Laura Curran, a Nassau County legislator from Baldwin who is seeking the Democratic nomination for county executive, issued a series of proposals this month to address county corruption.
The proposals included several sensible reforms beginning with the creation of an independent office of the inspector general to oversee county contracts — an idea proposed by Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and backed by Democratic Nassau County legislators that is long overdue.
Curran also included a proposal to enact term limits for the county executive, comptroller, clerk and county legislators.
Though always popular with candidates, term limits is one idea that doesn’t hold up to the light of day.
Or as legendary Baltimore Sun columnist H.L. Mencken : “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
To begin, term limits are undemocratic, depriving people of the person for whom they may want to vote.
Term limits also strip a Legislature of its institutional memory and some of its most qualified representatives. In their place are inexperienced legislators lacking sufficient knowledge about the issues and the ways of the Legislature to make informed decisions.
And at least for county executive and county comptroller it is unneeded.
Tom Suozzi had served two terms as county executive when he was defeated by Ed Mangano in 2009. And Mangano is on his way out after two terms — albeit only after being charged with government corruption under federal law.
Still, we understand Curran’s frustration.
County government has been a mess for years, featuring an unhealthy combination of incompetence and corruption that seems to never end.
This point was driven home not once but twice in the past two weeks.
The first was when the county neglected to request an extension on a tax break for Nassau seniors age 65 and older that was approved by the state Legislature to offset a 19.3 percent property tax hike imposed by Suozzi in 2002.
The tax hike followed a state bailout of Nassau County — one of the richest counties in the state — then, like now, under Republican control. In return, the county was placed under state supervision — an oversight that continues to this day.
The tax break’s end — without any notice from Mangano — increased some seniors’ tax bills by more than $200.
State Assemblyman Charles Lavine and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, both Democrats also running for county executive, called for the county to take action to get the discount renewed.
That set off an exchange between Lavine and Mangano in which both men blamed the other for letting the tax breaks fall between the cracks.
Then Mangano claimed the tax break was no longer necessary.
“My administration and the Republican majority [in] the county Legislature froze county property taxes for six years,” Mangano wrote. “We also eliminated the county home energy tax on residents’ oil, natural gas, propane and electricity bills. Accordingly, there is no abatement needed for our residents.”
In a county still under state supervision for poor financial control that resorted to yet more fees and gimmicks to balance its budget for the coming year, this statement was nothing less than bizarre.
In the end, Nassau County legislators — who also missed the deadline — filed a resolution to formally ask the state Legislature to extend the property tax discount and give a refund to seniors who have already paid higher taxes.
This coincided with lawsuits filed by four law firms representing 1,000 commercial property owners who had been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by the county assessor last month.
Their alleged crime: failing to file financial statements with the assessor.
The commercial property owners contend the penalties were excessive and illegal, and they were not provided required notice or hearings before imposing the penalties in December.
The Nassau County Legislature increased the fines in December 2013 for businesses that failed to submit annual income-and-expense statements, which are used by the assessor to determine tax rates for commercial properties in Nassau County.
Mangano’s spokesman blamed his fellow Republicans in the Legislature for the income and expense law.
It is worth noting that even though Democrats hold a voter registration advantage in Nassau County, Republicans hold virtually total control with a 12-7 advantage in the Legislature thanks to the gerrymandering of district following the 2010 census.
As we said, we understand Curran’s frustration in calling for term limits.
