Weisenberg faces challenge for Assembly’s 20th District seat

By Michael Orbach

Issue of February 12, 2010/ 28 Shvat 5770

Former Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback has apparently picked himself up and dusted himself off after his loss in November to Howard Kopel. Toback has announced he will run in the 20th Assembly District of New York State, the seat currently held by Harvey Weisenberg.

Toback apparently declared his candidacy in the mistaken belief that Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) would be retiring after serving for twenty years. Weisenberg was quoted as saying so in Newsday, Toback said. Weisenberg claimes to never have made the remark.

“I love my job,” he explained. “And I love the ability to help, and the thank you’s you get from people you help. That’s the reward for being a public servant. I said this: G-d gave me this ability to do good things and that’s why I appreciate and participate in government.”

Toback said that his plans to run for the seat aren’t changed.

“I have a message to my voters, whether primary or general election voters. New York State is broken, we’re getting less and less funding for the schools and that’s been driving up the taxes since Harvey has been in office. Many of the problems can only be solved on the state level and that will be my focus.”

Toback said that the loss of his seat in the county legislature taught him something.

“People are, more than ever, focused on their tax burden and really don’t want to hear anything other than how to deal with this,” Toback said. “I think some new blood representing our district is just what we need.”

Weisenberg, who had just returned from the annual Polar Bear swim he holds annually to raise money for children with disabilities, was unfazed.

“We’d like to find the ability to cut taxes, but how about being honest?” he asked. “The economic engine of our society is people working, if people don’t have jobs, then they don’t pay income and they don’t buy things and they don’t pay sales tax. I’d like to be able to create more jobs; cutting taxes is the result of more people working and people staying on Long Island.”