Friday, 06 November 2009 00:00

Supervisors Murray, Kaiman Hang On for Another Term

(Editor’s Note: The following are unofficial results as of press time, according to the Nassau County Board of Elections.)

The voters have spoken. Familiar faces will return to the Nassau County Legislature with the exception of Dave Mejias (14 L.D.) and Jeffrey Toback (7 L.D.).

Their losses shift the power back into the hands of Republicans by an 11-8 majority. Presiding Officer Diane Yatauro, though honored to be re-elected to another term as a county legislator, is disheartened by the loss of her party’s legislative majority.

Friday, 06 November 2009 00:00

‘The Devilish Details’ of New Law for Village Dissolution

The sponsors call it the Empowerment Act for short, but local governments are calling it the Disenfranchisement Act because the sweeping legislation passed this June, going into effect in March 2010, requires voters to vote to dissolve or consolidate local government before they know whether such actions would save money or not.

“There’s a lot of confusion about the act and it’s up to you to educate your residents so they’ll know that signing a petition for dissolution sets into motion a complicated, expensive process where the cart is before the horse,” said Wade Beltramo, special counsel for the New York State Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) to a roomful of mayors and village officials from Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties at a NYCOM meeting held at Mineola High School on Oct. 29. Beltramo spent the evening giving a quick course in the new act, which is summarized below.