Tom Suozzi: Difference between revisions
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Other notable environmental leadership awards the County Executive has received this year include a Certificate of Achievement from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Equinox Award from Citizens Campaign for the Environment. |
Other notable environmental leadership awards the County Executive has received this year include a Certificate of Achievement from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Equinox Award from Citizens Campaign for the Environment. |
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==New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief== |
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In January 2008, Suozzi was named chairman of the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief by then-Governor Eliot Spitzer. The bipartisan commission was tasked with "examining the causes of high property taxes, identifying ways to make the State’s property tax system fairer, and developing a fair and effective school property tax cap to hold the line on property tax growth."<ref>http://www.cptr.state.ny.us/</ref> The Commission held 11 public meetings throughout New York State and Suozzi released the Commission’s preliminary report in June 2008. The report calls for a cap on the property tax cap levy of school taxes at 4 percent or 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. The Commission also recommended that, once the cap is enacted, a circuit breaker be put in place, as well as more than 20 recommendations to reduce mandates on school districts and address the root causes of high property taxes. |
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Following the release of the Commission’s preliminary report, Governor Paterson accepted the Commission’s main recommendation and introduced legislation that would cap school property taxes at 4%. The State Senate approved the Governor’s legislation in August. |
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The Final Report by the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief will be submitted by December 1, 2008// |
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==NIFA Report May 28, 2009== |
==NIFA Report May 28, 2009== |
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Revision as of 19:36, 2 November 2009
Thomas R. Suozzi | |
|---|---|
| File:Tom Suozzi thumbs.jpg | |
| County Executive of Nassau County | |
| Assumed office 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Gulotta |
| Mayor of Glen Cove | |
| In office 1992–2000 | |
| Preceded by | Donald DeRiggi |
| Succeeded by | Mary Ann Holzkamp |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 31, 1962 Glen Cove, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Helene Suozzi |
Thomas R. "Tom" Suozzi (born August 31, 1962 in Glen Cove, New York) is the county executive of Nassau County, New York. He was first elected to the post of county executive in 2001, the first Democratic county executive since Eugene Nickerson left office in 1971. He is currently serving in his second term.
In 2006, he ran unsuccessfully against Eliot Spitzer for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New York.
He is currently running against Ed Mangano for Nassau County Executive.
Biography
The son of former Glen Cove mayor Joseph Suozzi, Tom Suozzi was born on August 31, 1962 in Glen Cove, New York.[1] He was raised the youngest of five siblings, and graduated from all Roman Catholic schools: Chaminade High School, Boston College, and Fordham University School of Law.
Suozzi and his wife, Helene, have three children.
Political life
In 1992, Suozzi was elected as the youngest Mayor of Glen Cove, New York. He served in that capacity for four terms, ending in 2000. In 2001, Suozzi ran for County Executive. Democratic Party bosses long favored Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, but Suozzi prevailed in the primary and was elected to Nassau County Executive, the first Democrat in that office since Eugene Nickerson left it in 1971, and just the second Democrat in the post-World War II era. Suozzi was reelected as County Executive in 2005, defeating his Republican rival Greg Peterson 59%-38% on November 8, 2005.
Suozzi comes from a political family. Both his father Joseph Suozzi and his uncle Vincent "Jimmy" Suozzi were mayors of Glen Cove prior to Tom Suozzi. His cousin Ralph V. Suozzi is the current mayor of Glen Cove. His father also ran for Nassau County Executive in 1958.
Suozzi first became County Executive at a time when the county was near bankruptcy, being elected by a 2-to-1 margin in a County with more registered Republicans than any county in New York State. He helped engineer the Democratic takeover of the Nassau County legislature from the once vaunted "Republican machine."
Just days before Suozzi’s inauguration as Nassau County Executive in 2002, the Maxwell School of Public Affairs rated Nassau the "worst run county in the nation." Within his first year in office, Suozzi turned a $428 million deficit into a balanced budget, leading one of the most dramatic financial turnarounds in the country.[2]
His coattails helped the Democrats keep the Nassau County Legislature (by one vote) and helped Democrat Kathleen Rice dislodge the pro-life Denis Dillon, the Nassau County District Attorney of more than 30 years by about 8,000 votes.[3]
Suozzi has eliminated wasteful contracts, cut the workforce to the smallest in 30 years, and achieved historic labor concessions.
He has platformed for a "Fix Albany" campaign, blaming many of Nassau County's problems on the state legislature (which meets in Albany). His criticisms included both Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature, even advocating for the defeat of incumbent legislators.
This caused him to be left out of the New York State Delegation at the 2004 Democratic National Convention which nominated Senator John Kerry for President, although the Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly has denied that was the reason.[citation needed]. Despite this obstacle, Suozzi went to the Convention anyway gaining credentials directly from Kerry's Campaign.
In any event, "Fix Albany" did lead to the defeat of at least one incumbent Democrat State Assemblyman in the party primary, and provided a platform for David Valesky to unseat veteran Republican incumbent Nancy Larraine Hoffmann (a former Democrat) for a Syracuse-area based seat in the NY State Senate, notable because many Senate Republicans have regularly avoided falling victim to the coat-tails of popular Democrat presidential and US Senate candidates in a generally Democrat-leaning state.
In the November 2005 issue of Governing Magazine, Suozzi was named one of their "Public Officials of the Year" for his innovative initiatives in Nassau, which has a population of over 1.3 million, larger than 7 states and a $2.5 billion budget, greater than 16 states. [4]
A Democrat and a Roman Catholic, in 2005, he advocated curtailing abortions by speaking out in favor of alternate options for pregnant women considering abortion, including adoption and homes for single mothers.
Suozzi is currently at the center of an illegal fundraising trial, involving violations of the first and fourteenth amendments and a multi-million dollar lawsuit, as reported by the Long Island Press.[5]
Gubernatorial campaign
He declared that he was running for Governor of New York in the Democratic primary against Eliot Spitzer on February 25, 2006.
The bid appeared from the start to be somewhat of a long shot given Spitzer's reputation as a "corporate crusader", though Suozzi often pointed out that he prevailed as a long shot before when he first ran for Nassau County Executive. Few prominent Democrats outside of Nassau County Democratic Party Chaiman Jay Jacobs supported his bid; most of New York's Democrat legislators and mayors campaigned with Spitzer. One of his biggest supporters was Victor Rodriguez, founder of the now disbanded Voter Rights Party. Rodriguez eventually became the lead field organizer for the Albany campaign office.
Suozzi's campaign was funded largely by big business, in the form of Home Depot co-founder Kenneth Langone, former NYSE CEO Richard Grasso, David Mack of the MTA, and many individuals on Wall Street who had been investigated and prosecuted by Eliot Spitzer.[6]
On June 13, 2006 Suozzi spoke before the New York State Conference of Mayors along with Eliot Spitzer and John Faso. Suozzi received a standing ovation by the crowd of Mayors.[7] On July 6, 2006, Suozzi announced to his followers that he had collected enough petitions to place himself on the ballot in the primary against Spitzer. It was reported in all NY media on July 17th that his campaign manager Kim Devlin had stepped down and was replaced by Paul Rivera.
Suozzi claimed victory to the press in the debate on July 25, 2006 with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer held at Pace University.[8] He stated he had presidential aspirations during the course of this debate. As the first question in the yes/no lightning round, moderator Dominick Carter of NY1 first asked Spitzer if he had plans to run for president and Spitzer said "No" whereupon Suozzi jumped immediately and emphatically and clearly enunciated, "Yes." Spitzer then turned his head slightly toward Suozzi and said "good luck, Tom" in an arguably sarcastic tone.[9]
On August 7, 2006, Suozzi announced after much speculation that he will not seek an independent line should he lose the primary to Spitzer.[10] He also stated, that if he lost the governor's race, he would not run for a third term as Nassau County Executive. [11]
On the week of August 25 he along with Attorney General Eliot Spitzer were at Pace University again when cable TV NY1 held a town hall forum. However, they did not appear together. (Excerpts aired on Inside Albany week of September 1, 2006 on the New York Public TV stations hosted by Lise Bang-Jensen)
On September 12, 2006, Suozzi was defeated by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer losing the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of New York State.
Presidential Aspirations
Much speculation has been made about where Tom Suozzi will go after Nassau County. After already running for Governor against Eliot Spitzer in the Democratic Primaries, and throwing his hat into the ring to replace Hillary Clinton as Senator, Tom Suozzi's name has been attached to a presidential run. During the Gubernatorial debate with Eliot Spitzer, Suozzi mentioned that he does in fact have presidential aspirations.[12] In a 2009 Newsday article, Suozzi refused to deny that he wouldn't leave his County Executive position in Nassau County to run for higher office, by saying "I'm not ruling anything out at this time" [13]. When asked if he would commit to all four years of his term if any higher office opened up, he told Newsday: "I commit that I will continue to do whatever I can to address the property tax problems that the people of Nassau County face."[14]. There has also been speculation that he would be running for Lieutenant Governor of New York state with political ally Governor David Paterson.[15]
Environmentalist
County Executive Suozzi has been at the forefront of creating healthy communities and improving the environment across a broad range of issues. In 2007 he created "Healthy Nassau", a comprehensive program to sustain a healthy environment, while at the same time, encouraging healthy living.
Keeping Nassau’s land and natural resources healthy has also been a priority of the County Executive. Under the Suozzi Administration, Nassau has preserved hundreds of acres of open space and improved existing open space and park land. It has planted an organic farm at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, opened two new farmer’s markets in Mineola and Roslyn and sponsored new programs to encourage better nutrition for children and teenagers. Suozzi has also improved coastal waterways by personally reseeding them with two million shellfish and naturally filtering storm water by restoring stream beds and ponds.
In addition to county government initiatives, Suozzi created “Green Levittown” – a first-of-its-kind project. This partnership was forged between Nassau County government, a team of national and local corporations, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the people of Levittown. In his 2008 State of the County Address, Suozzi illustrated his plans to make “America’s first suburb America’s first green suburb.” As of one year later, there has not been any significant change.
Other notable environmental leadership awards the County Executive has received this year include a Certificate of Achievement from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Equinox Award from Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
NIFA Report May 28, 2009
NIFA (Nassau County Interim Finance Authority) is a bipartisan, independent state financial oversight agency. NIFA criticized Tom Suozzi for his handling of Nassau Counties Finances. The report titled "Review of the May 1, 2009 Nassau County Multi-Year Financial Plan Update and Related Matters." was the inspiration for an article in the Long Island Press. [16]
According to the NIFA report, Tom Suozzi had prepared a 2009 budget that did not address the current budget gap, nor did the Multi-Year Financial Plan address a continuing baseline gap in the Out-Years. The Plan assumed optimistic rates of recovery and growth despite the ongoing crises affecting the nation and high levels of unemployment. The report also claims that Suozzi and the County have underestimated Nassau’s greater exposure to the economic downturn from Wall Street job losses, and have used $23 Million in bond proceeds and reserves to pay operating expenses. The report also noted the large amount of turnover in the county Office of Management and Budget, which has not helped Nassau’s recovery and planning efforts. By deferring debt service payments and not paying off obligations in a timely manner, Suozzi and the County have put taxpayers at risk. Under Tom Suozzi’s control, Nassau County plans to use $28 Million of bond proceeds to pay for Fiscal Year 2009’s tax assessment grievance refunds. Nassau County will be a recipient of $80 Million over the next two years in non-recurring Federal Stimulus money, which Tom Suozzi and Nassau County will use to subsidize the operating budget. In the following year this will create a vacuum effect, which taxpayers will have to fit the burden for. [17]
Senate Speculation
On November 24, 2008, the Washington Post reported that Suozzi is a front-runner to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate after Clinton is named Secretary of State. [18] Suozzi's Long Island base would appeal to statewide Democrats and Bill Cunningham, a former top Suozzi aide, is now Secretary to Governor David Paterson, who would name a replacement to serve in Clinton's seat until 2010. Suozzi was not chosen to be the next Senator from New York, as Kirsten Gillibrand was named Senator of New York after Hillary Clinton was confirmed as Secretary of State.
Views on Same-Sex marriage
When Suozzi ran in the Democratic primary for governor 2006, he supported civil unions for same-sex couples but did not endorse equal marriage. In June 2008, Suozzi wrote, "I was wrong. I have listened to many well-reasoned and well-intentioned arguments both for and against same-sex marriage. And as I talked to gays and lesbians and heard their stories of pain, discrimination and love, my platitudes about civil unions began to ring hollow. I have struggled to find the solution that best serves the common good. I now support same-sex marriage."[19]
Electoral history
- 2006 Race for Governor - Democratic Primary
- Eliot Spitzer (D), 81%
- Tom Suozzi (D), 19%
References
- ^ Rodrick, Stephen. "Tom Quixote". New York Magazine.
- ^ citation needed
- ^ citation needed
- ^ Gurwitt, Rob (November 2005). "THOMAS R. SUOZZI - High-Voltage Transformer". Governing Magazine.
- ^ http://www.longislandpress.com/2009/08/06/skeletons-in-the-closet/
- ^ http://nymag.com/news/politics/17665/
- ^ Hakim, Danny (June 14, 2006). "Suozzi Gets an Ovation From Conference of Mayors". New York Times.
- ^ citation needed
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E1DF123FF935A15754C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
- ^ "Suozzi Won't Seek Independent Line". National Public Radio. August 7, 2006.
- ^ http://nymag.com/news/politics/17665/index5.html
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E1DF123FF935A15754C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
- ^ http://www.newsday.com/blogs/politics/spin-cycle-1.812042/senate-split-suozzi-says-it-freezes-candidacies-1.1309181
- ^ http://www.newsday.com/columnists/other-columnists/janison-will-incumbents-stay-full-term-if-re-elected-1.1480977
- ^ http://www.nypost.com/p/news/paterson_pal_suozzi_gov_goner_1b3wbIMU8CWWzD2XJgzCbJ
- ^ http://www.longislandpress.com/2009/08/14/nifa-roasts-suozzi/
- ^ http://www.nifa.state.ny.us/reports_financial/May2009Update.pdf
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302366.html
- ^ Suozzi, Tom (2009-06-12). "Why I Now Support Gay Marriage". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-15.