One little finger. So much meaning.
Legis. David Mejias (D-Farmingdale) said he thought he was lifting his finger to get the attention of the presiding officer, Legis. Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove) at a meeting of the Nassau County Legislature last Monday, April 7th.
Yatauro and several other legislators thought Mejias was voting with them in a favor of a bill that would impose a $15 processing fee on motorists who commit certain offenses that they later cure. (Driving without proof of insurance in the car, for example, and providing the insurance card later.)
The measure passed 11-8 on a show of hands, Yatauro said, with Mejias being counted among the ‘yes’ votes. However, Mejias then requested a roll-call vote, and this time it was nine in favor, nine against_including Mejias voting ‘no’_ and one abstention.
The measure died for lack of a majority.
Mejias said he was voting his conscience because the legislation would have socked innocent motorists. Yatauro said he was deliberately sabotaging the work of the Democratic majority, and ousted him from a legislative leadership position on Friday.
That’s what happened_on the surface. Now, the backstory:
Mejias is in the midst of a nasty battle with his party and his colleagues on the legislature. Legislators, who make $39,500 annually, have not been able to give themselves a pay raise in 13 years. The 10 Democrats and nine Republicans have an unspoken deal: let’s vote the pay raise now, but it has to be unanimous. That gives us some political cover when we run for re-election_or at least makes us equally vulnerable.
But Mejias has always balked, either because he was running....
.....for re-election or running for higher office, according to Jay Jacobs, the county Democratic leader. This year, Mejias has talked about running for the state Senate. He’s up for re-election next year in a district where he won last year by 200 votes.
Jacobs, under pressure from other Democrats who want the raise, has in turn pressured Mejias, who rebelled and said he will no longer meet with the Democrats in caucus and they can no longer count on his vote.
With only a one-vote margin, all 10 Democrats are needed on issues that split along party lines, but most legislation is not controversial and most votes are lopsided in favor.
The fee legislation last week presented the perfect opportunity for a showdown. Republicans had voted against it in committee and all 10 Democrats, including Mejias, would have to vote in favor for it to pass.
But if any of the Republicans voted in favor, Mejias’ vote would not be needed. So, when the bill came up, and there was a show of hands, Republican Denise Ford voted in favor and Mejias made some sort of motion with his hand that Yatauro took as a ‘yes’ vote. “I may have put up my finger,” Mejias said, but insisted it was to get Yatauro’s attention.
Mejias then asked for a roll call and Yatauro ordered it, although she says she was not required to. “I was not going to cram a vote through if there was any question about how people voted,” she said later.
In the roll call, Ford votes before Mejias, and this time she abstained. Mejias voted ‘no,” killing the bill. Ford did not return telephone calls for comment last week.
Mejias said repeatedly during interviews that his vote was one of “conscience,” and said the bill penalized motorists who had not been found guilty of anything. In fact, the fee would apply to people who were breaking the law at the time they committed the infractions, such as not displaying their handicapped sticker when parking in a handicapped zone.
And, he voted in favor of the bill in committee a month earlier. His reply to that was that he had issues with the bill and would vote in favor at the full legislature only if those issues were resolved.
But, the legislative transcript from the committee hearing dooes not show Mejias asking any questions or making comments on that bill.