Ellen Birnbaum, a Democrat from Great Neck, has established herself as a diligent county legislator and effective advocate for child and senior safety in her three terms representing District 10, which covers Manhasset, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Searington, Herricks and the nine villages of Great Neck.
This includes conducting traffic studies to keep pedestrians and drivers safe. She said in November she will review the results of a traffic study she worked on that has examined roads from Kings Point to Manhasset and present them to the public.
Birnbaum said she supported the countywide reassessment undertaken by Nassau County Executive Laura Curran as necessary after eight years in which no assessment was done and values varied wildly.
She also called “ridiculous” the so-called assessment bill of rights approved by Republican legislators but vetoed by Curran, particularly the requirement that the assessor live in the county.
Birnbaum touted legislation backed by Democrats establishing an office of inspector general to review county contractors.
She said the county needs to look to the future to find ways for young people to live in Nassau – something she said it does not do.
She is keeping an open mind on a proposal by Macy’s to build a mixed-use development at its location in Manhasset but said the town needs to take a cautious approach in what gets approved.
“I think that people are looking for open space to build and increase the tax base, so I’m not totally against it,” she said. “But it would need to be in an area that could sustain development like that, and that corner with more traffic could be even more of a nightmare.”
Birnbaum is opposed by Helene Sherman, a Republican from Great Neck who worked as a Nassau County assistant district attorney but has little experience in governance.
Sherman calls for a reduction in the “bloated infrastructure in the Town of North Hempstead and Nassau County” and having any projects costing more than $400,000 put to a public vote “even it means a special election.”
Blank Slate Media endorses Birnbaum.
