Suozzi, Haber debate the issues

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On the assessment system, Suozzi said that the “system is worse now than it ever was.” He said “We need to devote the resources to the commercial properties, which is not being done now.”

Suozzi said he wants “to make Nassau County great again.” He wants “to stop the borrowing” and that he “has a proven record of getting things done.”

“I want to work together with you to make Nassau County great again,” Suozzi said.

Suozzi, 51, of Glen Cove, served as mayor of the City of Glen Cove for four terms, 1993 to 2001, before running successfully for county executive, taking office in 2002. Suozzi ran to be the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor in 2006 against Eliot Spitzer, who handily defeated him in the Primary election. Since leaving the county executive’s office, Suozzi has been employed by Cablevision and as an attorney in the private sector.

Haber: I’m not a career politician

Haber said that “the primary is about choices.” He said “I’m not a career politician, Tom is. Tom wants to be governor, I want to be county executive.”

Haber said that he has “had real success in the real world,” whereas Suozzi “had eight years to fix things and he didn’t.”

Haber said he would “create a whole host of new sources of revenue.”

Haber would push for convention center, more housing

On the Coliseum deal, Haber said what the area really needs is a convention center to drive higher sales-tax revenue and more affordable housing. “Suozzi had eight years and he didn’t advocate for affordable housing,” Haber said.

On the assessment system that both agreed is broken, Haber claimed “Suozzi is dealing with an alternate reality. He was in office eight years to fix this and he didn’t.”

On property taxes, Haber said that “going back to the same people who’ve been here will not yield a different result.”

On the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, Haber said that when “Suozzi was county executive he used a Band-Aid approach,” and that he “can’t believe Republicans and Democrats are fighting over this.”

Haber said that “Unlike Tom, I’m not for sale.” Haber said voters can “choose politics as usual or a fresh start.”
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