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                                                                                                                                                                      Sometimes, when appointments seem to come out of the blue, campaign finance disclosure reports may yield some answers. Today it was announced in Newsday that Sheldon L. Shrenkel, 80, an independent financial consultant, was named the $175,000-a-year CEO and executive director of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, which works to attract and retain businesses in the county,  essentially by offering tax breaks. While Shrenkel apparently has longtime business experience and served a decade ago on a county transit advisory committee, his name does not instantly come to mind as the most likely candidate to run a government development agency. But Shrenkel is from North Valley Stream. That's the first clue. Newsday also provided another hint as to why the IDA board may have hired Shrenkel. Since Republican Coun

                                                                                      Mike Sposato On Monday, Nassau's corrections officers demanded the ouster of Corrections Commissioner Mike Sposato, warning that his  alleged mismanagement of day-to-day operations at the East Meadow jail was raising safety risks for officers and inmates alike. On Wednesday, an inmate died after a "medical episode" that County Executive Bruce Blakeman said was an apparent drug overdose, Newsday reported. Nobody can say that Brian Sullivan, president of the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association, didn't warn them. Brian Sullivan Sullivan brought his executive board and entire board of delegates to the county legislative meeting Monday to say collectively that Sposato, a former Nassau Sheriff fired by Democratic County Executive Laura Curran but brought back by Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has to go. He said Sposato had implemented security cuts and redeployed offi

The commission tasked with redrawing the boundaries of Nassau's 19 legislative districts will vote on proposed new lines Monday night after holding 12 public hearings throughout the county.  Redistricting occurs every ten years after the U.S. Census. But Nassau's Temporary Districting Advisory Commission,  composed of five Democrats and five Republicans, is expected to deadlock: Republicans will vote for their proposed legislative map; Democrats will vote for their proposed map. Then the decision goes to the county legislature, which has 12 Republicans and 7 Democrats. It seems pretty obvious how that will go. Next, presumably, will be court challenges to whatever map is adopted. Meanwhile, a $140,000 contract for special counsel to the Republican members of the commission has been submitted to the legislature's Rules committee for approval on Monday -- four months after the special counsel law firm started work on July 29, according to the contract papers filed with the le

While Nassau Republicans are basking in their victories, Nassau Democrats don't seem to realize the election is over. And that they mostly lost. Defeated Democratic Congressional candidate Keith Corbett and former Nassau County Attorney Jared Kasschau, partners in the ubiquitous Harris Beach law firm, are heading up a new political law practice to "provide counsel to candidates, corporations, local governments, political committees, trade asociations and others engaged in the electoral process, " according to a Harris Beach press release. Corbett, who is also Malverne's mayor, ran a primary against former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen this spring for the Democratic nomination to the Fourth District Congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City.) He was supported by state and Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs and touted his experience in working with both Democrats and Republicans.  He lost to Gillen. Kasschau was appointed county a

There have been memorable news media mistakes in the past: There was Newsweek's "Madam President," with a photograph of Democrat Hillary Clinton as the winner of the 2016 presidential election. Of course,  Republican Donald Trump won. The Newsweek editor insisted that the magazine was not declaring her the winner but had printed alternative editions. Somehow, 125,000 copies of the erroneous edition were distributed. Of course there is the old Chicago Tribune banner headline from the 1948 presidential election declaring Republican Thomas Dewey the winner over Democrat Harry Truman. Another error. Truman won. And now the online news site City & State apparently issued its own gaffe yesterday when it posted a list of New York's 100 most powerful women. A sharp-shooter took a screenshot of this:   Of course, Republican Hempstead Town Board member Anthony D'Esposito defeated former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, a Democrat, by about 10,000 votes. Unlike past pr

The final vote count is not yet in, but there is no doubt that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Lee Zeldin for governor while Nassau Republicans triumphed over Nassau Democrats at the polls. Some sidelights: Karma Kickback Lame duck Democratic State Sen. James Gaughran barely squeaked past Senate rules to pump out taxpayer-paid publicity for fellow Democrats, State Sens. Anna Kaplan and John Brooks, in July. Gaughran, of Northport, decided to retire after he was redrawn out of his District 5 senate seat. Kaplan of Great Neck and Brooks of Seaford decided to run again even though their district lines were changed. So Gaughran used his Senate office mail budget to promote Kaplan and Brooks by sending a mailing 30 days before the Democratic primary despite Senate rules that ban government mailings 30 days before an election. Kaplan faced a primary challenge The mailing ostensibly was for a good cause but its most prominent features were the photos of Gaughran, Kaplan and B

Democratic candidate Robert Zimmerman of Great Neck, who is running for the 3rd District Congressional seat tomorrow,  appeared at a  small "unity rally" today with former primary opponents and two former -- or soon to be former --  U.S. Representatives. They had a small crowd of supporters. From left to right: Reema Rasool, Josh Lafazan, John LeBoutillier, Robert Zimmerman, Tom Suozzi and Jon Kairman Nassau Republicans promised a "massive" get out the vote" rally in Franklin Square this evening. They promised "thousands" of supporters in the parking lot behind TD bank and a 20-foot-tall elephant, which they previewed at a rally last week.                              The point of both rallies is to energize their supporters to go out and vote tomorrow. U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi of Glen Cove, who is giving up his 3rd District Congressional office, hosted the Zimmerman rally. On hand were Zimmerman's Democratic primary opponents, Reema Rasool, Nassa

                                                                             Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin (from NBCny.com) The news seems focused on national Democrats campaigning for Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is seeking the governor's office on her own next week after inheriting it from Andrew Cuomo in Aug. 2021. Namely, former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who also happens to be married to former President Bill Clinton, and Vice President Kamala Harris were to appear with Hochul in New York City today. Jill Biden, Joe's wife,  appeared last weekend with Hochul and Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who is running against Republican George Santos for the 3rd Congressional District. But Republican Lee Zeldin, who is challenging Hochul, also has been getting some love from national Republicans. So is Democratic Congressional candidate Anthony D'Esposito, who is running against Democrat Laura Gillen for the 4th District Congressional seat. Florida governor Ron DeSantis appea

How many times are voters going to fall for the same story without evidence? Nassau Democrats again are complaining about reports of voter intimidation during early voting, just like they did in 2019. Like then, they offer no proof, despite everyone having a cell phone these days with video taping capacity or at least photo-capturing ability. On Monday, the head of Nassau County Democratic legislators, Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) wrote to Nassau Police Commissioner Pat Ryder asking for more police protection at the polls. He wrote: "It has come to my attention that extremist groups have been attempting to engage with and intimidate  Nassau County voters at early voting locations." Kevan Abrahams He gave no specifics, no details, time and location, no videotapes. Then today, Nassau Democratic Elections Commissioner James Scheuerman wrote to Ryder and Democratic New York Attorney General Tish James (who happens to be running for re-election on Tuesday) asking th