Vincent T. Muscarella was elected to the first session of the Nassau County Legislature on Nov. 5, 1995, and has been serving ever since.
Prior to being elected, the West Hempstead Republican served for four years as state Assemblyman representing the 22nd Assembly District.
He is also an active member of many community organizations.
Muscarella is opposed in his bid for re-election in District 8 by Barbara Hafner, a former teacher and president of the West Hempstead Education Association who pledges better communication with constituents but has no government experience.
Hafner said she supported County Executive Laura Curran’s “Taxpayer Protection Plan,” which would bring an incremental five-year phase-in of property tax values of homes in Nassau County.
She also favors downtown revitalization efforts in her district.
On paper, Muscarella offers District 8 voters more than a significant edge over his opponent in a district that encompasses Franklin Square, Floral Park, Bellerose, Bellerose Terrace, West Hempstead and portions of Elmont, New Hyde Park and Stewart Manor.
But district voters might want to consider that Muscarella is part of a highly partisan Republican response to the countywide reassessment undertaken by Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
This has included an attempt to hold a referendum on making the county assessor position an elected position aimed at Curran’s pick of David Moog, Nassau’s first certified assessor in more than eight years, followed by repeated attempts to pass an ill-advised “Assessment Bill of Rights” that among other things would require the county assessor to live in Nassau County.
Moog lives in Queens.
But this followed eight years under Republican County Executive Edward Mangano when the county did not have a certified assessor and county assessments stayed frozen. Muscarella and other Republican legislators said nothing.
During this time, the Mangano administration’s practice of granting thousands of reductions to homeowners who grieved their taxes shifted $2.2 billion in taxes from generally more affluent property owners who successfully appealed their property taxes over seven years to generally less affluent owners who did not, according to a Newsday report.
At the end of the day, about 50 percent of property owners were overpaying and half were underpaying.
Voters may also want to consider that the 2019 election will determine which party is in the majority after the 2020 census when county Legislature districts are redrawn.
In 2010, Republicans held a 10-9 edge in the county Legislature and an equal advantage in districts with a majority of registered Republicans – even though registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans.
The Republican legislators then used the census to gerrymander legislative districts to give the GOP a 12-9 edge. This effectively ensured that the Republicans would control the Legislature for the next decade.
This is nothing short of undemocratic.
But the GOP, which now holds an 11-8 advantage thanks to Joshua Lafazan’s victory two years ago, could do the same in 2021. Even as the Democrats have increased their edge in registered party members.
Still, on the individual merits, Blank Slate Media endorses Muscarella.
