Meet The Candidates: Raja Singh For Nassau County Legislature

HICKSVILLE, NY — Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2. With voting just around the corner, Patch is reaching out to candidates across Nassau County to find out why they're running for office, and what they hope to achieve for residents.

Hicksville resident Raja Singh, a Democrat, is challenging longtime Republican incumbent Rose Walker to represent the Nassau County 17th Legislative District.

The 17th LD includes parts of Hicksville, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Farmingdale, Plainedge, North Massapequa, Massapequa and Seaford.

Singh, 37, is a Hicksville resident and a lawyer by trade. He has his own practice which he co-runs with his twin brother, Rana.

Why are you seeking elective office?

Our community and district deserves better representation. I have been living in Hicksville since 2006 and sadly it looks the same, hasn't had any upgrades, community development, revitalization since I moved here. In addition to the changing demographics, the new residents moving in from NYC, the significant amount of diversity moving here as well. None of that is being appreciated or acknowledges and nothing is being done that gestures how amazing living here can be. in addition to all the residents we are losing due to costs of living, nothing is being done to fight for them to be able to stay.

Our main streets have empty store fronts, every other store front is out of business. no one is fighting for them to be saved, or providing opportunity to open new businesses.

There is too much secrecy in government, serious lack of access, transparency, too many empty promises and no action. We need new energy, new motivated people, new work ethics, new idea that will literally bring district 17 into 2021 and help us build to become better and sustain going forward. District 17 is the center from Manhattan to Montauk, we are a major hub for long island but we have nothing to offer to commuters to come and visit or move here because our local government is just letting us stay the same.

That's why we need term limits, we can allow the next generations to speak for themselves in government, communities change every 5-10 years, local government should too. we need representation that matters and reflects the changes our communities are going through.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Property Taxes for sure. well over 10 years since an assessment was done, it was needed to be done taxes have been going up every year. Laura Curran for the first time actually did not raise taxes. our communities need to be engaged with better to explain how taxes are collected, what they are paying for, opportunities we can create to lower those costs. Legislator walker has been in office since 2009, why is she now making a stand and fighting for affordability? where was she the previous 12 years, I cant find any records of her fighting to reduce costs or property taxes, none at all. I have not heard her present any new policies or plans that will help alleviate this for home owners. I have several policies I can propose that will not hurt the tax payers at all but if done correctly can reduce cost of living here, keeping our seniors and their children here and at the same time continuing to attract new residents.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am coming into this with new energy that is seriously needed. I am not a politician at all but I extremely motivated to make an impact right away to help our residents. My professional experience is built around helping people, helping the residents of district 17, solving problems and finding resolutions. I am involved in a lot of community work, food banks, volunteer work and non-profit work but I do not share this or publicize this because that is not what it is more, I do it to do good community work that is needed.

We deserve someone who will actually seize that potential and make Hicksville what it should be.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Legislator Walker is a career politician, who is complacent in her position. in 2017 Newsday article stated out of 124 new laws, Walker did not chief sponsor any of them. since 2017, its been more of the same. only 1 law she proposed this year (an election year) out of 78 new laws since 2018. this is not acceptable, the word Legislate is the prefix of Legislator, we should want someone who wants to create policy that will benefit its residents quality of live. Just take a look online or walk through Hicksville and see the condition its in and the amazing potential we have here. furthermore, all the problems that Nassau County has had in the past 15 years with almost being bankrupt, the corruption and convictions (including her son), continuous increase in cost of living, downtown revitalization efforts, Rose walker was an elected official throughout all of that, she has not fought for our residents as she states, where was she when all of this was happening? why didn't she stand up for us? why didn't she advocate for help our residents through these really hard times that our county was in?

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

County wide great job under the leadership of Laura Curran. In district 17, not so sure, I did not see as many testing sites as I would have liked to, no mobile testing was available that I noticed, same with the vaccines. Businesses that were closed for 4-6 months, including my own. I looked for help from my legislator, I didn't get a response or hear a peep on how we could save our businesses, my clients were asking me where they can get help.

We need someone who has the means of providing this information at large. Even if I had to go to every business door to door myself. I am not above doing the work myself to help build back my community. Using Social Media is an incredible tool that could have went into the homes of people without a problem. regular updates. I would have made regular social media posts and emails with the videos embedded explaining every update that was accessible to me so people would be less scared and more informed on how to get funds, rent or mortgage relief, SBA, EDIL and county grants that existed for businesses.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

The other issues that define my campaign is to have fair, equitable, and transparent government. in the age of information, everything is available to everyone, we need leadership who isn't going to shy away from tough questions and difficult problems. I do not want to take a backseat because to make the right changes we deserve, we need someone who will step up when they called upon to act.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

As an attorney, every case I handle is evidence of my ability. We advocate with confidence, we do our due diligence to know the correct information. My public work in community relations helping students and young adults become entrepreneurs, building bridges between people who would never otherwise talk to each other and realizing we are all more similar than different.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

You get back what you put out into the world. So be kind, help others, give back to the less fortunate, count your blessings, be positive, be respectful. If I put out good vibes and energy into the world that I would grateful to have that given back to me.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I genuinely want to do right by the people in this community, I think we have incredible opportunity and potential here and our legislators matter more than we think. who we choose locally impacts our day to day lives more than anything else. we all want good schools, maintained roads, community building, solid infrastructure.