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                                                                           Jay Jacobs on a previous News 12 "power and politics" segment Jay Jacobs, New York State and Nassau County Democratic Chairman, spoke too soon. Jacobs was featured on a News12 "Power and Politics" segment this morning that focused on the mounting nursing home scandal and sexual harassment claims involving Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But Jacobs' interview was taped before a second former Cuomo staffer last night accused the third-term governor of sexual harassment -- blowing up the internet and the news media after a former staffer came forward with similar claims earlier this week. Cuomo has denied the allegations. Jacobs spoke before Democratic elected officials from the White house through the state and Long Island went p...

                                                                                  Mohsin Meghji Nassau's financial control board has been around since 2000, overseeing the county's finances and taking control of the books in 2011. In all that time,  the Nassau Interim Finance Authority has never had a woman on the seven-member board of directors. And it looks like the volunteer board will stay all male for now. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed Mohsin Y. Meghji, of Old Westbury, to the NIFA board, at the recommendation of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. In a news release, NIFA says Meghji  "is a nationally recognized turnaround professional known for his work with companies encountering financial, operational, or strategic challenges or at inflection po...

                                                                            Nassau Supreme Court building in Mineola A Nassau Supreme Court judge has recused himself from presiding over a lawsuit brought by Republican County legislators John Ferretti of Levittown and Steve Rhoads of Bellmore against Democratic County Executive Laura Curran. But Justice Christopher Quinn probably will not be the only judge who recuses himself in this case. The two GOP legislators filed suit last month, demanding Curran abide by a legislative resolution passed unanimously in December that required her to "immediately" restore data on the county website that provides homeowners with individual estimates of the tax impact of a five-year phase-in of Curran's 2018 reassessment. The county had included a line about the pha...

                                                                       Sidebars to opinion polls are sometimes just as interesting as the poll's headline news.  Take the Marist College poll released today. The headline was about Gov. Andrew Cuomo: 61 percent of registered New York voters think Cuomo mishandled the coronavirus in nursing homes, the poll found; 19 percent think he did something illegal. These results are not surprising on the south shore of Long Island  where "Impeach Cuomo" signs appeared along major and minor roadways in late spring and early summer. The death toll in nursing homes from the coronavirus -- after the Cuomo ...

County postcard about grieving assessment Nassau Republicans Monday are holding a news conference to tell residents to grieve their property tax assessments even though Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has frozen values for this year The frozen roll, Republicans say, do not reflect any reductions homeowners received last year as a result of protesting their assessment nor any reductions they could continue to receive this year  until the 21-22 assessment roll is final in April. This is the roll that will be used for October's school tax bills and Jan. 2022 general tax bills. (Nassau's 15-month assessment cycle is unlike any other assessing jurisdiction in the state and is, without doubt, the most complicated. To explain: the assessments issued a year ago -- in January, 2020 -- do not become final until April 2021 and are not used for tax bills until Oct. 2021). Curran, a Democrat running for re-election this year, already urged residents in a county-wide postcard in Decembe...

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran                                                                   Nassau County Executive Laura Curran's crack budget team was way off again in its financial predictions, according to the county's independent Office of Legislative Budget Review. As late as Dec. 21, Curran's budget office was still predicting the county would end 2020 with a $385 million budget deficit because of the coronavirus pandemic -- $261.7 million of that fiscal hole would come from a 20 percent drop in sales tax revenues. The dire predictions led the county's financial control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, to refinance $1.1 billion of county ...

                                                                       The Nassau Republican Committee held an annual fundraiser today -- virtually because of the pandemic. Insiders say they were pleased with the event; some 1,200 tickets were sold at $160 each to have breakfast virtually with Nassau GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo and Nassau Legis. Rose Walker (R-Hicksville), Nassau Presiding Officer Rich Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park), Hempstead Town Clerk Kate Murray, Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, Oyster Bay Town Councilwoman Laura Maier, and Oyster Bay Town supervisor Joe Saladino. Stepping in and out of the teleconference was Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D'Esposito. That's a pretty good haul, given the only visible expenses were a few trays of bagels, muffins and danish. But they weren't munching alo...