Re-elect Siela Bynoe in Legislative District 2

Siela Bynoe is seeking re-election as Nassau County legislator in the 2nd District. She has held the seat since winning a special election in 2014, and over the past five years, she has made the most of her experience as executive director of the Huntington Housing Authority since 2006 by advocating for affordable housing, serving as a ranking member of the Legislature’s Economic & Community Development Committee and as chairwoman of the Nassau County Land Bank, a not-for-profit corporation consisting of community stakeholders working with the Nassau County legislature that addresses the still-lingering effects of the foreclosure crisis.

Bynoe believes that the biggest issue facing the district is taxes, and the impact that reassessment has had on residents. While she said she believes the reassessment was necessary, she supports the county executive’s taxpayer protection plan, not yet introduced on the legislature’s calendar, which she says would spread out any changes in tax burden due to reassessment so that both homeowners who have been underpaying property taxes and those who have been overpaying would get to the “right level” within five years.

Other key issues that Bynoe has been vocal about and taken action on include mental health training for county employees, college tuition grants for volunteer firefighters and EMS workers and supporting minority- and woman-owned businesses. She has helped secure grants for improvements and upgrades to the Lakeview Library System, and helped ensure that $1 million of the county’s 2019 capital plan went to streetscape improvements in Lakeview and West Hempstead. She has also worked with New York American Water on designing and installing water-filtration systems that have reduced the level of iron in residents’ drinking water.

Bynoe has a solid understanding of the different neighborhoods in the 2nd District, and knows how the county operates. She is also the obvious choice for our endorsement because, despite multiple attempts to interview her challenger, Gerilyn Wright, we were unable to do so. Nor could we learn a single fact about where she stands on the issues — or even what she does for a living.

Our public servants should be active, engaged and attentive. Siela Bynoe has proven to be all of these, and the Herald encourages voters to re-elect her on Tuesday.