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News 12 Staff

LIPP32B_2025-03-02-11-53-51

Welcome back. Nassau County Executive Bruce Flakeman's re-election campaign is now underway. Last week, the Republican announced his bid for a second term. Blakeman has been in office for the last 3 years. He's cited action since being elected, including a ban on transgender women in female sports and allowing county detectives to work with ICE. We are going to continue to build the best economy, the safest county, the kindest county, the most generous county, the warmest county, and the most successful county in the United States. Democratic lawmaker Seth Koslo announced his run for the position last month. He was on this program, and he sent us a statement that reads in part, quote, Under Blakeman, Nassau taxpayers are paying more and getting less. Taxes are higher, crime is rising, and millions in illegal fees have not been refunded. The vacant seat for Nassau County's 2nd legislative district has now been filled. Olena Nix has won the special election to fill the spot left by Cillabino, who's now serving as a state senator. Nix is a Democrat from Uniondale, a library trustee, also a firefighter. We spoke to her last week on our morning show about her plans for the county. I think the biggest thing is going to be protecting public safety and ensuring that our fire departments and municipal police departments, especially those within democratic districts are funded. There has been a lot of money that has been allocated and approved, but these districts have not received that money yet and as as a firefighter I know it's life or death if you don't have the right equipment. And joining us right now is the new legislator in the 2nd district, Elena Nix. Good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Thank you for having me. 2nd time in a week, I'm sure it's been a whirlwind of a week for you, but as you, uh, get accustomed to the role and talk to people, what are the key priorities for you here so you really have to hit the ground running? Absolutely. The first thing I would say is making sure that we get Nassau County residents their money back from these red light cameras, so it was deemed that what we were charging at 15. $50 you know, fee we now brought it down to $50. It's time to reimburse the residents of Nassau County. Do you think that money is there? What do you think that looks like because this has been going on for years? Well, unfortunately, the Blakeman administration has been very transparent about how many people, um, that we should be reimbursing or really any information around that, and that's where I'm looking to come in and be very tenacious on that to say that you know costs are up. Let's give our residents a break and and they absolutely need it. OK, when you look at the key issues in your district right now, um, obviously prime real estate, uh, a lot of this area is right in the middle of the county, uh, the Nassau hub area is in this as well. What do you think has to be the focus? The focus has to be first housing, so we have to relook at the way that we imagine how. Saying everyone may not necessarily want to be a homeowner or they may not want to own what is considered the traditional home so we have to figure out how can we start to transform the infrastructure that we have, build it up and maybe use that multi use um occupancy so where we have stores on the bottom level, housing or apartments on the top level because we're seeing a lot of apartment buildings come in and they're not. Affordable to the residents within the districts that I'm serving at this time, so housing is gonna be first and then we also have to take a look at the homelessness issue where you're seeing an increased population and unfortunately once again the Blakeman administration tried to fight really hard to take away a lot of civil services that would have negatively affected Uniondale, Newcastle, Westbury, Hempstead and. Thankfully the Democrats fought hard and they were able to retain some of that funding so now we need to work with our local nonprofits who have been boots on the ground we need to work with our Department of Social Services so that we can one make our residents feel safe so that they don't feel like they're being solicited, but one, I'm sorry, secondly, that they're we're starting to house the people who are on the streets. I mean, you know, last week it was 18 degrees outside and it's, it's heartbreaking to even think about. When you look at your district, it seems to me that there are two key factors that could really transform things in the years to come. One, the future of NUMC right on the border of your district. How will it be funded? How will it survive? And then also again, the Colosseum site, will there be a casino? If not, what comes after that? We've seen so many different plans over the years. This could really transform the area. It absolutely can, and I think starting with NUMC, it is. You know it's as a firefighter it's one of the hospitals that we take our residents to first because minutes seconds make everything so that hospital is essential and we need to make sure that we're fighting to keep it open and that they get the funding that's needed but more importantly that the oversight is there that's what we're seeing a lack of oversight and not too much transparency about what's actually happening and what's actually needed so that's gonna be a big focus and then in terms of the hub what's to. Come, you know, we're gonna look and we're in planning mode. It's plan A or Plan B, and honestly you just have to be ready for what's to come, making sure that the community is safe and community safety is a priority and that the community, you know, receives the benefits whatever does come. OK, so now let's get to the politics. You win the special election, you'll be up for election again in the fall, but now the district lines are gonna be different this time around. What will that mean for you moving forward? It'll mean the same. For me because I'll still be keeping most of Uniondale. I'll be getting a larger portion of Hempstead, and these are two neighboring communities that I've worked very well with over the years throughout my advocacy, so the issues are not going to change. The focus is going to be the same. I will be looking to work very closely with the mayor of Hempstead and making sure that some of those housing initiatives move forward and just the overall beautification. We want to build up these communities like Eel and Hempstead. I will also hopefully um. Once winning that election, uh, be getting a piece of West Hempstead and Franklin Square so it'll be trying to make those connections. That's what this really all is about relationships and connections and understanding what those communities need. All right, well, Lena Nix, we appreciate you coming in here and uh laying out your. Agenda and we'll be watching. Thanks so much. Thank you. And still to come here on Power and Politics, he was Long Island's first African American mayor. His leadership breathing new life into one Nassau village. His impact was felt across the state. We share James Garner's story next.

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LIPP32C_2025-03-02-11-59-22

Welcome back. New York State is looking to help federal employees who lost their jobs. The federal government might say you're fired, but here in New York we say you're hired. The governor's office is launching a new recruitment effort called the You're Hired Initiative. It's a way to recruit public sector workers who were let go by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOG into state service. New York even has a new web portal offering resources and support. We have more information on our website, news twelve.com. Meanwhile, the current lieutenant governor says he will not be running with Hochul again next year. Antonio Delgado made that announcement last week. He says he plans on remaining quote your voice in state government now and in the future. A lot of speculation as to what that could mean. The spokesperson for Governor Hochle says she's already looking for a new running mate. James Garner made history in the 80s, becoming not only the first African American mayor for the village of Hempstead, but the first on Long Island. This is his story. My dad is James A. Garner. He became the first African American mayor in the incorporated village of Hempstead in Long Island. He was the son of a sharecropper from North Carolina, so he grew up, his mother was blind, father was a, um, a farmer. He loved New York, so around 1969 he came to uh Long Island. He decided to start a business, a small business here in the village of Hempstead, working, um, in small business, it kind of. Got his feet wet where he was able to go to Washington DC and be a part of the uh White House Small Business council, but he became the mayor in 1989 he knew. The impact was wide not just only for the African American community but for minorities across the state and Long Island itself. During that time, uh, we had uh many empty stores, but under his leadership, he had the ability to the Community Development Agency, uh, to make sure that he really those blighted areas are bringing life back to the military Hempstead. He's retired he currently lives in North Carolina. What I think was unique about his exit out of New York is that he went back to those um places of worship, those organizations, those individuals and say hey thank you for allowing me to serve but also to help me. Um, throughout my journey as mayor. People remember uh what he's done for the village of Hempstead. Big Jim Garner, always appreciated talking to him throughout the years, and Jim, we hope you are enjoying your retirement. That's all the time we have this week. We'll see you again right here next week for another edition of New Soul's Power and Politics. I'm Rich Brae. Have a great rest of your day.

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Matt Cohen, the president and CEO of the Long Island Association, joins Rich Barrabi this week. 

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