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Viloria-Fisher seeks re-election against GOP's Peter Busacca
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Significant differences were on display recently when the candidates for the 5th District county Legislature office met in the offices of TBR Newspapers.
Civic leader Peter Busacca would champion a bill to cut in half the county Legislature if he wins his race in the North Shore district against incumbent Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-East Setauket). Busacca, a Comsewogue High School and Dowling College graduate, said his plan would be to reduce from 18 to nine the number of legislative districts, thereby saving Suffolk taxpayers $6 million in this tight economy.
Viloria-Fisher spoke of "18 very diverse districts in Suffolk County" and said, "We in the county did not lay anyone off. … That stops the economy." Nor would Viloria-Fisher favor sending pink slips to nine legislators. Her job is to advocate for her constituents, all 74,000 of them in the 5th District as it stands today, she said, and cited $1 million in child care vouchers she budgeted to help single mothers stay in the workforce.
Busacca favors tax relief to stimulate business, but would dole it out only as specified benchmarks are met. He would expand the Empire Zone program and wants to stimulate the economy by subsidizing high-technology apprenticeship programs at the community college level.
Regarding the recent uproar by merchants along Route 112, where a vast construction project is underway, Busacca said he could understand why they are worried their businesses are "taking a dive." Busacca said he tried to calm them down. "DOT is very accommodating to businesses," he said, and called the project "minimally invasive to small businesses."
Viloria-Fisher conceded the work would "probably be disruptive," but said there would always be public access to the stores along the road. She said many people would already "avoid that part of Port Jefferson" because of the traffic and urged people to take the long view that once complete the renovations to Route 112 will attract more people to Port Jefferson Station and upper Port. "It needs that support," she said.
What about the merchants who fear going out of business in the short term due to lack of business during roadwork? "I don't know they'll be knocked out," Viloria-Fisher said. The legislator saw no legal means to subsidize those businesses during the construction period.
Viloria-Fisher supports adding one or two police classes, saying there are not enough police on the streets. She also said six-month delays in getting accident or crime reports, as some constituents have complained, is too long and is due to a lack of staffing. Viloria-Fisher said she would raise taxes in the police district in order to fund improvements in law enforcement.
While Busacca sees "no ominous threat" facing the county, he does believe crime is rising. He would replace cops who retire and said of the added cost that even in these economic times, "I guess it's worth it."
Viloria-Fisher agreed that crime is no longer falling, despite statistics recently released by the police department. "Some data have been called into question," the legislator said.
On the issue of diversity and hate in the local news repeatedly of late, Busacca said "We need to spread tolerance." He conceded most Hispanic immigrants are "law abiding citizens" but also spoke of Portuguese immigrants he knows who vacation in Portugal instead of Disneyland and who plan to return to their native land "to live like kings" after working here for 20 years.
Busacca would look to fund "life coach programs to help people look beyond our differences to the things that bond us as human beings."
But Viloria-Fisher called rhetoric in the Legislature "disturbing," and said it had left a "very ugly scar on the face of Suffolk." She opposes the loitering law and quietly for one year has been holding meetings in her Port Jefferson office with labor unions and immigrant advocates, she said.
Viloria-Fisher wants to create green collar jobs and would convene all 10 town supervisors to go after grants and stimulus money for the greening of homes in the county. She would like to see her constituents embrace the three Rs of the green movement — reduce, reuse and recycle — and would even favor a bill requiring a surcharge on plastic bags at the point of sale. "Hit them in the pockets" is how she sees it.
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