Democratic rivals for Nassau County Executive agree on anti-BDS law

The two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for Nassau County executive each said this week that they support the county’s anti-BDS law.

George Maragos and Laura Curran made their comments during separate interviews in the offices of The Jewish Star. The primary election is set for Tuesday, Sept. 12.

Jack Martins, the Republican candidate seeking to replace incumbent Ed Mangano, a Republican, has no primary contest. Mangano is not seeking reelection. The general election, pitting the winner of the Sept. 12 Democratic primary against Martins, will be on Nov. 7.

In response to a question about U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the most prominant endorsements she’s corralled, Curran said, “I have a lot of respect for the senator. The one thing that I disagree with her about is BDS.”

Gillibrand raised hackles in the pro-Israel community a few weeks ago when she flip-flopped on her traditional support for Israel and opposition to BDS by withdrawing her previously pledged support for federal anti-BDS legislation.

Curren said she “was very proud” to join the unanimous vote in the county legislature last year that enacted a law barring the county from doing business with entities that support BDS.

Maragos said he was not familiar with Nassau County’s anti-BDS law but would support it.

The candidates addressed a range of issues affecting Nassau residents.

Maragos pledged to take a bite out of corruption, which he said resulted in “waste and mismanagement that caters to the special interests” and kept Nassau’s taxes high.

Curran said that as a county legislator she’s had a “front row seat to a lot of dysfunction and corruption, and I want to fix it.”

She pledged not to put her name on road signs. “It’s a small thing but a symbol of a bigger problem,” Curran said. “Your tax money is not meant to fund my public relations.”

The two disagreed over the importance of building “downtown” hubs near some of Nassau’s LIRR stations.

Maragos called it “a failed concept.”

“If you don’t have the underpinning of a vibrant economy, people are not staying here,” he said. To encourage career-minded young people to stay on Long Island, Nassau’s health-care industry should be made “world-class,” he said, and a long-term master plan should be drafted.

Curran, on the other had, said that the creation of new downtowns “is something I’m very passionate about.”

“If we want to hold onto our young people and their tax dollars and their energy, and hold onto people who are downsizing — older people, perhaps empty-nesters — we have to have a wide range of housing options. Not everybody wants a single family house.”

Maragos is completing his second term as county comptroller, both as a Republican. Why is he running for county executive as a Democrat?

Since the 2012 election, “my values have evolved,” Maragos said. “After a lot of searching and a lot of disucssions with my nieces and nephews on the issues of abortion and gay rights, etcetera, I’ve evolved on those issues. Secondly, as an immigrant, I didn’t feel that I belonged in the Republic Party.”

Curran said Nassau was “growing in our diverity but we are definitely a community of communities and every community has its own very particular personality.” Overall, corruption was issue nubmer one, she said.

Maragos said he’s concerned with water quality.

“We’re not even talking about it as an issue but it should be a big issue,” he said. “I think it’s at risk and we’re not doing enough as a government. We’re not testing for it enough and we’re not doing enough to protect it.”