Suozzi and Mangano Announce Transition Plans
Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and Executive-elect Edward P. Mangano met this week in front of the press and county department heads to announce that they are jointly planning a process for a smooth transition, with Suozzi explaining that he has met with his successor on budget and personnel details and is working to supply Mangano with the information he needs to execute his new plan for Nassau County.
Mangano assured the audience that as far as job cuts and budget changes, his process would be calculated. “There is no mass process. Everything will be surgical, and will be measured and thoughtful as we approach this transition,” he said.
Though pressed for information on job cuts, this was the extent of Mangano’s announcement, along with the simple statement: “We’ve talked about the budget and the organization of the county and went over an outline of how we are going to proceed on personnel issues.”
The executive-elect was equally tacit on tax cuts. He has campaigned heavily on the promise to revoke an energy tax, which Suozzi warned in response would leave a multi-million dollar hole in the county budget. When asked if the two had discussed the energy tax in their transition meeting, Mangano did not comment. Suozzi, however, taking one more chance to inject some laughter, joked, “We’ve been talking about the tax for six months.”
Regarding their transition, Suozzi congratulated Mangano on his election and added, “He’s got a big job ahead of him… We’d like to assist Mr. Mangano in any way that we can by preparing as much information as possible. The challenges he faces, the goals for the future – whatever he would like to learn.”
Suozzi said that a team led by Chief Deputy Executive Marilyn Gottlieb and people to be announced by Mangano would be leading the transition effort. He asked that all county department heads make themselves available to be interviewed in order to provide as much information as possible to the new county executive and his administration. “Prepare as much information as possible in writing so they can gather as much as they can in a short period of time,” he instructed them.
Mangano said, “I would like to thank Tom for his services to Nassau County. I appreciate all of your cooperation. We’ll be announcing a transition team shortly. We’ll be working with Tom and Marilyn closely.”
