Alessi runs on reform record
Says he would focus on health care, the way he did with LIPA
By John Stefans
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The special election was necessary after Pat Acampora, the popular six-term Republican assemblywoman from Mattituck, had resigned to become head of the state's Public Service Commission. Mr. Alessi's margin over Mr. Caracciolo was 52 percent to 48 percent.
The following November, in his race for a full two-year term against a new challenger, Republican Dan Panico, Mr, Alessi captured 61 percent of the vote in a district where registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats 3 to 2.
How did he prevail against the odds?
"It's always been a very independent-minded district," he said Tuesday in an interview. "People will go down the line and zigzag. They tend to go for the person rather than the party." And that, he said, plays to his strength.
"One of my successes, I think, has been that I trust the voters' intelligence," he explained. "I just basically tell them the way I see things. I give them the truth on issues. I don't try to pander, and I think people appreciate that. They just want information as real as it gets."
One of his best-known accomplishments has been in leading the effort to make the Long Island Power Authority more accountable, forcing LIPA to put its contracts out to bid, which, he said, has already saved millions, and requiring the company to open its books to regulators whenever it requests a rate hike or fuel surcharge.
He said if re-elected next month, he'd bring the same focus to the health insurance industry that he brought to LIPA. "There's no scrutiny, and premiums are going up at unconscionable rates," he said, blaming things on deregulation during the Pataki administration. "They'd have to prove why they're raising their rates."
Mr. Alessi's Republican opponent in November, Jim Staudenraus, a political newcomer from Shelter Island, has made property taxes his main campaign issue. In an interview last week, Mr. Staudenraus said that pressing in the Assembly for a 4 percent tax cap on increases in annual school taxes -- something that already has passed the Republican-controlled state Senate -- would be his priority if elected.
Mr. Alessi said he, too, supports the cap, but also favors the so-called "circuit breaker" bill, based on personal income and applying to all property taxes, that the Democratic-controlled Assembly has approved. "In my view, both should be passed," he said.
He described the circuit breaker as a tax cut. "It would actually provide relief for 90 percent of people in my district on all property taxes, not just school taxes." In the end, he said, "I think we're going to get a hybrid of both bills."
A graduate of SUNY/Albany and Touro Law School, Mr. Alessi lives in Shoreham with his wife, Gretchen, and their daughter and newborn son.
Asked about his chances against Mr. Staudenraus in November, Mr. Alessi said, "I always view every election as a job evaluation. I think I've given this job 110 percent and I know the community recognizes this. So I'm looking forward to a positive evaluation."
jstefans@timesreview.com
