Since her election to the inaugural Nassau County Legislature in 1995, Judith Jacobs has always placed an emphasis on improving the quality of life of her constituents, whether she's fixing a dangerous intersection or beautifying a neighborhood.

As she runs for a third term against opponent Lois Weinstein, Jacobs still regards her local ombudsman work as "the love of my life." However, the Woodbury resident of 32 years has also made significant strides outside of her district's boundaries, especially after being elected the minority leader in March 1999.

Jacobs replaced Bruce Nyman as the leader among the Legislature's Democrats. Her appointment coincided with the naming of Thomas DiNapoli as Nassau County Democratic Chairperson. They took over their respective positions at a time when the Democratic Party lacked any sense of unity or strength.

According to Jacobs, in a short time, "We've come a very, very long way...There was a lot of disarray in the party itself. [Now] we have a unity that has not been seen in a Nassau County Democratic organization for a very long time."

Jacobs likes the field of Democratic challengers this year, and hopes that the minority can win a few more seats this November, so that the party's initiatives and legislative proposals can't be so easily tabled. Currently, the minority party consists of five Democrats in a 19-seat legislature. Despite this disadvantage, said Jacobs, "nothing precludes us from bringing forth solid proposals for good government."

Of these proposals, one of the most important that Jacobs introduced was the one calling for the formation of a fiscal oversight review board which would examine the county executive's annual budget, make recommendations on it, and then enforce them. The Republicans countered with a proposal for a Blue Ribbon Panel to review the budget, which would have had less authority.

Deeming the Republican plan unacceptable, Jacobs organized a petition signed by thousands of citizens to force the issue of a fiscal oversight review board.

"We're trying desperately to get oversight with teeth adopted for Nassau County, and [the fiscal oversight board] really was not as onerous as the Republicans would like anyone to believe," said Jacobs. "It would have been local control by the minority leader, the majority leader, the office of legislative budget review and the comptroller to ensure that, when advice is given to the executive branch, it's followed."

Jacobs said that the deficit the county finds itself in is especially unacceptable because it comes when surrounding municipalities are experiencing a surplus. Residents of Nassau, to help make up the deficit, will now have to pay a real estate transfer tax and a higher police district tax. Furthermore, the county will not participate in sales tax-free week next January.

"In districts such as mine, which straddle the county line, there is no question that our inability financially to allow the residents of this county to participate in sale tax-free shopping will not only affect our residents, but it's going to affect our small-business people," said Jacobs.

Shortly after the petition, the Republicans set forth a plan to reform the budget review process for Nassau County. Several of the resolutions in the plan are extremely similar to ones the Democrats proposed, said Jacobs. "We're proud to have planted the seeds, even if the majority likes to run with the flowers," Jacobs commented.

Jacobs, supported by her fellow Democrats, has authored a variety of other bills which she continues to champion, hoping to get the majority's support. One of them is an anti-smoking legislation which would require stores to display their cigarettes from behind a counter, under lock and key, so little kids can't swipe them.

That way, "If someone wants cigarettes, they have to actually ask for them. That's very important. Three thousand children a day try cigarettes, 1,000 become addicted and, of that, about half die," said Jacobs.

Another legislation proposed by Jacobs calls for the county's discrimination code to include sexual orientation as a category for bias crime. "It's something that should have been in place from the very beginning," she said.

Yet another bill introduced by Jacobs proposed the formation of an Educational Resource Center for the county. Such a body would establish a speaker's bureau of professionals who would be willing to visit schools and discuss their areas of expertise with students.

Jacobs proposed another legislation as an offshoot of the county's sale of its Plainview land earlier this year to Computer Associates CEO Charles Wang. It would require competitive bidding on the sale of any real property in Nassau County over the amount of $250,000. Wong never bid on the land; he merely presented an offer for $23 million which the county accepted. Jacobs wonders if someone else may have offered more for the 144 acres of land.

Despite all the new responsibilities she faced this year as minority leader, Jacobs still prefers her local constituent work above everything else she does. Though Jacobs has spearheaded many local projects in the last two years, her most significant accomplishment was reviving the defunct Syosset Chamber of Commerce. "They've really rejuvenated that whole little town of Syosset," said Jacobs about the chamber.

Jacobs has played a key role in many local improvements, both as legislator and, before that, as the president of the South Woodbury Taxpayers Association. She successfully campaigned for better signalization and signage at several dangerous intersections, convinced the State DOT to repave a stretch of Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury during the evening hours, removed an illegal dumping ground next to a Woodbury shopping center, assisted in the closing of the Old Bethpage landfill and helped prevent the Plainview landfill from ever opening.

Jacobs continues to fight against development plans that could prove detrimental to the environment or the local economy. She staunchly supports the purchase and preservation of Jericho's Underhill property, and strongly opposes plans to construct a mall on the Cerro Wire property in Syosset.

Building a mall in Syosset is not economically beneficial, said Jacobs, because it would destroy many of Syosset's mom and pop operations. "If you encourage progress that's going to leave destruction in its wake, to me it's not progress," she said.

Jacobs said that residing in the 16th district is a joy, but also a responsibility.

"I take very seriously my responsibility to make sure that we leave a legacy that is worth leaving for our children and grandchildren...When people call me with their problems, I know their problems. I've lived them...It helps them to know that I'm a real person and that I really do care."

Jacobs is married to husband Sid. They have three children and four grandchildren.

Republican candidate Lois Weinstein, seeking to win incumbent Judy Jacobs' seat in the Nassau County Legislature, is confident that her extensive background in county law and local outreach makes her a qualified and capable candidate for the 16th Legislative District. A resident of Woodbury, Weinstein is emphasizing such issues as preserving open land, curbing overdevelopment and amending fiscal problems.

Weinstein has worked with the county on a variety of levels, particularly in the field of domestic violence law. As a Nassau County Deputy Attorney, she has been assigned to the Child Abuse Coordination and Treatment Team and is chairwoman of the county's Task Force Against Family Violence.

By serving in this capacity, Weinstein has established connections all across the county that she believes will enable her to provide constituents with the services they need. "I think I bring to the Legislature a lot of skills and experience and perspective that nobody else on the Legislature has and I want to share that with them," said Weinstein.

"Working together with...all the different arms of the county gives you a great ability to assist the residents of Nassau County as a legislator," she continued. "And I want to continue to do for the people in the county what I've been given the privilege of doing, which is providing services and...representing the citizens," she continued.

As a county attorney, and an advisor to Governor George Pataki's Task Force on Rape and Sexual Abuse, Weinstein has had experience in writing and interpreting law - a valuable skill that she wants to take with her from Nassau's judicial branch to the legislative branch.

For example, Weinstein helped amend the county's domestic violence law, adding a clause which created uniform orders of protection for victims of family violence and a registry where those documents are kept on file. That way, explained Weinstein, when police officers arrive at a scene of domestic violence, they "don't necessarily have to rely on the [victimized] woman to produce the document. They can check into their registry and find it."

"I have a great understanding of the law," said Weinstein. "[I've] created it, [I've] written it, I know how to work with it. I think that's important for a legislator."

Weinstein's latest role with the county is as executive director of the Nassau County Family Resource Center, an informational and referral center that assists families in need.

Weinstein said that the work she has done at the center has allowed her to see, firsthand, many problems that the county must address.

"We see working mothers needing child care assistance...We see people in need of mental health care. We see people in need of matrimonial care, programs to assist their children through their divorces and their custody proceedings. We see people in need of housing .We see people in need of food stamps...People who can't pay their bills, people who need getting college scholarships, loans. People walk in with every kind of problem imaginable and we gather the service-providers together to assist them."

Starting with virtually no capital, Weinstein built the center from scratch in an abandoned hallway, and had to get the most she could from very limited resources. "I had no budget," explained Weinstein. In order to to cut costs, "[we] recycled furniture and recycled equipment." To this day, "We double duty our staff. We have people from different departments working, answering our phones, serving as liaisons."

Weinstein, believes that, by drawing upon her experience budgeting the resource center, she can help trim wasteful expenditures in the county's budget - a source of much controversy - without diminishing the valuable services which the government provides.

Though the Republicans of the current Legislature, led by Joseph Mondello, have publicly chastised Thomas Gulotta's 2000 budget and the $330 million debt stemming from his previous budgets, Weinstein would neither embrace nor condemn the county executive's latest fiscal plan. She did say, however, that it is time to "take a good hard look at our budget and the way it's been handled over the last seven or eight years, and restore stability and fiscal responsibility and structure to the budget."

"It may require the unpleasant pill of a tax increase at some point," Weinstein admitted, "but before that, I would take a look at cutting back as much as possible."

She continued, "We need a budget where the funds are clearly defined, where the money cannot be exchanged between funds." Weinstein is also advocating for more public scrutiny of the budget as well as the recruitment of financial experts from the private sector who would voluntarily assist the county during its budget process.

"I think that's got to be the future of the county - partnering with the private sector," explained Weinstein. "We've got to look to the private sector to assist us with providing much of the services that the government is currently providing, without turning it totally over to the private sector."

Weinstein said that she would like to see private sector involvement in the development of Nassau County's Hub plan, as well as the purchasing of the Underhill property in Jericho for the purpose of preservation.

Weinstein believes the preservation of the Underhill property, designated a Special Groundwater Protection Area, is especially important because there is such little open space left in Nassau.

"I think we have to begin to plan for the future in an organized fashion," Weinstein stated. "This county has for the last 50 years been haphazardly developing. And now is the time to take a long, hard look around and start protecting our environment, our aquifers, our park lands, grasslands, our Greenbelt areas and our clean air."

Weinstein said that any future development within the county should take place "only where the infrastructure that's already in existence will permit further development."

A former elementary-school teacher, Weinstein believes that educational issues continue to be important throughout the county, particularly the matter of school safety. She currently serves on the Nassau County Police Department's School Safety Conference, which is developing new policies and protocols to deal with the rise in school violence.

Weinstein is also a member of the Nassau County Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts, an advisory board member of the Nassau County District Court Children's Center, and a member of the Hunter's Run Homeowners Association.

She is married to husband Kenneth and is the mother of three children.