Nassau County Record (August 5 Edition, Page 4)
This year looks very different from the last and it’s even vastly different from just six months ago. Unfortunately, because of the global pandemic, Citizens for a Better Nassau County was not able to conduct a public meeting this year. One of the topics of this year’s public meeting was going to be integrity in government. While we weren’t able to discuss this topic at a public meeting, it’s still an important issue that needs to be brought to the forefront, as we have many local seats up for election during the 2020 Primary Election, which is just around the corner.
As a coalition, we believe integrity in all business dealings is of paramount importance, particularly relating to matters of the public trust, and we encourage accountability from politicians and government employees. Embracing transparency and fairness is fundamental to their service to our community.
What we’ve seen in the past suggests that some on our county commission do not feel like they are beholden to the taxpayers. One might think the rules don’t apply to them. As reported, some examples include gross fiscal mismanagement, questionable claims of residency, conducting county business using text messaging between meetings, gatherings of multiple commissioners in violation of the Sunshine Law and destruction of public records. It appears that some do not see transparency and fairness as part of the job that taxpayers elected them to do. This type of behavior demonstrates a complete disregard for public trust, and it raises questions regarding potential illegal activity.