The Manganos “put a little love in their hearts” along with the Antioch Baptist Choir. In Mineola, the sign outside the Theodore Roosevelt building on Franklin Avenue had already been changed, barely a few hours after the birth of the new year, and still a number of hours before the man whose name appeared on that white placard took his oath of office nine miles away in Bethpage.

In Bethpage, the sign for Northrup-Grumman still hangs on the facade of the buildings down South Oyster Bay Rd., where what many considered the impossible was achieved, like that of landing a man on the moon. Four decades later and three blocks away at Bethpage High School, the community again did what many considered the impossible after eight years: elect a Republican to the office of County Executive. On an auditorium stage lined with red and white poinsettias, with his hand on a Bible opened to the passage detailing King Solomons request for knowledge to lead the people, the previously little-known County Legislator, Edward P. Mangano, became the eighth Executive of Nassau County.

Probably no one outside of Bethpage expected this to happen, that the seven-term Republican would upset incumbent Tom Suozzi (D- Glen Cove) in the closest election in Long Islands most recent history. Mangano was considered overmatched, lacking in campaign resources, and perhaps a political sacrificial lamb. Even his campaign headquarters was referred to as the Land of Misfit Toys. You did not have an entourage, a war chest or regalia, just rolled-up sleeves recalled Rev. Dr. Phillip Elliot of the Antioch Baptist Church in Hempstead. And I met you in a sweatsuit.

Mangano fashions himself as unpretentious, a blue-collar man who graduated Bethpage High in 1980 and worked as a janitor to pay for Hofstra Law - an image the people of Bethpage fully embrace, filling the auditorium with chants of Ed-ie! Ed-ie! after the oath was administered by State Supreme Court judge Steven Bucaria. Our nation, our State and our County face extraordinary challenges, Congressman Peter King (R) remarked. To meet those challenges you need someone who has his feet on the ground someone who knows where he comes from, and someone who is dedicated to getting the job done and realizes that his mandate comes from the people. That also includes working with those on both sides of the aisle, especially considering Manganos narrow margin of victory. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D) recalled receiving a phone call from Mangano, asking him to speak at the ceremony. It showed that here was a person who was interested above all in the well-being of the people of Nassau County and he would bridge all divides, he said.

I was always wondering why during the recount Ed was so calm, mused King on the two-month recount that ended with Manganos 377-vote victory. After seeing all these Manganos here today, (I now) know where all those votes came from. Aside from Nassaus new first family, there were Mangano brothers, cousins, nieces, so many times was the surname mentioned and in such series that it was as much a family reunion as an inauguration. Stealing the show though was Nassaus new first lady Linda, drawing - and encouraging - several rounds of applause from the 850-plus capacity crowd and clapping along as the Antioch Baptist Church Choir turned the ceremony into a revivalist meeting with Put a Little Love in Your Heart.

Michelle Obama doesn’t have anything on you, commented the Rev. Elliot causing an uproar of laughter in the hall. Fittingly, Mangano says his wife will play a big part in Nassau County, though no specific announcement has been made as to what role.

Mangano wove a theme of hopefulness through his inauguration speech - that of better days ahead - but the realities of a massive storm front have a way of making their way inside. Mangano made the repeal of the Home Energy Tax, a central issue of his campaign, signing its repeal on the podium moments after taking his oath. Now his term may hinge on finding a way to plug the $39 million annual hole in the County budget, something he says will be the focus of his first 60 days in office. Since the tax did not go into effect until June, the projected hole for 2010 is about $20 million.

As I campaigned across Nassau County I met with ordinary people... and not all of them were smiling. In fact a lot of them were lined with worry and creased with concern; and they had every right to be, said Mangano, moving on to one of his favorite subjects, and another central campaign promise: reforming the Countys property tax assessment system, which he says is responsible for $1.2 billion worth of past errors, and another $100 million in projected mistakes for 2010. We simply cannot survive if the system is allowed to continue this way.

Mangano has issued an executive order creating a team comprised of residential and commercial property owners focused on reforming the system, which will hold public meetings around Nassau County and deliver a report to the County Executives desk no later than June 1. A preliminary, verbal report is said to be made in four months. The final report will focus on moving from the current system of annual assessments to a cyclical assessment cycle, but Mangano did not specify whether that would be a three or four year cycle, saying that the assessment role must be corrected first before a new system is implemented.

With representatives from both the State and Federal levels less than 10 feet away, Mangano said that Long Island has long-subsidized both Albany and Washington, and now Nassau County is going to be asking for your help - and that of the State - in resolving the severe fiscal issues we have inherited. Exactly what he has inherited from his predecessor, Mr. Suozzi, Mangano says is a $2.6 billion budget full of one-shot, temporary measures such as Federal aid that is set to expire, and force the County to face a deficit as high as $400 million in 2011.

Cost-cutting measures begin with an axe being taken to the number of County staff, as Mangano said we simply can no longer afford the County government we inherited. Mangano said he plans to enlist private sector, government, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations in pursuing more efficiencies in Nassau, and will drive growth through small business taking advantage of advancements from Stony Brook, Brookhaven National Labs, the Hofstra Medical Center, and the Dept. of Homeland Security, among others, and through a green energy fund which will allow homeowners to borrow funds to retrofit homes and businesses with green energy alternatives such as solar and geothermal. These will in turn create savings to the homeowner to pay back the loan and Mangano hopes will put the home improvement industry back to work.

The new County Executive is taking a more laissez-faire approach than Suozzi when it comes to the proposed Lighthouse project for the area surrounding the Nassau Coliseum, only saying that the County will commission a fair market appraisal for the land once the Town of Hempstead provides a comment document on the projects size, though he did mention looking forward to the development and keeping our Islanders here.

It was not entirely clear if Mangano has completely halted another Suozzi initiative, one the former County Executive dubbed as cool downtowns - walkable main streets near train stations and high-rises - or just retermed as intelligent development, and making use of transportation hubs in existing downtowns for redevelopment.

When questioned about immigration and minority concerns, Mangano said that a local office of opportunity for immigrants and minorities would be created and that as part of his restructuring efforts, were going to be looking at all programs; those programs that are efficient and add value to the community and to our government will stay, others may be modified and others may be eliminated.