Following a special election called in the wake of Judy Jacob’s death, Arnold Drucker officially took his oath of office last week, making him only the second legislator to represent the 16th Legislative District.
“Following in the footsteps of the late, great Judy Jacobs is something I am proud and honored to do,” said the first-time elected official and lifelong Plainview resident. “I’m grateful that the people of the 16th Legislative District put their confidence in me to lead and I will use Judy’s legacy to help guide me in serving them.”
Drucker is an attorney with his practice based in Queens and has served as trustee on the Nassau Community College (NCC) board since Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed him in 2012. He most recently acted as co-chair of the college’s presidential search committee that led to the selection of the former SUNY Farmingdale’s college president as the new NCC president. Drucker resigned his NCC trustee position the morning of the swearing in ceremony.
“Ensuring that our community college is a strong academic institution that offers our local residents and young people an opportunity for an affordable higher education that can and should be the foundation of their success is important,” said Drucker. “While I will no longer sit on the NCC board, I look forward to being a legislative advocate who will make their success and that of the NCC students my top priority.”
The newly elected Drucker will serve out the final year and one month of Jacob’s term. He will then have the opportunity to run for a full legislative term in the fall of 2017 when the entire Nassau County Legislature is up for election. Nassau County’s 16th Legislative District is located in the North Shore portion of the county and includes the communities of Plainview, Old Bethpage, Jericho, Syosset, Woodbury, Hicksville, Old Westbury and Roslyn Heights.
“I will begin to fight on behalf of taxpayers to stop the corruption, waste, fraud and abuse that have been delivering Nassau residents some of the highest taxes in our nation for years,” he said. “I also believe our ethics policies need to be reviewed so that confidence can be restored in our county government. As I met and listened to Nassau residents over the past few months, I heard both their concern over high taxes that are pricing them out of Nassau, as well as their broken trust in county leadership being honest and trustworthy to mind the store. Nassau families deserve better and I look forward to fighting on behalf of them.”
Drucker, a Democrat, will caucus with the Nassau County Democratic Minority Legislators led by leader Kevan Abrahams. Legislative Republicans currently hold a 12-7 majority over the Democratic Minority.
“We’re excited to have an experienced, passionate and intelligent resident advocate in Arnie Drucker joining the County Legislature,” said Abrahams. “He shares many of the same concerns as his Democratic colleagues that our county is on the wrong fiscal path and needs immediate independent oversight to prevent further wasteful and fraudulent spending that is costly to taxpayers and raises sincere ethics concerns.”
