George Sava to challenge Dean Skelos

By The Jewish Star Staff

“Like many people, I’m getting priced out.” Sava explained on The Jewish Star’s weekly radio program “What’s Next,” on Oct. 7. “My house has dropped over 30 percent, but my taxes increased 10 percent.”

Sava grew up in Ohio and moved to New York to attend Cardozo Law School. At the school, he met his future wife and moved to the Five Towns.

“What’s great about the Five Towns is you have the best of both world,” Sava said. “It’s beautiful, but you’re so close to the city you have everything the city has to offer at the same time. If we could afford it, it would be perfect.”

Sava, a decorated war veteran, says he was motivated to run by the high taxes in the county and the general dysfunction that he says has plagued Albany.

“I’m trying to make a point and open some eyes,” Sava said. “If I’m not successful this November, we still have all these problems and all these things are hanging over our head. Once we’re educated, the citizens will point the politicians in the right direction — I call them politicians because many have lost their way and they’re not public servants anymore.”

Like other Five Towns families, Sava said his family had been been hit by the recession.

“We don’t take the family vacations,” Sava said. “We don’t go out to eat, which are the things we need to do to bolster our economy. I’m not the exception, I’m the rule.”

Sava is running on the Democratic ticket, but lowering taxes is his main campaign platform.

“If we don’t bring taxes down we’re not getting jobs,” he said. “It all begins with our taxes.”

Among his plans if he wins in November is informing voters about special tax districts that could be consolidated to save the county money. He pledges to work with other Long Island politicians to ensure that the school system receives more funding from the state.

“On average Nassau County [Schools] gets 17 percent of their budget from the state, the rest, on average gets 38 percent,” Sava said. “The formula is broken and doesn’t factor in cost of living... It’s not about political parties, it’s about what’s right for an area. I’m going to work with anybody who works to those ends.”

However, If he wins, Sava doesn’t plan on staying in Albany too long.

“I want to make Nassau county better and come home,” Sava said. “I want to be with my kids.”