Lazio Stumps in Smithtown

The election trail for New York gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio ran through Smithtown on July 27, when the Republican made an appearance at The Watermill to outline his platform to members of the Nesconset Chamber of Commerce.

"I was born here, I was raised here, I will die here," Lazio said.  "We have got to turn around the state. We have got to change the spending culture."

Lazio, who is a West Islip native, spoke for 25 minutes about the fiscal problems the state faces in the upcoming years.  He specifically hopes to change the "badly corrupted" public pension plan by moving all new state workers into a 401k contribution system and to redesign the Medicaid program to cut waste.

Outside, a group of protesters sent by the State Democratic Committee held signs and chanted anti-Lazio rhetoric on the Smithtown Bypass.

"We just wanted to make sure our side of the story was heard," a Democratic Committee representative said.  The group said that they are opposed to Lazio's lack of transparency in recent months, specifically his failure to submit his tax return and failure to return the bonus he received from J.P. Morgan during the bailout.

The Chamber was pleased to bring in such a high-profile politician and looks forward to future visits from other political figures, but does not officially endorse one party or candidate. The Chamber has invited Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to attend a future meeting.

"I had seen Lazio at a number of events these past few months and thought it would be great for the chamber to bring him in," Nesconset Chamber of Commerce President Steven Gargiulo said. "Turns out, a chamber member knew someone, who knew someone who knew him. We wanted him, we were persistent and we got him."