Suozzi did hire former regional directon for Charles Schumer Christoper Hahn as his new top aide last week.
Suozzi starts a shake-up
County exec, just re-elected, stirs more talk of a governor run as he asks top aides for resignations
BY CELESTE HADRICK AND MONTE R. YOUNG
STAFF WRITERS
November 17, 2005
Shake-ups are under way in the offices of County Executive Thomas Suozzi and at Nassau's Democratically-controlled Off-Track Betting Corp. as the newly re-elected county executive prepares to make an expected run for governor next year.
Suozzi, who has yet to formally announce for the state's top job, has asked for the resignations of all of his senior aides; one is expected to become a top official in the campaign while others are expected to take on new roles in the administration, sources said.
The popular Democrat, who was re-elected with about 60 percent of the vote, this week hired Christopher Hahn, former regional director for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), to become his $150,000-a-year chief deputy when his current top aide, Anthony Cancellieri, leaves the county payroll at the end of December.
For almost four years, Cancellieri, a Republican, has handled the day-to-day operations in Nassau County for the Suozzi administration.
While Cancellieri and Suozzi were vague about Cancellieri's future, sources say he will play a key role when the county executive launches a primary challenge against announced gubernatorial candidate New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Suozzi confirmed yesterday that he will ask all of his senior county staff to submit resignation letters, which he said is "customary" in large government organizations. "The large majority of the team will be asked to stay on," Suozzi said, "But I'm asking them to give me the courtesy of their resignations so we can look at everything fresh."
Suozzi added, "There will be other significant changes in my administration that I'll be announcing over the course of the next 30 days with a focus on bringing new excitement, energy and experience to the team."
Political observers, critics and people close to Suozzi say the county executive is reorganizing his office and making other changes to better position himself for the governor's race.
Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said he believes Hahn was hired to garner Schumer's support for Suozzi's primary challenge, though Suozzi and Hahn deny it. "It's the only thing it could be," Denenberg said. "I know Schumer likes Suozzi."
Suozzi, however, said Hahn was hired because he is a governmental professional who will help achieve Suozzi's second-term priorities of reducing school taxes and developing a long-term plan for suburbia.
Schumer's press secretary Risa Heller did not address questions about potential Schumer support for Suozzi by the Hahn hiring. She simply issued a statement saying, "Christopher Hahn did an exemplary job as Long Island Regional Director for Senator Schumer and we are sure he will do the same in his new capacity."
When asked if his changes were intended to help his bid for governor, Suozzi responded, "Everything I'm doing is to be the best county executive I can be and to make the county government the best it can be."
Meanwhile, Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs acknowledged that he has asked Nassau OTB president Larry Aaronson to resign. Aaronson, whose salary was recently bumped to $195,000 from $165,000 annually, said yesterday he will not go willingly.
"I felt I had done a terrific job," said Aaronson, who stepped aside as Nassau's Democratic chairman after Suozzi beat Aaronson's candidate, Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli, in a bitter primary for county executive in 2001. "Jay couldn't give me a reason as to why I should resign. He said it was not about performance, that I did an excellent job."
Jacobs said Aaronson's refusal to resign is "unfortunate" because he expects the agency's board to replace Aaronson at a meeting today.
Aaronson's replacement is expected to be Dino Amoroso, a Valley Stream resident who serves as the number two man in the office of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hines. Amoroso, who has worked in the district attorney's office for the past 17 years and supervises its 600 lawyers, said yesterday, "I'm honored that I'm even being considered and I'm just waiting to see what the results are."
Although some political insiders say that Amoroso will help Suozzi in his gubernatorial campaign, Amoroso said yesterday, "that has never come up" in his discussions for the OTB job.
Subscribe to Newsday home delivery | Article licensing and reprint options
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/ny-lisuoz174516084nov17,0,1614452.story?coll=ny-lipolitics-print