Guv appointees could decide Nassau sewer deal's fate

If he chooses, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo could appoint a new majority to Nassau’s control board by Jan. 1 -- just in time to consider a possible county sewer deal.

The governor named banker John Buran last week to the seven-member Nassau Interim Finance Authority but still has another vacancy to fill. Meanwhile, the terms of NIFA member Leonard Steinman and NIFA chairman Ronald Stack expire Dec. 31. All four seats are governor appointments.

Former Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, replaced four NIFA members whose terms had expired soon after County Executive Edward Mangano, a Republican, took office in 2010. (One was nominated by the then-Democratic Senate majority leader.) The revamped board voted last year to take control of the county’s finances. This year it opposed a Mangano plan to privatize the county’s sewer system. Mangano continues to pursue a deal that, according to a recent request for information, could close Jan. 1, 2013.

Cuomo appears to be closer than Paterson was to Mangano, who appeared with Cuomo in governance-related events during his gubernatorial campaign.