In the hands of the people. Go vote!
A registration clerk with the Nassau County Board of Elections thumbs through paper ballots during an audit of voting machines (November 30, 2010) Credit: Photo by Kevin P Coughlin
Though local elections typically don't stir up the passions -- or the voter turnout -- that presidential or congressional campaigns do, this year's ballot is a powerful example of why they should.
In Suffolk and Nassau counties, the near fiscal future ranges from shaky to dire, and the decisions that voters make tomorrow will determine who gets to manage the mess.
Nassau is trying to fill a gaping $300-million hole. Suffolk is looking at what the legislature's budget review staff sees as a $135-million gap in outgoing County Executive Steve Levy's proposed 2012 budget. And town supervisors and town boards must also cope with rising costs and falling revenues.
In Suffolk, whether or not the Democrats retain control of the legislature, there will be a new county executive in place to manage the budget that emerges and to chart a fiscal course for the next four years.
In Nassau, whether or not the Republicans still control the legislature, County Executive Edward Mangano will still be there, trying to make the best of a horrendous fiscal situation. Control of the legislature will also have a major impact on the future shape of legislative districts, in the upcoming decennial reapportionment. The Republican majority's ham-handed attempt to draw new districts this year got slapped down in court. The vital job of shaping fair districts still needs doing.
So voters have a lot to weigh at the polls tomorrow.
That's why the editorial board met with 77 candidates -- sometimes one at a time, but usually in joint interviews with opponents. We asked them about a broad range of issues: taxes, policing, labor contracts, cost-cutting, the assessment mess in Nassau, a Shinnecock casino, and the future of the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Yaphank, to name a few. We delved into matters specific to legislative districts and to towns. We weighed their grasp of the issues, their intelligence and their demeanor. Then we endorsed the candidates we thought most qualified to handle these tough times.
Tomorrow, the rest is up to you.
