer.

Challenger Joseph Ferrara, 27, is a Lynbrook native and 2004 graduate of Stony Brook University. He works as an account manager for Long Island Blood Services. He's articulate and engaging, running on a familiar platform: He wants to lower property taxes, protect the environment, support education, create affordable housing and finance campaigns with public funds. He says the state budget deficit can be closed without cuts to education or health care by, among other things, restructuring Medicaid, closing some prisons and increasing job creation by companies benefiting from tax credits in Empire Zones.

Barra, 48, says the whole budget should be revisited, and some services will have to suffer. Until the fog lifts, he says, the state should leave the parks clean and green, but no more, and fix the roadways less often. He's one of the few candidates willing to be that sensible and honest. Ferrara has potential, but we like Barra's verve and encourage him to become even more outspoken. The editorial board endorses Barra.


District 15 (North-central Nassau): Rob Walker

Education is among the leading issues that Democratic challenger Stephanie Ovadia lists on her campaign Web site, under which her first priority is "student rights." On his Web site, incumbent Assemb. Rob Walker (R-Hicksville) also lists education. His first priority: providing "more flexibility at the local level over education decisions."

Student rights might seem a minor concern when school taxes have become such a burden, but it is an interesting point of view, coming from an education consumer's vantage point. And it reflects her experience: Ovadia, 50, has never run for office, and has spent her career as an attorney, raising 10 children. Walker, 33, is from a political family: His mother is on the Oyster Bay town board, his late father was a Hicksville Republican leader, and he came to the Assembly in a special election in 2005, after having served as Oyster Bay deputy parks commissioner and assistant to the town supervisor.

Walker and Ovadia see eye-to-eye on many issues, such as opposing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan and favoring a tax increase only as a last resort. Among their disagreements, Ovadia fears that the taking of properties to build a third track for the Long Island Rail Road will threaten Hicksville's "community flavor," while Walker sees it as a "golden opportunity to rejuvenate the Hicksville area."

Ovadia's energy and enthusiasm impressed us. But Walker is a practical legislator with a well-grounded perspective on how government works. That's important at a time of unprecedented budget cutting. We'd like to see Ovadia stay in politics, but we endorse Walker.


District 16 (Western North Hempstead): Michelle Schimel

Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck) says her proudest legislative achievement is the Assembly's passage of a bill that requires semi-automatic hand guns be equipped to encode fired shell casings. It's part of an incremental approach to gun violence that we have supported, helpful in tracing criminals and also gun shops that might be violating the terms of their license.

Her opponent, Matthew Mitchell, who works in his family's finance business and attended the Virginia Military Institute, rejects her bill, saying it would cost law-abiding gun purchasers but not criminals, who can get weapons from out of state. Mitchell, a 28-year-old Great Neck resident, proposes mandatory sentences for violent crimes committed with a knife or gun. Schimel, 51, says it's important to keep options open, with sentencing up to judges.

She takes a similarly nuanced view on a property tax cap. "I am not a blunt-instrument person. I believe we need a scalpel." She prefers the circuit-breaker proposal that ties property taxes to people's ability to pay, concerned that rich districts like Great Neck will vote to override a tax cap, and poorer places like Roosevelt will stay poor. Mitchell favors a cap, saying, "It won't make a good school bad, and will impose discipline and efficiency in budgeting."

Schimel, who succeeded Thomas DiNapoli in a special election in 2007, served eight years as the elected town clerk of North Hempstead, which left her well prepared to navigate Albany. Mitchell, who says he and his family have walked 500 miles campaigning door-to-door, seems overly rigid for the job, and has made the grandiose pledge to initiate six bills in his first 30 days in office -- including the mandatory sentencing bill, which would also cover sex crimes and, inexplicably, identity theft. That's a destructive crime, for sure, but it hardly ranks up there with violent or sexual assaults. We endorse Schimel.


District 17 (West-central Nassau): John Pinto

Challenger John Pinto of North Merrick, who's running on the Democratic line, is really a registered Republican, and one of the first things he wants to do is cut the salary of Albany legislators by 15 percent during tough economic crimes. That's a little of the upside-down world facing GOP incumbent Assemb. Tom McKevitt, 37, who has served for three governors in three years. McKevitt first won the seat in a 2006 special election, and he's now running for his second full term.

Driving down taxes is the focus of the campaign in this district, which runs through 17 communities in the heart of the traditional GOP base. McKevitt, an attorney who lives in East Meadow, supports a property-tax cap, although he rightly acknowledges that it is not a silver bullet. However, he offers no solid proposals for finding ways to cut school spending. Understandably, as a junior member of the minority, McKevitt can't realistically have an ambitious agenda. But this is the second time that the very likable McKevitt didn't offer a single initiative he wanted to pursue during his endorsement interview with the editorial board.

In contrast, the energy and agenda for change expressed by Pinto, 46, a commercial printer, is impressive. He has spent 11 years serving as a school trustee for the North Merrick Elementary School and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School boards. His fight to dislodge excess money stashed away in a liability reserve to fund capital projects demonstrates his ability to challenge business-as-usual thinking.

Three years ago, Pinto suggested that the three elementary districts as well as the high school district consider consolidation to cut costs. He also supports teachers becoming state employees as a way to avoid the leapfrogging in contract negotiations that increases payroll costs.

Pinto, who has spent 20 years coaching sports teams, is the unusual political outsider who has a facile understanding of Albany and has an agenda to control school spending. The editorial board endorses Pinto.


District 18 (Central Nassau)

Elusive incumbent Assemb. Earlene Hooper, 69, is said to be effective in Albany circles and influential with Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has given her the title of deputy majority leader. Too bad none of these leadership skills, nor her presence, is that apparent in her district, which sorely needs an intelligent and reliable voice.

She claims the financial rescue of the Roosevelt school district as her keystone accomplishment, but that was mostly engineered by Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick). Instead, Hooper's antagonistic style delayed the funding for months. Hooper is considered a polarizing figure in Hempstead, although her feud with the mayor now seems to be on the back burner. These perceptions, however, diminish her effectiveness and shortchange the district.

Unfortunately, Hooper who was first elected in a special election in 1988, has no significant opposition this year to hold her accountable. Realistically, that is only likely to happen if she faces a future primary challenge.

Her Republican opponent is Darren Bryant, 41, head of the local Roosevelt GOP club and a worker for the Town of Hempstead Highway Department. Bryant, 41, who ran last year for the county legislature, doesn't bother campaigning in these suicidal runs in overwhelmingly Democratic areas.

Henry Conyers, 57, the deputy mayor of Hempstead, didn't have enough signatures to qualify in a Democratic primary challenge. He is on the ballot as a candidate of the Working Families Party. While a respected presence in the community, he doesn't seem ready for the State Legislature. The editorial board declines to endorse a candidate in this district.


District 19 (Nassau South Shore): David McDonough

Democratic challenger Howard Kudler of Merrick wants to take his knowledge of government and economics out of the classroom and apply it to the problems facing the state. To get there, he will have to navigate some political realities -- Republicans have held this seat for four decades.

In his first run for office, the loquacious New York City high school teacher is challenging the taciturn Assemb. David McDonough, 71, a Merrick businessman who came late to his political career by winning the seat in a 2002 special election. While divergent personalities, both candidates came to their endorsement interviews with the same goal of cutting school spending.

Kudler, 54, opposes a property tax cap, suggesting as an alternative increasing class sizes and cutting out some administrators, saying the state should set some standards on the number of administrators per pupil.

McDonough not only supports the tax cap but says it isn't enough. He would like to see a spending freeze. He would also amend state laws to encourage consolidation of school services. He would vote for the Democrat's alternative of a circuit breaker to tie taxes to income, but only if there is funding to pay for it.

Both support creating a new pension tier for new public employees, which would increase the level of personal contributions.

McDonough's tenure so far has been marked by pragmatism more than ideology. Congestion pricing doesn't work right now, he says, but he would like to see a demonstration project. He has the same approach toward reforming the mandatory sentencing of the Rockefeller drug laws: They're not working, and treatment could be a more effective and less costly approach.

Kudler has good ideas and instincts, but not enough to turn out a steady and thoughtful incumbent. The editorial board endorses McDonough.


District 20 (Southwest Nassau): Harvey Weisenberg

Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg, 74, is in good shape in many ways this election season. The Long Beach icon is still going strong as a lifeguard, and his Republican opponent, Michael McGinty, of Island Park, has only praise for him. Not that Weisenberg, seeking his 10th term, needed any more boosts. He routinely gets an overwhelming number of votes from this South Shore district. It's just that McGinty, 55, the deputy receiver of taxes for the Town of Hempstead and a GOP stalwart, is personally fond of Weisenberg and says he has done "an exemplary job" taking care of his district. Instead, McGinty says, he is running against an Assembly controlled by Democrats who aren't doing enough to hold down taxes.

McGinty, who also teaches a statistics course at Nassau Community College, advocates audits of all state programs to find waste and supports a property tax cap. It's too bad that he also supports a misguided freeze on reassessments.

Weisenberg, who has a reputation statewide for advocating for the disabled, opposes a tax cap, claiming it will hurt special education programs. We wish instead he would find a way to work on a cap law that would allow for adequately funding these programs. Weisenberg says he wants to continue advocating for the disabled as well as for consumer protection issues, such as requiring expiration dates on sunscreens, which are perishable. These are significant goals, but it's also time for him to turn his focus on how to save money rather than spend it.

Weisenberg holds a top leadership position in the Assembly and has protected Long Island's interests, including funding this spring for the dredging of Jones Inlet. He told the editorial board this is his last term; if so, he deserves to catch that last wave to Albany.


District 21 (West-central Nassau): Thomas Alfano

Attorney Alan Smilowitz, 57, of West Hempstead, has been politically active behind the scenes for years, but now he's making his first run for office. He also takes part in community life as a trustee of the Jewish Community Center and on the Nassau County Law Guardian panel, which approves representatives for children in legal cases.

Smilowitz is running as a Democrat against 12-year incumbent Thomas Alfano (R-North Valley Stream), 49, who has fashioned his Assembly service along a similar model of community involvement. Alfano says that 82 languages are spoken in his district, and "the most important part of the job" is helping new Americans navigate government services. He directs most of his member-item money to pay for extra services like after-school programs. To make property taxes more affordable, Alfano favors a circuit breaker and a millionaires' tax, but not a school tax cap.

Smilowitz has well-considered ideas. He would try to recover more of the tax dollars Long Island sends to Albany by creating a special education tax to help high-needs schools in his district. He supports a circuit breaker to lower property taxes, but not a school property tax cap. He says sometimes politicians must make unpopular decisions, and so he supports a third track for the Long Island Rail Road. In cutting the state budget, he would look first to nonessential services and limit the hours of parks, for example, and the Department of Motor Vehicles offices.

Smilowitz would make a very good public servant, but this race pits him against a talented and dedicated incumbent. Alfano wants to cut state spending by merging departments, pooling school purchases and asking government workers to defer raises. The editorial board chooses Alfano.


Back to the main Opinion page