Politics & Government

Becker Unopposed in Sixth Legislative Race

District now includes part of Rockville Centre.

Francis Becker (R-Lynbrook) has represented the sixth legislative district for the past 18 years.

Under the new district map that goes into effect this year, the sixth district now includes the northwest part of Rockville Centre (see map above, and/or find out what district you live in by clicking here).

The incumbent legislator is unchallenged on Nov. 5, as two Democrats running in the sixth district were taken off the ballot. Becker sent the following response to Patch’s candidate questionnaire (it has not been edited by Patch).

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Tell us about yourself (age, town, profession, family, etc.).

Married to wife Clementine 40 years,  Three daughters, two married, 6 grandchildren, Lynbrook, Age 60

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Why are you running for this position?

I am running for re-election because being in the Republican Majority has allowed me to be proactive in getting things done in the district as well as to see my vision of proposing budgets that held the line on taxes while fixing some of the systemic problems that the county has experienced under 10 years of Democrat leadership.  

Most importantly to the communities on the South Shore has been upgrading and now retooling the Bay Park Sewage Plant destroyed by Super Storm Sandy. The County Executive has proposed a 700 hundred million capital project to fix the plant and make it state of the art with the ultimate goal of installing an outflow pipe. I together with my Republican colleagues have fully supported the funding for this project while the other side of the aisle continues to block our efforts to fully fund the project so it can be completed as quickly as possible. 

What qualifies you to serve in the position?

I have served on the county legislature for 9 terms and have worked hard to serve the people of the 6th legislative district by holding the line on taxes and in helping them cut through the red tape in addressing important concerns and issues to them.

What is your opinion of the most recent budget? Would you have done something differently with it?

This is now the fourth consecutive budget presented by the County Executive Ed Mangano that has no tax increase. As we all know, Nassau is one of the highest taxed counties in the nation. The County Executive together with the Republican Majority have reduced spending, have consolidated departments to make county government more effective and efficient and continue to fix the assessment system. The budget reflects all of these initiatives and is balanced.    

What is the biggest issue facing the district?

The biggest issue facing the 6th legislative district continues to be taxes. And because a homeowner’s assessment impacts his/her taxes, an accurate assessment is also an important issue. For the past four years, addressing these two issues has been a priority to County Executive Ed Mangano and the Republican Majority.

First, taxes have not been raised now for four consecutive budgets. And one of the first actions of the county executive when he came into office was to freeze the current assessment of all homeowners whereby the assessment could not go up but a taxpayer could grieve their assessment and have it reduced if they felt it was incorrect. This has stopped the roller coaster assessment people had been experiencing for years prior. Mandating that the assessment board process all residential grievances, for the first time in as long as anyone can remember, all residential grievances were resolved assuring that both school districts and other taxing authorities were sending out accurate tax bills.

What is the biggest issue facing the county?

Taxes and fixing our assessment system remain important issues to the county. On the South Shore retooling the Bay Park Sewage Plant is equally important. The Republicans continue to support funding for this 700 million dollar project.     
If you are elected, what is the one thing you’d like to see accomplished during your term?

There are three things: holding the line on taxes, the reconstruction of the Merrick Rd. and Ocean Ave. intersection and the retooling of the Sewage Plant to a state of the art facility.

Would you like to add anything else?

It has been an honor to serve the families of the 6th legislative district for the past 18 years and hope that they are pleased with my representation and will allow me to serve them another two years.


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