eLeCtion 2017
November 2, 2017 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE
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County LegisLative DistriCt 5 Kathleen Spatz Republican
Age: 65 Professional experience: Teacher’s aide in the Rockville Centre School District, president of the South Hempstead Civic Association, church council member and Sunday school teacher, restaurant server and manager Lives in: South Hempstead Family: Married, five sons, two grandsons, one granddaughter On the issues: Spatz served as president of the South Hempstead Civic Association, as well as a teacher’s aide in the Rockville Centre School District. She said she has followed the various reconstruction efforts throughout the 5th District and wants to see infrastructure continue to be improved.
Through her travels to the South Shore communities of Baldwin, Freeport, Merrick Oceanside and Rockville Centre, Spatz said she spotted many vacant homes and businesses, particularly those affected by Superstorm Sandy. She understands that there is a family whose lives were forever changed by the storm, and that many people are still struggling to rebuild five years later. She plans to hold federal and state officials to the promise of standing by their communities until they
are rebuilt. At the county level, she said she would work to ensure that fee waivers for any recovery-related work were extended, and would join the fight to prosecute contractors who scam homeowners and advocate for a full-time storm recovery liaison to assist and educate property owners as they work through the NYRising process. To address the rampant opioid crisis on Long Island, she would join with Jack Martins in his proposal of a minimum 72-hour post overdose observation period and the creation of a state-ofthe-art in-patient treatment center at Nassau University Medical Center, as well as advocate for more education in local schools.
Debra Mule Democrat
Age: 55 Professional experience: Freeport Village trustee, Freeport Board of Education trustee for nine years, social worker Lives in: Freeport Family: Married, two daughters On the issues: Mule is a Freeport Village trustee who served on the Freeport Board of Education for nine years, first as a trustee and then as vice president and president. She is also a social worker. She said she wants to focus on ending corruption and restoring people’s trust in local government. She wants to bring improved infrastructure and storm resiliency in all of the district’s coastal communities, but more than that, she wants to prepare those com-
munities for the long term. She would continue to partner with the state and federal governments in the ongoing study of the effectiveness and environmental impact of various flood-prevention measures, including proposed floodgates in places like Freeport. She is also focused on coming up with a long-term solution for the situation at the Bay Park Sewage Plant, which is causing constant incremental damage to local waterways. Following the mass release of raw sewage
during Sandy, she emphasized, there is a need to assess the safety, effectiveness and cost of the measures to transport the treated sewage to an ocean outflow pipe. According to Mule, her first priority, if elected, would be implementing fiscal responsibility, and ending the endemic corruption and broken assessment system that is wasting tax dollars. This waste makes Long Island increasingly unaffordable, while at the same time leads to cuts in valuable services, she said. She also said she would bring her proven experience of fiscal responsibility to the County Legislature to make Long Island a place where future generations can afford to live and work and raise their families, and ensure that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.
The district encompasses South Hempstead, Baldwin, Baldwin Harbor, Freeport and parts of Rockville Centre and Merrick.
eLeCtion 2017
County LegisLative DistriCt 19 Steve Rhoads
INCUMBENT — Republican Age: 48 Family: Married Lives in: Bellmore Profession: From 2006 until 2015, served on the Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee of the Nassau County Planning Commission; elected in a special election to represent the 19th Legislative District in the Nassau County Legislature; Nassau County attorney for five years On the issues: MacKenzie was one of maRhoads is rounding out two years as a legislator, representing Nassau County’s 19th Legislative District. He has been an active member of the Wantagh Fire Department for the past 25 years, for which he has also served as chief. Rhoads was also a
Nassau Country attorney for five years and now works in private practice. Rhoads told the Herald that he is running to help restore faith in county government and ensure that the interests of taxpayers are put first. He believes that government spending should be reduced and borrowing should be cut. “Keeping Nassau affordable also means fixing the broken assessment system my opponent helped to create while on the Board of Assessors,” Rhoads said.
“Eliminating variable levels of assessment; returning to an elected county assessor who is directly accountable the voters; investing in technology and conducting county-wide revaluations at regular intervals will make the system more fair and will ultimately reduce homeowner’s need to grieve taxes annually by getting valuations right the first time.” Rhoads said that he would also like to implement more Drug-Take-Back programs to alleviate the opioid epidemic in his communities. Serving on the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s Heroin Prevention Task Force, Rhoads said he believes the issue is important and has held several civilian Narcan trainings. “I will continue to fight for funding for crisis intervention and youth service programs,” he said.
Jeff Gold
CHALLENGER — Democrat Age: 55 Family: Married with two adult children Lives in: Bellmore Profession: Attorney in private practice for 30 years; former commissioner of the Nassau Civil Service Commission; former commissioner of the Assessment Review Commission; former member of the Nassau County Board of Assessors On the issues: Gold has been an attorney in private practice for the last 30 years and has been active in the community for the last 24 years. Gold formerly served as a member of the Nassau Board of Assessors and later as a commissioner on Nassau’s Civil Service Commission, for
which he helped welcome in the first class of new police recruits. As a commissioner in Nassau for nearly a decade, under two different county executives, Gold gained knowledge of the county, its departments, employees and issues, he said. Gold told the Herald that he is running to make sure that the pending property reassessment is performed accurately and is sustainable. “The current system is inaccurate and places an
inordinate and unfair burden on those that chose to believe the information on the county website, and elected not to grieve their taxes,” Gold said. “I think it is essential that we address the hidden tax contained within virtually the entire district’s water bills. I will work with state officials to craft legislation to make American Water tax-free and that will save all residents of the district thousands of dollars.” Gold said that he would also like to revitalize downtown districts and turn empty storefronts into lofts where community members can display their work. “Many people in the arts cannot afford separate spaces to live and sell their works, so they gravitate to communities that encourage such living-work arrangements,” he said.
This district serves parts of Freeport, Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh and Seaford.
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