For the last two years, Delia DeRiggi-Whitton has served as a legislator for the 18th District, covering Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Glen Head, Jericho, Locust Valley, Brookville, Bayville and Centre Island.
But running against Republican John DiMascio for the redrawn legislature’s 11th District, DeRiggi would have a different constituency if elected.
“I’m an incumbent in the sense that I’ve served the legislature for the last two years, but I’m in a whole new area,” said DeRiggi-Whitton, 44.
DeRiggi-Whitton said she voted against the new map, saying it was a move by the Legislature’s Republican majority to get 13 GOP legislators elected and more easily make decisions that require a supermajority vote, such as bonding or borrowing. The new district includes Glen Cove and Sea Cliff but also Roslyn Harbor, part of the Village of Roslyn, the Village of Flower Hill, Sands Point, Manorhaven and Baxter Estates.
DiMascio said he’s running specifically to further increase the Republican majority and diminish the influence of the Democratic minority that he said has complicated the passage of legislation requiring a supermajority vote.
“I’d like to move out some professional politicians,” DiMascio said. “I’m not doing this because I want a higher office. I think I can be helpful and do a good job, and maybe break up some of the bottlenecking we’ve had in the Legislature.”
DiMascio, a private practice lawyer also from Glen Cove, compared the disparity in the county Legislature to the relationship between the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-led Senate, saying he’d prefer to see the salaries of congressmen docked until they reach an agreement on an issue.
“You don’t play with people’s lives and well-being just for politics. [Thomas] Jefferson did not believe in professional politicians for this very reason, and I kind of do too, myself,” said DiMascio, 69. “What’s worse than the tyranny of a majority? The tyranny of a minority preventing a legislature from getting things done because of a vote.”
Though he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. in political science, DiMascio said he had little interest in entering the political arena because of the stubbornness of the two parties in working together.
“I was always interested in government,” DiMascio said. “In government, you serve the people. In politics, you serve yourself.”
DiMascio said he was particularly disenchanted by the administrations of former Nassau County executives Thomas Gulotta and Thomas Suozzi, but added he “saw a glimmer of hope when [current County Executive Edward] Mangano was elected.”
“He was approaching the county more like a businessman than a politician,” DiMascio said.
So DiMascio, a Vietnam veteran, former arbitrator for Nassau County District Court and a former senior court officer for the New York State Supreme Court, said he threw his name into the fold for the county Legislature.
On the old legislative map, Democrat Wayne Wink served the 11th district and all of Roslyn’s incorporated villages and unincorporated areas, but on the new map the Roslyn community is split among four districts that primarily encompass other parts of the North Shore.
“It’s such a crucial area, right in the middle of the district,” DeRiggi-Whitton said of Roslyn. “They showed us all these different maps during the hearings, and then all of a sudden Roslyn get split.”
DeRiggi-Whitton added that she thinks it is unhealthy for Nassau to have both the legislature’s majority and county executive held by the same party, whether Republican or Democrat.
“The Legislature needs a series of checks and balances for decisions that involve millions of county dollars,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “They can’t borrow without us right now, but with a majority they can enter into contracts and pass laws without minority support. But I don’t think the map will support a supermajority.”
But DiMascio said a continued Republican majority in the Legislature would benefit areas like Roslyn, whose four representatives will have to work together to maintain the best interests of the area while also juggling other areas, though he added he does not think each district will go to a Republican candidate.
DiMascio said he would approach disagreements in the Legislature more like a lawyer than a politician, particularly one who has spent much of his career settling divorce proceedings.
“If you can settle a divorce, you can settle anything,” DiMascio said.
DeRiggi-Whitton said the Legislature’s borrowing requests under Mangano have increased throughout his term and have been a major concern, though she added the Democratic minority has stopped most of it.
“Nassau County is in a tremendous amount of debt and we’re one of the wealthiest counties in the state,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “But when [the Nassau Interim Finance Authority] takes over your finances, that’s not good.”
As a result of borrowing, DeRiggi-Whitton said individual taxes may not go up, but the resulting tax rate increases and fee hikes have put Nassau County further into debt.
“It’s great to say you’re not raising taxes, but if you’re putting people in debt elsewhere, it’s not really helping the county at all,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.
Though DeRiggi-Whitton and DiMascio both said an issue of primary concern for the Legislature moving forward was the handling of the renovation to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, which has gone unrepaired after being heavily damaged during Superstorm Sandy and displacing many residents.
DiMascio blamed the Democrats for the Legislature’s failure to pass a bond issue that would repair the plant, saying the minority’s block of the vote on multiple occasions was a political power play to force Mangano to raise taxes in a year in which he is up for election and contradict his campaign ads touting his ability to keep property taxes from increasing.
“I see what I think is near stubbornness on part of certain people that are preventing things from getting done, and that’s great for parties who want to build their power base, but what does that do for people who can’t move back into their homes because of the plant?” DiMascio said. “To me, that’s astounding, and that’s not even my district, but I feel for those people. We have to stop playing politics with people’s lives.”
In particular, DiMascio criticized DeRiggi-Whitton’s votes against the bond resolution, saying she and the Democrats knew the funds were eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and thereby voted against the interests of Nassau residents.
“In my understanding, 95 percent was going to be paid back by FEMA, not the residents of Nassau County,” DiMascio said. “Why, then, would you say, ‘we’re going to block it,’ if not to make the current executive and legislative majority look bad?”
DiMascio said he favors bonding, rather than increasing taxes, to fund major county projects, though he added either option may be necessary depending on the circumstances.
But DeRiggi-Whitton said the county has relied too heavily on bonding and borrowing, and its trend of downsizing county employees in favor of private services has hurt its economy.
“If you get rid of the guy that paves the road and hire a private firm, it’s going to cost you more money,” she said. “Unless you take the time to really compare everything, it’s smoke and mirrors.”
DeRiggi-Whitton said she does not mind having an unpopular opinion as part of the legislator, saying she was the only legislator who voted against the contracts to Looks Great Services Inc. for tree removal following Sandy.
In the aftermath of the clean-up efforts, Looks Great and its subcontractors were accused of indiscriminately cutting 141 trees at the 204-mile Welwyn Preserve in Glen Cove and along Searingtown and Shelter Rock roads, though an audit led by Nassau Comptroller George Maragos revealed the trees removed were either dead or unhealthy.
“I knew any company that cut down trees in a preserve like that showed an arrogance that the county should not get involved with,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “They sued me for it, because I was vocal about it, but they didn’t hold up. But I really think I was elected to look over various situations and do what’s best for my constituents.”
DiMascio accused DeRiggi-Whitton of voting against the $70 million in Looks Great contracts to cause controversy where there was none, as well as voting against Nassau interests because he said the money would have also been reimbursed by FEMA.
On a more local level, DeRiggi-Whitton said she would continue to advocate for environmental issues, including the transition from cesspool drainage to sewers in areas of Glen Cove and other renovations to downtown areas.
“I’m proud to say Nassau is developing areas that make people want to stay here,” she said.
DeRiggi-Whitton said she would also be proud to serve Roslyn particularly because her uncle, Paul Gilberti, once owned six storefronts in the Village of Roslyn, including a popular ice cream parlor.
DeRiggi-Whitton added she does not think the new districts will limit the political influence of areas that had been split, saying legislators had previously represented large areas whose communities were not always kept within the same district.
“It’s done, and there’s nothing we can do to change it,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “But I think it sounds worse than it will be. We have no choice but to make it work.”
DiMascio said Nassau County has to continue driving down unemployment and do more to encourage business to get started and provide them with the tools necessary to stay open.
“We really need to be doing all we can to help businesses get started and get people to work and job interviews,” DiMascio said.
DiMascio also said more needs to be done to protect Long Island’s natural resources and do more to preserve classic landmarks, like Roslyn’s Grist Mill.
DiMascio added he’d like to make Roslyn the center of the 11th district and become more accessible to constituents who may not know him, saying he’d want to open a legislative office on one of the village’s main roads on his own dime and regularly attend town and village board meetings throughout the district to remain in constant contact with the people he’d represent if elected.
“I’d really just like to see everything get a little bit better than it is,” DiMascio said.
