Mullaney: Leadership starts with just listening

Patrick Mullaney spent his entire life as a registered Democrat. But he hopes voters will send him to Mineola to represent them on the Nassau County Legislature not as a Democrat, but instead as a Republican.

Why? Mullaney wants to promote conversation and unity — on both sides.

“There’s a gap that needs to be bridged,” Mullaney told reporters as part of a recent Herald Roundtable session. “I know it’s in politics and government, but I believe that gap transcends that, and is heavily in society.”

Mullaney has lived in Long Beach for the past 30 years, involved in a number of community organizations— all while a member of the New York City Fire Department, where he is now a special ops lieutenant.

This is his first real experience politically, but Mullaney says that’s a good thing: It allows him to come in fresh, new, and more relatable.

“I think coming into politics from a fresh perspective can sometimes be a benefit,” he said. “Now you're coming at it from a fresh angle — more of a constituent point of view, rather than somebody who's been involved. I think it's a nice combination that puts me in a unique spot to make a difference, and to make an impact.”

Something Mullaney would want to tackle as a legislator is holding the line on taxes for the people he would represent in Long Beach, Oceanside, Island Park, Atlantic Beach, East Atlantic Beach and Lido Beach. The one downside of not coming from a political background is he hasn’t had the opportunity to “really sit down and see” the county budget in full. He can only see it as any of the rest of us could.

Yet, that also gives him insight, Mullaney said. Living day-to-day outside of the government sphere allows him to see first-hand how hard it is to live in Long Beach because of the costs. He believes the current administration led by Bruce Blakeman has done a nice job of not raising county taxes, but that Long Island is still becoming pretty tough to live on.

But Mullaney isn’t a fan of Equinor’s offshore wind project, which would construct wind turbines miles off-shore as a way of generating electricity for the region. Still, he isn’t totally against it, either. For now, however, Equinor needs to be put on hold until the company does a better job of addressing negative perspectives on the project.

“It needs to be discussed more,” Mullaney said. “They haven't said anything to sway people. So, until it comes back further in the middle between good and bad, I'm against it.”

Mullaney also advocates for more police resources to create better community relations, and more officers walking beats instead of simply driving through them. He wants more forums between the departments and the community members they protect, but he also wants officers to just be able to walk up to someone and chat with them more.

Mullaney also wants to focus on hate crimes — especially those of an antisemitic nature through words and graffiti.

“We need to continue on the trend that we’re on (of condemning such acts) and keep it in the forefront of people’s minds,” he said. “If someone don't fall in a particular category that they think could make them a victim of hate crime, they may not think about it. But if you keep reminding people that it does exist, you potentially increase their sensitivity.

“We need to couple that with promoting much more communication on it.”

Beyond all that, Mullaney wants to address overdevelopment and affordable housing. Most of his experience is with Long Beach, but he has seen around the island that changes need to happen.

“The needs of Rockville Centre or Manhasset versus the needs of Long Beach are very different, because they're very different communities,” Mullaney said. “We definitely need affordable housing. I have two kids, and my parents just had to move in with my wife and I … because they just couldn't afford their home anymore. It’s definitely something that has to be addressed.”

Mullaney is running for the seat Denise Ford has represented for 20 years. Upon her retirement, she endorsed Mullaney.

“Denise has always been phenomenal with an open-door policy,” he said. “You can call her somebody who a lot of people looked at as an elected official as approachable. I hope and I plan on doing that same exact thing.

“I believe that elected officials, especially at this level, that's your job. Your number one job is to listen to people, and get back to them.”