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         January 16, 2001
SCHMITT AND COUNTY GOP LAWMAKERS CALL ON
GULOTTA NOT TO RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AND PUT
THE NEEDS OF TAXPAYERS FIRST

(Mineola, NY) In a dramatic statement, County Legislator and Minority Leader Peter J. Schmitt (R-Massapequa) and the eight other Republican members of the County Legislature have called on County Executive Gulotta to forego re-election and put the needs of the taxpayers first.

The following is the text of the statement given by Legislator Schmitt:

"I join with my fellow Republican colleagues of the Nassau County Legislature to declare collectively that we will not support Thomas Gulotta for a fifth term as Nassau County Executive this November. Fourteen years is enough time for any County Executive to set goals and achieve them.

We have all heard from our constituents, whether it is in the grocery store, the schoolyard or in our neighborhoods - Tom Gulotta no longer enjoys their confidence. Now, with his recent spate of political advertisements, their voices, rightfully so, have grown even louder.

One does not have to look very far to understand why the public has lost faith in him:
  • Under his Administration Nassau County has the lowest bond rating of any county in the State;
  • Under his Administration Nassau County was on the verge of bankruptcy and needed State assistance to get the County through a fiscal meltdown;
  • Under his Administration we have a broken government where the simple task of paying for a parking ticket becomes a day-long chore;
  • Under his Administration we have departments that are barely functional;
  • Under his Administration he had to hire a firm, at taxpayer expense, to help him run the County government;
  • This is a government where the Chief Executive has stuck his head in the sand and has chosen to ignore reality with respect to negotiating tough, fair union contracts;
  • This is a government where the Department Heads collectively have not had a meeting with their Chief Executive in over a four-year period;
  • This is a government where the Chief Executive has lost his grasp on the day-to-day operations of the government.
And, through all of this, only denial from the County Executive.

The economic vitality of our County and region depends on firm, steady leadership. As residents, we are collectively embarrassed and distressed by a Chief Executive who has selfishly put his political needs above the needs of the very people he was elected to serve.

We do not join today with any sense of animosity toward the County Executive. We respect his more than two decades of public service. We join to say that as nine members sworn to represent the residents of our Districts, the people of Nassau County would be better served by a new County Executive.

Simply put - he had his chance to lead, he has failed - it is time for him to go.

We urge the County Executive to forego any effort towards reelection, but rather to work full time on behalf of the residents of this County to bring meaningful and structural reform to the budget.
  • To work with all members of the Legislature to ensure the timely and efficient implementation of the many initiatives that were adopted by the Legislature to improve our County;
  • To construct a budget this fall that will be approved by NIFA with no reservations;
  • To submit an updated fiscal plan that will be complete and approved by NIFA with no reservations.
William Shakespeare once said, "No legacy is so rich as honesty". We urge the County Executive to be honest with himself and the residents of this County -- it is time for new leadership in the County Executive's office - that would be a legacy that would benefit all of the residents of this County."

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