Vote on Precinct Merger Postponed

A vote that could potentially alter the structure of has been postponed in the county legislature.

But the reason for the sudden delay is clouded by the hospitalization of one of the key Republican voters on the measure.

County Executive has been postponed one week as discussions on both sides continue, county and police union officials said Monday.

Both the county and Nassau Police Benevolent Association said the vote was postponed in an attempt to find "common ground" in regards to the potential precinct merger.

"Law enforcement unions and I negotiated throughout the weekend.  Discussions were progressive," Mangano said. "Accordingly, the vote will be recessed for one week."

However, it is unlikely Mangano had the votes to pass the measure Monday. Nassau Legis. Howard Kopel, R-Lawrence, said that Legis. Joseph Belesi, a Farmingdale Republican and a former police officer, is hospitalized.

"So there is no working majority, and we couldn’t vote on it, as well as some other stuff," Kopel told Patch: "The negotiations that are taking place are for savings over and above those to come from the closings. I don’t know that common ground will be found. I hope so, but I will need to see it."

Republicans hold a 10-9 majority in the county legislature. Belesi is thought to hold the deciding vote.

Nassau Legislator , D-Woodbury, said that "while I can't get inside their minds, (Belesi's unavailability) could have played a role in this."

Jacobs has the plan as a "pie in the sky" proposal and vowed to fight it. She said Monday that she remains hopeful that the negotiations are continuing and that "common ground can be found."

PBA President Jim Carver said that his organization sat down with Nassau County officials last week and believes they will get together again today, along with the Superior Officers Association (SOA) and the Nassau Detectives' Association (DAI).

The plan has the potential to affect the Plainview and Syosset areas. It calls for the merger of eight precincts into four. Under the plan, the Second Precinct in Woodbury would remain intact, while the Eighth Precinct in Levittown would be converted into a community policing center.

The covers Plainview north of Old Country Road, stretches through Syosset and into Oyster Bay and beyond. The south of Old Country Road including sections of Bethpage and Old Bethpage.

"Maybe there's resolution that we can find," Carver said. "... This was just [a way] to slow everything down and give us a little time to see if we can find some common ground here. And if we can't? We can't."

Carver had  that the county was not giving enough thought to the merger and was rushing into something that could negatively change policing for the next 50 years.

Nassau Democrats have said they will block the vote on the current plan, however Republicans hold a majority. The vote is tentatively rescheduled for Monday, March 5.