Residents react to sea change in county politics

The question of who will be Nassau's next county executive, Democratic incumbent Tom Suozzi or Republican challenger Ed Mangano, was still hanging over residents' heads as the Herald went to press on Tuesday. As the Board of Elections was taking time to recount ballots, community members took the time to talk about the outcome of local elections, and concerns about their neighborhoods and wallets.

"The only thing I'd like to see gone is that tax, that energy tax, that 2.5 percent. That's bad," Marylou Swensen, a resident of East Meadow for 38 years, said. Though she declined to say who she voted for on Nov. 3, she said, "It's not fair. They screw up, and we have to pay for it. It's wrong, and that's my opinion."

Corey Guskin of Merrick had a different approach to his Election Day decisions, but was no less opinionated. "I like Denenberg, David Denenberg," he said of the recently re-elected Democratic County legislator in the 19th Legislative District. "Suozzi, I didn't like when he ran for governor when he was only the county executive for, like, one term .... and ran against Spitzer, so I would never vote for Suozzi. And Mangano, I didn't know that much about, so I didn't vote for either one of those."

Ed Moore, a retired New York City firefighter who has lived in North Bellmore since 1971, and works part-time at the North Bellmore Public Library, is happy with election outcomes so far, but feels frustrated by the prolonged process. "Well, I wish they'd find out if Suozzi won yet or not. Who won? That's the big thing, you know? Everyone else, I'm happy with," Moore said.

Like Moore, Nancy Gilbin, who has lived in East Meadow for more than 50 years, is glad to see change this election cycle, but her outlook wasn't overly optimistic. "I'm happy to see the Republicans back in," she said, referring to the County Legislature's switch from a Democratic to Republican majority for the first time in 10 years. The Republicans "were not good, but they were better."