Blurring line between campaigning, governing makes a mess

It should be an uncontroversial perspective.

Government mailers, websites and social media should be used for government matters.

Garbage pickup dates and tax grievance seminars? Sure. Townwide festivals? No problem. Meeting agendas and key public hearings? Absolutely.

But time and again, Long Island's elected officials in both major political parties blur the line between campaigning and governing, between political issues and government business.

It's gotten to the point where it's often impossible to see the governing inside the messy political morass.

And it's no surprise that such taxpayer-funded "government" messages happen to prominently feature the names of elected officials who also happen to be running for office. 

The latest example: the Town of North Hempstead, where the town board's Democratic minority has sought to restrict town mailers and social media posts to municipal issues.

The brouhaha began in February, when the town's official Facebook page posted a message from North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, along with fellow Town Supervisors John Ferretti and Joseph Saladino, and Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck. All run on the Republican line.

The message supported the war in Iran, calling it a "necessary decisive action to defend our nations and restore stability to the Middle East."

"Allowing this regime to obtain nuclear weapons would make the entire world far less safe," it said in alignment with President Donald Trump's rationale for the military campaign.

North Hempstead Democrats first complained about the political messaging when they introduced their legislation in May, and then again in June. The measure failed each time.

"Elected representatives need to be able to speak to their constituents about issues that may affect them and any limit we put on them is chipping away at the freedom that we fought for," DeSena told the editorial board.

But they don't have to use taxpayer-funded platforms and the resources of local government to do it. 

Elsewhere, the Town of Hempstead produced a TV ad last month criticizing Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers for housing-related legislation that never made it out of committee in Albany. Nassau County too, has long battled over the politics of mailers, no matter who's in office. When former County Executive Laura Curran was running for reelection in 2021, GOP county lawmakers passed legislation putting a deadline on most government mailers, except those about meetings or events, before an election. Just before Curran signed it, she sent a government mailer, featuring her name and title next to a "Vote Early" headline, advertising polling locations. 

It's not just about postage costs and the use of the official town print shop. Social media makes it far too easy for local officials to use their government accounts to post about anything.

This isn't a weighty freedom of speech issue. It's about maintaining the critical separation between the clear work role of government and campaign rhetoric. Elected officials should keep the politics out of town mailers, webpages, social media accounts and government buildings.

There's plenty of room for it everywhere else.