Editorial: Nicolello a clear but imperfect choice

The Island Now
Photo provided by the League of Women Voters

Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) is the clear choice in his race for election in District 9, which covers parts of New Hyde Park, Garden City Park, Mineola, the Willistons and Albertson, and parts of Roslyn and Manhasset.

Nicolello was picked by the Republican majority two years ago as presiding officer, the top position in the Legislature, based on service that goes back to 1996, a deep knowledge of Nassau and a strong ability to work with officials on both sides of the aisle.

His Democratic opponent, Mal Nathan, the chief bay constable for the Town of North Hempstead, is mounting his third consecutive challenge against Nicolello. He offers a common-sense approach to issues, but lacks his opponent’s extensive experience, and apparently the motivation to mount an aggressive campaign.

He failed to respond to the League of Women Voters questionnaire for the voters guide published in this week’s edition of Blank Slate Media and was a no-show at an important civic candidates night. Not a good way to garner votes against a long-established candidate.

But the choice of Nicolello is not without our misgivings.

Nicolello has led a highly partisan Republican response to the countywide reassessment undertaken by Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.

This has included an attempt to hold a referendum on making the county assessor position an elected position aimed at Curran’s pick of David Moog, Nassau’s first certified assessor in more than eight years, followed by repeated attempts to pass an ill-advised “Assessment Bill of Rights” that among other things would require the county assessor to live in Nassau County.

Moog lives in Queens. Nicolello acknowledged in an interview that he knew of no other county department head required to live in Nassau.

Nicollelo said the county assessor position was of such importance that the person holding the job had to be a Nassau resident.

But this followed eight years under Republican County Executive Edward Mangano when the county did not have a certified assessor and county assessments stayed frozen. Nicolello and his Republican legislators said nothing.

During this time, the Mangano administration’s practice of granting thousands of reductions to homeowners who grieved their taxes shifted $2.2 billion in taxes from generally more affluent property owners who successfully appealed their property taxes over seven years to generally less affluent owners who did not, according to a Newsday report.

At the end of the day, about 50 percent of property owners were overpaying and half were underpaying.

Both Nicolello and Curran called for a five-year phase-in of the changes to spare property owners who faced in some cases steep increases in their taxes.

But Nicolello has held off on a phase-in vote that might reduce some of the anxiety for taxpayers facing increases.

Instead, he joined another political gambit this week of supporting legislation proposed by state Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) to compensate homeowners who have been overpaying their taxes the past eight years but will only gradually see a decrease due to the phase-in.

This legislation asks Assembly members from across the state – from the Bronx to Buffalo – to support a measure proposed by Nassau Republicans to compensate county residents who overpaid taxes under an assessment system they oversaw.

If you think that’s going to happen, we have a bridge to sell you. We don’t disagree that those who overpaid their taxes the past eight years should be compensated. We just don’t think that taxpayers outside Nassau should pay for Nassau’s mistakes.

This is not to say that the reassessment effort was without its glitches. Rebuilding the county’s assessment system after eight years of neglect was bound to have problems, some of which are still working their way through.

Nicolello and his fellow Republicans do have a right and obligation to criticize problems that they see – notwithstanding their silence during the Mangano administration.

But too often Republicans and Nicolello appear to be using reassessment as a political tool to advance their chances in the upcoming election rather than working to ensure a smooth transition to a system he acknowledges is fairer than the old one.

On the positive side, Nicolello and county Republicans have on many, if not most, occasions set aside party labels to approve legislation like that passed on Monday giving Nassau police and correction officers access to enhanced mental health services.

We hope to see more of that side of Nicolello if he wins re-election.

 

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