Frank Scaturro Outlines Campaign Platforms for Local Supporters
The sun beamed down brightly over a crowd of spectators who gathered to hear Republican candidate Frank Scaturro address the 4th congressional district at the steps of Theodore Roosevelt County Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola. In an effort to drum up support, Scaturro, who hopes to oust seven-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, outlined his platforms on the most pressing issues facing Long Islanders and citizens across the nation.
The event opened with a few endorsements from some of the candidate’s most ardent supporters. Mary Ellen Devone, a local attorney and treasurer for the campaign, introduced Scaturro as “a wonderful young man who I see as a great public servant and not as a politician. He has a legal background, worked as Counsel to the Constitution on the State Senate Judiciary Committee and has been active in local Republican politics doing grassroots work since he was a teenager,” Devone said.
Another speaker, former New Hyde Park Village Trustee Florence Lisanti told a story about how she met the candidate in 1993, when former Village Mayor Robert Bogart enlisted a young Frank Scaturro’s help to organize old village records. “I don’t even think I spent one hour or one day with him, I took one view of the way he approached things…I said ‘you’re going to do a better job than I could ever do’ and I left it in his hands,” she said.
Veteran Manny Rodriguez, a Floral Park native and member of the American Legion Post 1033 in Elmont, explained why he was casting his vote for Scaturro not only in the Sept. 14th primary, but also in November. “Our veterans organizations always support civic duty and Americanism in any way that we can. However, I am here speaking as an American, and as a veteran, that Frank Scaturro is a friend of the veterans and, therefore, a friend of mine. When I met Frank, I immediately felt the sense of urgency he feels for action to the problems that our congressional district and our country face today,” Rodriguez stated. He also told the crowd new leadership is needed. “I also feel that enough time has passed for the incumbent to have made her mark…Now is the time for change, a time for new ideas and a new generation to implement those ideas,” he said.
Scaturro outlined the challenges voters face not only in Nassau County but the country as a whole. “The governing class in Washington [D.C.] has left our country with a crisis of confidence of a magnitude that we have rarely seen. We face this crisis in our economy, in our health care system and, too often, in our schools. Jobs are disappearing under the yoke of crushing taxes and wasteful spending and our families are suffering the consequences,” Scaturro said.
On local issues, Scaturro explained that residents are leaving not only Long Island, but the state of New York because costs are too high. “In Nassau County, we face the second highest property taxes in the nation and because the cost of living here is already so high, the taxes imposed by the federal government are that much more oppressive. Look around you and you will see, residents voting with their feet. Leaving the county, leaving New York State altogether in search of relief,” he said.
The son of an Italian immigrant who grew up and lived in New Hyde Park, Scaturro says his father came to the country with a strong work ethic and the values of “selflessness, integrity and faith.” He went on to say, “My parents sacrificed for the sake of their children’s future and this is where my journey began. I did not come from a political family, but I was captivated from a young age by our nation’s history,” he explained. “I quickly learned that we stand on the shoulders of generations who made great sacrifices and that we should do what we can in our own time to preserve what was secured at such a great price,” Scaturro added.
Audience members applauded when Scaturro touted that more transparency in government was needed in order for citizens to see how their tax dollars are being spent. “While many politicians talk about cutting reckless spending, I have a specific plan to make that goal a reality,” he said. In conclusion, the Republican candidate asked voters to make a “real choice” at the polls this year. “Our representative in Congress is failing us, so vote for new representation. Let those who look back on the year 2010 know that this was the year things began to change for the better. If anyone dare suggest, that we do not have it in us to rise to the occasion, tell them that ‘we are the people of Nassau County and we will never give up the fight until we take our country back,” Scaturro said.
Residents of the 4th District who came out to the event explained why they are backing Scaturro. Tom of Lynbrook said Scaturro is exactly the kind of person the district needs in Washington D.C. “He is a bright, energetic and articulate young man who has framed the issues as I see them. I think it would be a great thing for Nassau County and for the 4th Congressional District that Frank is our representative to replace the incumbent who, in seven terms in office, has not really addressed the issues as I see them for the people of this district,” the voter said.
Bill, a resident of Malverne and Scaturro’s high school friend, was confident that his classmate was someone whom voters could trust. “In order for true change to be implemented to save what’s good in our country, we need to break away from old leadership and embrace young faces and educated people like Frank who are trustworthy,” the supporter said.
Frank Scaturro’s campaign headquarters is located at 87 Franklin Avenue in Franklin Square.
