On Tuesday, New York voters will decide who will be representing them in a number of local races, including races for offices in county legislatures and for county executive offices across the state.
This year, ten organizations who work in the Hudson Valley and Long Island teamed up to create a survey to find out about the candidates’ positions on a number of pressing issues facing Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland Counties in the downstate region. Questions addressed issues relating to health and welfare, housing, jobs, the environment and infrastructure.
Every candidate in the races for county legislature and county executive in the four counties were invited to respond. Their unedited responses, available below, provide voters with a unique opportunity to evaluate where the candidates stand on the crucial issues that will impact the region for years to come.
CANDIDATE RESPONSES:
Suffolk County Legislature
- Sarah Anker, District 6
- William J. Lindsay III, District 8
- Gary Jacobs, District 12
Nassau County Legislature
- Kevan Abrahams, District 1
- Judith A. Jacobs, District 16
Nassau County Executive
- No candidates responded
Westchester County Legislature
- Michael J. Smith, District 3
- Benjamin Boykin II, District 5
- Miriam Levitt Flisser, District 5
- Mary Jane Shimsky, District 12
- Rachelle “Rocky” Richard, District 14
- Ken Jenkins, District 16
Westchester County Executive
Rockland County Executive
- No candidates responded
The following organizations participated:
The Business Council of Westchester, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, The Health & Welfare Council of Long Island, League of Women Voters of Westchester, Long Island Business Council, Parks & Trails New York, Vision Long Island, Washingtonville Housing Alliance, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Participating organizations are nonpartisan entities and do not support or oppose candidates or political parties.
Oh, Rockland. You never cease to disappoint. On Twitter I sent the following question to County Executive Candidates David Fried and Ed Day. Day has so far failed to respond, but I had the following exchange with Fried.
William Farrell: @DavidFried4CE Do you have any plans to promote mixed-use neighborhoods, smart growth, and reduce car-dependency in Rockland?
David Fried: @transpophile Best way to reduce car dependency in Rockland is the construction of the THE/ARC tunnel, providing one-seat ride to NYC
WF: @DavidFried4CE Would be nice, but @GovChristie already screwed that up. What about *within* Rockland? Mixed Zoning? Walkable neighborhoods?
DF: @transpophile Expanded transit routes, esp. on 9W corridor. Train station neighborhoods (mixed use) is def. worthy of discussion.
WF: @DavidFried4CE I hope if you win you think big and shake things up. But even if it’s lip service, better than no response from @ElectEdDay.
So there you have it. Not much to go on, but I wouldn’t have expected anything better from Rockland.