Rockland County Executive candidate Ed Day announces building and zoning 10-point plan outside the Estates at Sky View development in New City.
The long road to the Rockland County Executive seat is winding down to the November 5 election, when Rockland voters will chose a new face to lead the county. Candidates Ed Day (R) and David Fried (D) have been trading endorsements and engaging in debates on the future of Rockland.
Leadership Rockland will host both candidates Wednesday evening, October 16, in a Rockland County Executive candidate debate at Dominican College at 470 Western Highway in Orangeburg at 7 p.m.
Ed Day continued to promote his county campaign theme of overdevelopment by proposing a plan that would give Rockland County authority to crackdown on building and zoning code violations. Day’s plan involves creating a separate county court to handle building, fire and safety code violations within the county. The court would also set standardized fines.
Think of the county as the federal government and the towns and villages as states. The county has some authority and jurisdiction over building requirements. Day’s proposal would, among other things, extend county oversight to include all waterways within the county, review all tax exempt properties, require county “Resource Impact Statements” for developments, and set a standard fine for zoning violations.
Day said his 10-point plan would provide a revenue stream to the county coffers by fearsomely fining scofflow developers who ignore or work around local zoning laws — $7,500 per day for infractions with an additional $1,000 administrative fine.
“In the end, the key to ensuring that we all play by the rules here in Rockland, and that this county is preserved as a safe, green, open, and pleasant place to live, is to create systems that are less likely to be corrupted by bad actors both within and outside of government,” said Day in an article in the Rockland County Times by Bill Demarest.
David Fried and supporters rally as he announces his run for Rockland County Executive.
David Fried, who faces Day in the November election, is touting an upcoming October 21 fundraiser that will feature former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Although closed to the public and media, Clinton is expected to rally county Democrats and donors and exhort them to deliver Fried to a November victory.
Fried will also hold an October 21 fundraiser at the home of Clarkstown Councilwoman Shirley Lasker that will feature many of the county’s most prominent Democratic woman, including Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, County Legislator Nancy-Low Hogan, Clarkstown Councilwoman Stephanie Hausner, Rockland County Democratic Chair Kristen Stavisky, and Nyack Mayor Jen Laird White.
Day just received the endorsement of former three-term New York Gov. George Pataki. Pataki also represented parts of Rockland County when he served in the NY State Senate.
David Fried and Ed Day are also scheduled for two additional debates:
- On Sunday, Oct. 27, the League of Women Voters will hold a candidates’ debate at JCC Rockland at 450 West Nyack Road in West Nyack beginning at 2 p.m.
- On Sunday, Nov. 3 the New City Jewish Center at 47 Old Schoolhouse Road in New City will host a debate as part of its Men’s Club Political Breakfast beginning at 9 a.m.
Photo of Ed Day courtesy of Bill Demarest.
