Politics & Government

County Exec Candidates Clash Over Minor Party Endorsements, College Chargebacks

Rockland County Executive candidates Ed Day and David Fried found their share of common ground during Thursday night's debate at Gracepoint Gospel Fellowship in New City.

Both called for major changes to county government to deal with its financial issues, opposed pushing college tuition reimbursement and election expenses on the towns and they questioned Rockland County's need for additional water. But even in those issues, they found aspects of opposition during the two-hour discussion as they fielded questions from moderators Michael N. Hull, Steve Possell of WRCR and Professor Michel Vilson as well as people in the audience.

Both said they would address the issue of fraudulent claims for Medicaid and other services, though there was some disagreement regarding how this and other problems have gotten as bad as they are.

"I will not countenance nor accept people coming in and stealing your money," Day said. "It will not happen under my administration. We have a fiduciary responsibility. We have a moral responsibility, in government, to make sure every penny is spent properly."

Fried, a Democrat, made sure to focus on the Rockland County Legislature's role in the county's problems. He is a former county legislator who most recently worked as a Spring Valley Justice. Day, a Republican, is currently a Rockland County legislator. Day agreed that the branches of county government have to work together better, but change has to start with the county executive. 

"This is not just a county executive issue," Fried said. "The members of the county legislature and the county executive have to be in partnership on this. Have you ever been to a county legislative meeting? It is dysfunctional. My party has a majority there. His party has the county executive's office. This is not a partisan issue. This is about solutions to difficult questions such as rooting out fraud. This is not something just for the county executive. The legislature in the future and the legislature presently ought to be taking an aggressive role."

The candidates were asked what they would do to address the struggling East Ramapo School District. Fried, a Spring Valley High School graduate, said he looked upon his diploma with pride, but now he cannot say the same about the district, saying it is "in shambles." Fried questioned Day's advertisements claiming that he will ensure that the problem is addressed. He said what the county executive must do is try to get the state to step in. Day said he would use the  office of county executive to put the focus on the problem until it is solved.

Both agreed that Rockland County should never have pushed the expense of college chargebacks and elections onto the towns, saying the county was creating an unfair burden for the towns because it couldn't solve its own problems. The argument came when Fried pointed out that Day voted against a resolution that would reverse the responsibility for college chargebacks to the county for 2013 and going forward. Day said the resolution would force the county to refund money to the towns for 2013, but did not put in a mechanism to fund the change. For more on the resolution, see this report on Patch. 

"That's how they test your integrity," Day said. "Sign a bad deal that will hurt the taxpayers so they can cut a deal with the towns."

They also argued over Fried's campaign promise to cut his salary by 20 percent the day he took office if he won the County Executive's seat. Day said that Fried can't cut the position's salary once he is in office and said he had presented legislation to cut it already. Fried said he would make the proposal once he was elected, not waiting until he took office.

They also argued about how Fried will be on the ballot in November on the Working Families and Independence lines. Democrat Ilan Schoenberger had those lines before losing to Fried in the Democratic primary. Because he could not simply have his name removed, the parties nominated him in a different race, a Supreme Court justice position for which Schoenberger will not campaign. Day criticized the move when it became public as improper and promised not to accept either line and challenged Fried to do the same. Fried later accepted the nominations by the Independence and Working Families parties. Read more about the process in this Patch report

Day's campaign sent out an email Thursday criticizing. Fried for his decision. 

"To me, if you are a person who fought for this country, or know someone who fought for this country, you should be absolutely incensed that a set-up could occur where someone can do something with that amount of ease and insult everyone who fought under this flag for the right to vote," Day said.

Fried compared the email from Day's campaign to "attacks" he faced during the Democratic primary race. He said that Day should have been clear in saying that he pursued those lines as well.

"It's what the law allows," Fried said. "It's what the law enables.

"Just because you didn't get it doesn't make it wrong."

"Just because it's legal doesn't make it right," Day said. "Yes, I did try to get on the ballot by going to the people in the party to have them vote for me, to bypass the nonsense that was going on. Plain and simple, that does not change the finality of this, where in the very end, what happened, to me, was an insult to the voters."

Both expressed their opposition to United Water's plan to build of a water desalination plant to meet Rockland County's water needs, in part because both question if those needs exist. Day said he has been speaking on the question since 2005 and we still don't know the answer. Both questioned if United Water is sending too much of Rockland's water to New Jersey.

Both also stressed the importance of dealing with illegal housing that can create hazards, particularly to emergency personnel in case of a fire. Freid recently presented a plan to address the problem and Day said he would be doing the same next week.

They touched on many of the same topics raised during a candidates forum last week. Read more about that discussion here. Fried again stressed the experience he had gained as a judge in making decisions that have an impact on people's lives. Day argued that his leadership experience in law enforcement and in the private sector would enable him to take on the job of County Executive. 


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