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Friday, October 29, 2021
Vol. 9, No. 44
, the issues Your guide to the candidates n and local polling informatio
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ELECTION GUIDE
JOHN RYAN DIES
NIFA SAYS BUDGET ‘OUT OF BALANCE’
PAGES 29-52
PAGE 12
PAGE 7
October 29, 2021
County exec, supervisors headline races
U N I T Y D AY
Voters go to polls Tuesday to decide who runs town, Nassau BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z The race for county executive between incumbent Laura Curran and challenger Bruce Blakeman headlines the elections in Nassau County on Tuesday. Nassau County Executive Curran, a Democrat, previously served as a member of the Baldwin Board of Education before being elected as county executive in 2017. Blakeman, a Republican, serves as a council member for the Town of Hempstead. Aside from being Nassau’s liaison between the county’s Republican Party and former President Donald Trump, Blakeman also served as commissioner of the Port Authority and the Town of Hempstead’s deputy supervisor under former Supervisor Laura Gillen. Blakeman has been critical of the county’s reassessment work introduced by Curran after she was elected. Curran has referred
to state and independent reports verifying the accuracy of the reassessment. Blakeman also criticized Curran for a recently passed initiative to provide eligible homeowners with direct payments of $375. The checks were more than half of the $193 million Nassau received as part of the American Rescue Plan. Curran, whose 2022 proposed budget includes a $70 million tax cut, touted the county’s improved financial state as the reason Nassau does not need to hold onto the $100 million in federal funds. Curran and Blakeman both touted their efforts to provide residents with coronavirus testing and vaccination opportunities, along with feeding those who were less fortunate during the pandemic. District Attorney After Madeline Singas was appointed to the state’s highest court earlier this year, the race to replace her features Democratic state Sen. Continued on Page 66
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROSLYN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Roslyn School District participated in Unity Day on Wednesday, Oct. 20. Students, faculty and staff were encouraged to wear orange to prevent bullying and promote kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
N.Y. comptroller’s office defends Mineola audit BY B R A N D ON DUFFY
that the district had mismanaged its finances by amassing excessive surplus funds. State Deputy Comptroller After criticism from the Mineola Board of Education, Elliott Auerbach wrote to Minethe state comptroller’s office ola School Superintendent Midefended an audit that found chael Nagler that despite the
district’s criticism, it did not challenge the figures in the audit, released in September. After the audit was made public, the Mineola school board defended its practices Continued on Page 76
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