Principles are annoying things. Two years ago, Republican candidates covered the financial problems of Glen Cove in their publication, The Glen Cove Informer. In the October 2011 edition, then city council candidate Reggie Spinello criticized the burgeoning size of the debt and deficit under Mayor Ralph Suozzi’s administration; however, Councilman Spinello voted for the mayor’s budget in 2012.
Why would an ardent critic suddenly reverse course? Newsday reported on June 18, 2013 that Glen Cove is “the most fiscally stressed municipality on Long Island, and one of the nine most stressed studied by the state.” This is the result of a long train of spending beyond taxpayers’ means.
Councilman Spinello, who is a registered Independent and not a Republican as most presume, is now running for mayor of Glen Cove on the Republican ticket. As mayor, how could we expect him to manage the city’s bleak fiscal landscape when he already voted for an unsound budget? Principles are annoying things.
Find out what's happening in Glen Covewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
For at least a decade, a series of unsound city budgets created the current morass. Where have the Republicans been? They nominated a mayoral candidate who contributed to it.
The people of Glen Cove are entitled to a two-party system that currently exists in name only. Weak opposition is no opposition at all.
