The Ambition and the Ego

There's nothing wrong with ambition. It's part of the American Way. Ambition has led millions of people to come to America, take a menial job and work their way up. It's led to the American Dream of Long Island -- a house of your own, a car and some space for your family.

But Tom Suozzi's version of ambition goes well beyond your normal dose. His ambition, combined with his mammoth ego, are the main threat facing Nassau County. His toxic brew could be the thing that destroys the American Dream of Long Island.

An ego in search of an office. That's what they call Suozzi. So says Fred Dicker, a prominent Albany reporter widely known as the premier political reporter north of Bear Mountain. I've been following Suozzi's career for years. Frankly, I think Dicker was maybe too moderate in his characterization of Tom Suozzi.

Ambition is a good thing. But Suozzi has taken your standard ambition and put it in overdrive. The people who've suffered are the citizens of Nassau County. While Suozzi ran for governor in 2006, his subordinates took over the day to day management of the county. And without a strong executive, everything fell apart. The deficit, which had been wiped out, came back with a vengeance. This time, its worse than anytime under Tom Gulotta. And the State, which is pretty much insolvent too, cannot come in with a hundred million dollar bailout. Thanks in part to a Suozzi ally on the north shore, our Long Island Senate delegation doesn't have that juice anymore.

Running for governor costs money. A lot fo money. In 2006, Suozzi ran against a well funded and independently wealthy man. Spitzer had money, and was willing to spend it. Suozzi needed to match Spitzer. Sure, he could raise money from people on Wall Street who hated the guy, but that was a drop in the bucket. Tom's Dad has made millions off the broken tax cert system that Suozzi refuses to fix, but even those millions (which Joe Suozzi shares with his partners, including none other than Basil Paterson, father of David) couldn't bankroll a run against Spitzer.

So, Suozzi did something that he really shouldn't have done. He began to shake down contractors. I've covered the five digit donations that Suozzi shook out of big time contractors in past posts. Everyone gets money from contractors; but Suozzi turned it into an institutionalized shakedown racket. Pay to play is alive and well in Nassau County.

But that wasn't enough. Suozzi then began to lard the public payroll with patronage employees. These guys were hired for one reason -- to work for Tom's political ambitions. If you worked (check out the LI Press article on the Morganstern case), you got to keep your job and maybe get a raise or a performance bonus! Let the good times roll!

And Suozzi went on seeking higher office. He took over a state panel on property taxes, and appropriated a longtime Republican battle cry of tax freezes and tax caps. Then he came home from his upstate swing and jacked up property taxes at home. He didn't bat an eyelash.

Suozzi's eight years in office have been a disaster for the citizens of Nassau. It's time for a change. A change we can afford.