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A Change for Suffolk.
By M.A. Dorfman
As the people of Suffolk County head into the final weeks of the current
election season, they are faced with a changing picture
in the political scene. “Our Suffolk County legislature is very
volatile,” says Steve Levy, “it’s very rambunctious and there is
always debate and there is always a lot of shouting. Some people want
to abolish the legislature and go to a board of
supervisors, which to me is a very big mistake. The legislature
-- it might not be the prettiest thing to see, but it is democracy in
action. What scares me is when you have people who make all the
decisions in the back rooms and then come out and just
rubber stamp everything approved. You want to see the debate, the interaction
going on right there. That’s the way it’s
supposed to be.” This certainly the way the Framers of this country
envisioned things for us too.
The office of County Executive is up for grabs and Suffolk County residents
have a difficult task ahead. However, their task is
made easier with when they consider Steve Levy as a possibility.
A charismatic gentleman, with high moral standards, Steve
Levy has a number of proposals for fixing Suffolk’s woes.
“The taxes are high here. It’s because those in power have increased
the size of the budget so vastly to feed the political
machine. This is a campaign where we are trying to break up that machine.
There have been a lot of scandals in Suffolk
County. And it cost taxpayers millions of dollars. I’m
seen as the reform candidate who is going to try to knock it down,” says
Levy.
Cleaning up Suffolk, however, doesn’t have to mean a cut in the services
residents are accustomed to. According to Levy, “If
you removed all of the scandal and mismanagement from this government
you would have enough money to stabilize taxes, and
provide the needed services that all relish. There was 45 million
dollars wasted in our Open Space Scandal, about 90 million
dollars wasted in our self-Insurance scandal, 19 million dollars wasted
in the car leasing scandal…if you add up all this waste it
exceeds the amount of our biggest projected deficit. So if you just
weed out the scandal and have proper management, we
should be able to expand our bus services, and provide for the needy
and the elderly and to continue to move forward with our
open space preservation. You can have your cake and eat it too,
so to speak, if you just manage properly, and give everything
its proper priority. We had a health commissioner several years
ago, who resigned in disgust, because she couldn’t get money
for nurses and other important items. Yet when it came to patronage
and the other wasteful government, you could get monies
at the drop of the hat. And that’s the wrong priorities for this
county, I’m not part of the political clubhouse, I think I have
ability to change things and provide for the services that we need.”
Levy points to a number of items that if revised could
generate additional savings for the county. “Our police department
is very professional and they do a good job of protecting us,
but there is a great deal of inefficiency within the department and
this is one place where I have a big disagreement with my
opponent,” says Levy. “I want to civilianize our police department.
We have some officers, who make over a 100k per year,
who are in the audiovisual department, behind desks or in the computer
room and we should have those highly trained officers
in our neighborhoods protecting us. You can replace them with a white
collar workers at a substantial savings to the county.
The problem is there is such a lack of will to innovate that no one
has made it a top priority and I will.”
A big concern for seniors in Suffolk is the cost of health insurance
and prescription drug. Levy has some innovative ideas in
how to help our seniors, “I’ve called for an innovative program, whereby
we would allow our senior citizens to purchase their
prescription drugs in volume along with our county employees. We buy
prescription drugs for our employees and retirees by the
thousands. The bigger volume you buy, the greater the savings.
If we can do this for our employees, we should be able to
allow our senior citizens to piggyback their purchases with that of
the employees. This is a program that I am going to be
looking to implement when I’m county executive. This would be
a big help to our seniors.” Another way that Levy envisions
help our seniors is through state legislation by allowing their children
to take care of them in their later years and getting a tax
deduction. “We want to encourage more seniors to stay out of
nursing homes and in their own homes with in home care,” says
Levy, “I think most seniors want to stay home, they do not want to
go to a nursing home. And if we have affordable home
nursing care, its more humane and it can actually be cheaper.”
Suffolk is a small piece of a big state and many cannot see how we would
be able to fight for our share of the state budget.
Levy, however does not see any disadvantage here. “I think that
it is important that the county executive in Suffolk unite with
the county executives in similar suburban counties, such as Nassau
County and Westchester County, to gain more clout when
dealing with Albany. I’m in Albany now and I can tell you that
it’s a very partisan and a very structured environment. You are
competing for attention, so when you combine with others and increase
your clout, you are more likely to reap rewards. The
advantage that I will bring as county executive is that I have the
personal relationships with the people that count in Albany, such
as the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver and many other important
people. I don’t have to start from scratch and
introduce myself to them; they already know me very well. We
have a wonderful relationship and I think they will be ready to
help us with our needs here in Suffolk County.”
When asked about the large community of immigrants in Suffolk, Levy
replied, “Diversity is a good thing. Our nation was built
on people from different cultures, joining together under one mosaic.
We want to continue to try to assimilate all individuals into
our American culture while still allowing for various cultures to retain
their special identity. Look at NYC, were it not for
immigrants in NYC, filling the void from those who left, NY would be
on its knees right now. But it’s been the immigrants who
have started the new businesses and provided for growth and the excitement
that has brought NYC back to a thriving
metropolis. So it can be a very, very healthy thing for Suffolk too.
What we want to do of course is follow the rules and follow
our laws and promote immigration in a legal and orderly fashion.”
Illegal immigration is a problem in Suffolk, many residents harbor
ill feelings and resentment. Levy feels that we need to handle
this problem with care. “First I think you have to divide it
into two categories,” says Levy. “First is the racial element. There
have been many of our immigrants who have been picked on because they
look different and/ or they have a different culture.
This has to be condemned. It’s important that we enforce our
anti-bias laws against those who would commit heinous racial
acts against our immigrants. At the same time we also have to
enforce our labor laws. There are some companies out there
who are trying to do the right thing, by paying their sales taxes,
their unemployment tax, and workman’s compensation. The
government should not be subsidizing firms that skirt around that system.
What we should be doing is making a determination
as to – do we have a void within our labor force? And do we want more
immigrants to fill it? If so, we should just do it the right
way through legal immigration, and through proper working papers and
this way those immigrants, who have waited on line will
get here first as opposed to allowing others to cut to the front of
the line.”
Levy’s ideas make a lot of sense when compared to our recent history. Suffolk is certainly due for a refreshing change.