Nassau Democrats urge Bruce Blakeman to release funds

Nassau County Democrats, including Legislator Debra Mulé, accused Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman of not disbursing funds to certain legislative districts and plan to block him from borrowing any more money until he does.

Legislators from those districts say millions of dollars were promised early this year to pay for resources in their communities but remain “locked” by the Blakeman administration in favor of districts led by Republican legislators.

Baldwin, one area withheld from legislator’s first responder funds, also includes East Meadow, Glen Cove, Glenwood, Muttontown, Port Washington, Sands Point and Sea Cliff.

“I’ve never seen things like this happen since my time as a legislator,” Mulé said at a press conference on July 24 alongside other party members. “There is no such thing as a Republican fire or a Democrat fire, there are just fires.

“Shame on anybody who is preventing safety from happening  — this is something my colleagues on the majority should be standing up saying, ‘This is wrong,’ ” she added.

Until Blakeman honors the funding requests, which have already been agreed upon with the administration, Democrats will block borrowing until the county executive honors the requests, they say.

Republicans hold a 12-7 majority in the legislature. Blakeman needs a supermajority of 13 votes to approve finance requests for larger countywide projects.

A request in Mulé’s district of Baldwin was made for the Baldwin Fire Department for a new bucket truck last December for $169,241.

“Here we are, seven or eight months later, and we still haven’t heard anything about this project,” Mulé said.

“During my administration, minority members of the legislature received over 2 million dollars for community projects in their districts,” Blakeman wrote in a statement to the Herald. “Previously, the Democrat members of the legislature tried to hijack the capital budget, withholding funds for a variety of infrastructure projects and public safety projects including police body armor.

“If the Democrats are serious about moving projects forward they must immediately pass the capital projects budget and complete their due diligence and paperwork on project requests that to date have been incomplete and lacking important details. I stand ready to work with either side of the aisle,” he added.

According to a list sent to the Herald from the Blakeman administration, Mulé received $285,317 in funding for Sanitary District 2 to purchase a sand blaster in 2022 and a street sweeper cleaner the following year.