Nassau, NIFA should avoid drawn-out fight

The last thing Nassau County needs, should NIFA decide Wednesday to assume command over the county's finances, is a long, drawn-out fight over who is in charge.

There will be no time for that.

Peter Schmitt, presiding officer of the county Legislature, has threatened a lawsuit, which would pit the county against the State of New York.

No one can deny elected officials their urge to throw off a board of outsiders; but that would be time and money wasted. A lawsuit would create a sideshow to the main event - which is that Nassau's finances, and by extension, Nassau's residents, need help.

The Nassau Interim Finance Authority board, when it meets Wednesday, has a super high hurdle to clear. Should it, as sources said was possible Tuesday, decide to assume control, it must act in a way that residents can understand and maybe even support its actions.

A look north to Buffalo, which recently swapped a control board for an advisory one, could prove instructive.

There, elected officials weren't happy when a board assumed control (a separate board also assumed control of Buffalo's home county, Erie) in 2003. Officials didn't sue the board. But, over time, multiple unions did. And today, years later, many of those lawsuits are still pending.

The control board in Buffalo froze union salaries and step raises for almost 39 months. And as of today, the city's three major unions - police, firefighters and teachers - are working without contracts. Public worker morale has suffered, union leaders say.

The board in Buffalo turned back proposed labor contracts; it also turned back proposed budgets. Early on, according to news reports, it used the bully pulpit to pitch the moneysaving idea of having Buffalo surrender or merge its public parks with Erie County.

In Buffalo, the control board had authority to approve city expenditures of $50,000 or more. That power put it into the middle of just about every conceivable transaction, from hiring to energy purchases.

At one point, according to news reports, city officials had to justify every single hire as necessary. At another point, the board bounced back a contract with crossing guards because it included fully paid health insurance.

Anthony M. Masiello, Buffalo's mayor at the time of the takeover, worked with the board on a city finance plan. Ultimately, however, he decided not to seek a fourth term. The current mayor, Byron Brown, was elected in 2005. He's now in a second term.

One key difference between Nassau and Buffalo: Brown and the Erie County executive sit on the control board.

The state legislation creating NIFA was modeled on that of New York City, where elected officials were not part of the control board itself.

Today, Buffalo is turning things around. But even now, opinion appears to remain split on whether having a board for so long was absolutely necessary.

One good thing: The cast of characters - including the board and elected officials - changed over time and appeared to come to a grudging accommodation with each other.

And, in time, there came another push, with elected officials wanting the board gone so they could get back, more freely, to the business of governing.

No matter what happens in Nassau, it is essential that NIFA and elected officials not waste time and Nassau residents' money - since it funds most county and NIFA operations - in fighting.

The enemy here are the lacunae between county revenues and expenses. Both sides would do well to watch - and together responsibly bridge - those gaps.