Nassau Exeuctive Thomas Suozzi stood before the seated Democrats in the ballroom of the Garden City Hotal and opened with the self-mocking line: "My name is Tom Suozzi. I used to be a rising star," then guffawed loudly, In the rest of the address, he declared "I support our governor 100 percent" and told out-of-towners, "not all Nassau County looks like the Garden City Hotel. We've got serious issues that we face every day." Suozzi also distributed position papers on his middle-ground stance on abortion, urging attention for his county-based "Common Sense for the Common Good" program.
Soon after, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy strode up for a surprise appearance. He's been trading fire with some city Democrats, notably Assemb. Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan, over immigration issues, with Espaillat as recently as Friday slamming Levy on his resistaqnce to the drivers' license issue. Democrats in the Assembly held up Suffolk tax approvals over objections to Levy's stances against illegal immigration. But as several delegates noted, the state's Latino elected officials and committee members were largely absent from the gathering.
Dan Janison