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For this column I
have interviewed Suffolk’s 1ST District Democratic Assembly
Cadndidate, Marc Alessi.
BACKGROUND
Age 29 and soon to be married. Resident of Manor
Park and currently Director of Long Island Affairs for the New York
State Comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi. College Degree in Political Science
(University of Albany ) and a Law Degree from Touro Law School.
WHY I AM RUNNING FOR THE ASSEMBLY
I believe that government needs to be reformed and
I have the background and experience to do it correctly. One of the
major problems is school district financial accountability. As a result
of the recent school scandals, many budget votes went down. Children are
mostly affected by this. I
have spearheaded the effort to clean up corruption and mismanagement
within our local schools. And
as Assemblyman I will fight for more State Aid for Local School
Districts so that they can be less reliant on local property taxpayers
for funding. Brookhaven is
part of the district and I believe the residents lost confidence in
local government. I intend to restore public trust in our local
governments and propose a bill to add stiffer penalties for elected
officials that violate the public trust. One other item: I will stand up
to LIPA to end unchecked fuel tax surcharges.
I believe that after four years of surcharges LIPA should realize
that the cost of fuel has not gone down to 2001 levels and thus should
plan for it in the budgeting process.
If their budget requires an increase it should be done with full
public transparency and be approved through a Public Hearing Process,
not through annual backdoor surcharges.
DESCRIPTION OF THE 1ST DISTRICT
Starts in Northeast Brookhaven Town and includes
all of the Towns of Riverhead, Southold and Shelter Island. The
population of the district is approximately 131,000 residents.
THE LEVY ADMINISTRATION
Levy and Company are doing a bang-up job. He is the
true definition of a reformer that puts politics aside and does what he
thinks is right. Suffolk’s
residents have come to realize that Steve Levy and the Democratic Party
are the true fiscal conservatives and that the County Legislature
continues to try to spend money that Suffolk’s residents just cannot
afford.
PATAKI, SILVER & BRUNO
These are three
men fighting it out over our State’s resources. I will do what I think
is right and try to work with all three individuals.
In my capacity as the state Comptroller’s regional
representative, I have experience working with electeds regardless of
party affiliation. Bottom
line, you have to put the politics aside and do what’s right for the
East End’s residents.
OTHER ISSUES (1ST DISTRICT)
There are quite
a few that need to be looked at and certainly reviewed: (1 )Preservation
of open spaces. (2)Property
Taxes- More State Aid for Local Governments would mean less need for
local Property Taxes (3) Ensuring that the proposed Birchwood/Spring
Lake asphalt plant (Brookhaven/Middle Island) on Route 25 is carefully
reviewed before anything is developed, if at all (4)Ensuring that the
Beechwood Development proposed for the Manor Park area is not built on
wetlands. (5)Local zoning issues must be identified, reviewed and
changes enacted in Brookhaven to protect our environment, our health,
and our quality of life – while ensuring a more affordable housing
stock. (6) Eliminating the counties burden of unfunded state mandates
like Medicaid.
THE ENVIRONMENT (in the District and across
Long Island)
I have a few
thoughts: (1) We need to protect the quality of life and tourism on the
East End. (2) We have an
aquifer underground which provides us with drinking water.
We have 3 Million people living on top of this acquifer, putting
fertilizer on their lawns, most have cesspools instead of sewers which
could treat wastewater, and other general activities can contribute to
what goes into our drinking water.
I believe that this is one of the reasons we have such a high
incidence of Breast Cancer on Long Island.
This is an issue that has had a profound impact on my family, and
an issue that I will attack aggressively as an Assemblyman (2)Storm
Water Runoff-We need to find a way to more effectively treat the runoff
that makes its way into our natural waterways. (3) Re-Powering of our
power plants and making them more efficient across Long Island is an
essential part of protecting our environment and meeting Long Island’s
increased demand for energy.
FAVORITE
MOVIE, FOOD, SPORT & INTERNATIONAL CITY
Rocky, calamari in sauce (over linguini), softball
and Oranjestad, Aruba
PERSONAL GOALS
To win my race of course and to finish the
improvements on my house that have been put on hold. I intend to get
married and have a brief honeymoon and get back to work.
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