C. William Gaylor for Nassau Legislative District 14

The 14th District includes East Rockaway, Lakeview, Malverne, North Lynbrook, and parts of Lynbrook, North Valley Stream, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, Valley Stream and West Hempstead.

Redistricting has scrambled the lines of the 14th District, signaling a newly competitive battlefield for the seat. On this shifted terrain, C. William Gaylor of Lynbrook, a Republican first elected in 2015, seeks a fifth term. He’s a 60-year-old lawyer with a prior military career who is versed in the complexities of longtime local issues.

Opposing Gaylor is Democrat Jake Scheiner, an alert and knowledgeable Lynbrook resident. Scheiner, 28, a vice president at a local insurance brokerage, has political experience, including chief of staff to ex-Rep. Tom Suozzi, for whom he served as campaign manager in 2018, and upstate New York director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The candidates display differences in approach. While Scheiner stresses the urgency of moving county funds for opioid treatment right away to clinics and mental health professionals, Gaylor argues that some contractors aren’t ready to use funds already obtained.

Critiquing the status quo on property tax assessments, Scheiner calls for the state and county to impose a cap on fees real estate tax certiorari firms can charge homeowners to pursue grievances. Gaylor defends the county freeze on assessments until conditions become clear about the housing market and economy.

Gaylor says the current leadership of the Nassau County Police Department is credible on the matter of staffing and deployment in his district — NCPD asked for a minimal increase in positions — while Scheiner calls for 110 more officers in light of hate-crime concerns. And while Scheiner wants to keep Nassau Interim Finance Authority controls in place, Gaylor suggests the county’s long-term fiscal recovery has made NIFA’s role superfluous.

Scheiner walks on shakier ground calling for slashing fees on traffic summonses for red-light violations in the name of making life for constituents more affordable. Fee reductions are a running issue in Nassau, with postures changing based on which party controls the legislative majority and the county executive’s office.

Gaylor wisely wouldn’t oppose ending the practice by which executives and legislators promote themselves in public messaging by getting their names on signs for projects and events. He points to the unnecessary expense and bother of changing such signs when incumbencies turn over.

Scheiner shows promise for future public service, but the seasoned Gaylor has developed skills that constituents in the newly-drawn district should find useful.

Newsday endorses Gaylor.