Seth I. Koslow for Nassau County executive

Nassau County voters have a special reason this season to look past the partisan divide. Republican County Executive Bruce A. Blakeman's governance since 2022 has been inadequate to meet the challenges necessary to maintain services in one of the nation's premier suburbs while keeping it affordable.

Blakeman's Democratic challenger, Seth I. Koslow of Merrick, is a freshman legislator. Koslow, 43, bases his appeal to voters on the promise of a far less performative and far more common-sense way of running the county government.

The county's out-of-whack tax assessment system, for which Blakeman attacked his opponent and predecessor Laura Curran four years ago, remains essentially unchanged despite his claims to the contrary.

Nor has Blakeman, 70, of Atlantic Beach, acted to assure fiscal stability in years ahead, as he spends down the county's reserve funds. His latest $4.2 billion budget overpromises on sales tax revenue and underestimates police overtime, while failing to prioritize needed infrastructure upgrades and cost cutting through efficiency. More than 25% of the budget is spent on law enforcement.

Last year, the county outsourced legal work to private firms, a number of them with key political connections, to the tune of $20 million — more than triple what it spent before Blakeman arrived and faced court challenges to a number of his policies and actions. That's on top of the annual $10 million cost of maintaining the county attorney's office.

A few high profile appointments backfired badly. Blakeman appointees to the troubled Nassau University Medical Center gave the state cause to take control of the county's only safety-net hospital, for which Nassau taxpayers are on the hook for millions in bonds and employee benefits.

Matthew J. Bruderman, a financier and heavy-duty donor to GOP campaigns, was abruptly removed by Blakeman three years after becoming NUMC chairman. That followed Bruderman's dubious claim in April that relevant documents were stolen from his Centre Island home. Ousted CEO Meg Ryan, a Nassau GOP ally, is being sued by the current board alleging theft, fraud and misuse of hospital funds. She denies all the charges.

Blakeman's announcements of big projects and new improvements gained him notice but led to scant results. Plans for a $5 billion Las Vegas Sands casino resort at the Nassau Hub collapsed in April when the company ended its plans for an ambitious bid. Blakeman has revealed no Plan B. Shortly before that, the county's 2023 deal with NYU Langone to invest $3 billion for a hospital on the Nassau Community College campus collapsed.

Blakeman often refuses to offer a public accounting for his actions — to members of the legislature, other government leaders in the region, or most importantly to the public. Democrats in the legislature have had to file Freedom of Information Law requests to get the specifics on what is going on around them.

The county is sitting on almost $100 million awarded in the state's settlements with drug companies that manufactured opioids. The money can only be spent on addiction and mental health programs. Despite so many families needing counseling and treatment for loved ones, very little funding has been released.

Blakeman has created a unit of up to 100 armed volunteers, to serve as "provisional" sheriff's deputies who could make arrests and use deadly force in major emergencies or natural disasters.

Few details followed the announcement — it took a lawsuit just to find out that $4,000 was spent on 43 shiny badges for what is commonly called Blakeman's militia. There are no details on when these deputies would be activated and how the Nassau County Police Department would interact with them. And what would be the county's financial liability if claims of wrongful behavior arise?

To his credit, Koslow vows to head off this shaky plan. He also said he would end the county's arrangement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use 50 cells at the Nassau jail, arguing it's unnecessary, and that the federal agency's deputizing of Nassau detectives erodes community trust for everyday policing.

Time after time, Blakeman has appeared more focused on his personal image, his brand, his publicity, his political alliances and his photo ops than on doing the job. It is hard to see, for example, how the people of the county have benefited from the overkill of signs bearing his name in county parks and at concerts.

As personas go, Blakeman's rival is more in step with ordinary citizens.

Koslow worked as an assistant district attorney in Queens from 2013-2016 and has practiced criminal law. Before that he sold commercial HVAC systems.

Despite Blakeman's advantages, Republicans are sending toxic, false mailings that cite out-of-context snippets from a Touro law school journal article Koslow wrote more than a decade ago analyzing how the law should adapt to the rise of social media when evaluating a rape claim.

Koslow is serious about auditing all departments to find excess spending, sweetheart vendor deals and unneeded patronage. He recognizes it will take time to fix the assessment system, and meanwhile will try to get more homeowners to grieve tax bills without paying fees to firms that specialize in the lucrative practice and spread political donations around.

Koslow said he'd seek regional alliances — making his first call to Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine — to spark business and tourism. He slammed Blakeman for partisan grandstanding in telling Gov. Kathy Hochul to stay out of the county.

Koslow praises Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. He pledges to end a shortage of 40 detectives. He would use the money allocated for fighting opioid abuse, particularly for fentanyl testing strips.

Koslow deserves a chance to wrestle with a job that the incumbent appears uninterested in doing well.

Newsday Opinion endorses Koslow.