Legislator Dave Denenberg (D-Merrick) represents Nassau County Legislative District 19, which includes Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick and parts of Freeport, North Merrick and Wantagh.
He is serving his sixth term. Legislator Denenberg is ranking member of the Planning, Development and the Environment and Public Works Committees and member of the Finance, Government Services and Operations and Public Safety Committees.
Legislator Denenberg is the only legislator to maintain a district office, doing so at his own expense. He also hosts bimonthly public meetings (more than 390 to date) on any and all issues of interest. Legislator Denenberg goes to each railroad station in his district at least once a month to promote his meetings and visits each home in his district at least once each term.
Denenberg is the legislature’s environmental leader. He sponsored Nassau’s open space protection and open space funding laws, creation of the Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee (OSPAC) and green loans program, emission controls on power plants, engine idling, low sulfur diesel requirements, encroachment, solar panel tax credits, park and preserve protection and guidelines, green building purchasing requirements, stricter environmental standards for underground fuel storage tanks, plastic bag recycling, fertilizer and tree regulations and four-year capital plan requirements. Denenberg also sponsored legislation prohibiting the sale of many invasive, non-native aquatic plant species. This law protects Nassau's ponds and preserves from invasion and destruction by non-indigenous species that could literally suffocate indigenous plants and wildlife in the ponds and preserves and which could only be removed by costly and time consuming projects.
Denenberg authored the voter referendum which secured a $50 million environmental bond approved by voters in 2004, and a $100 million environmental bond program approved by voters in 2006. The $50 and $100 million bond programs are saving Nassau’s open spaces, protecting and preserving Nassau’s water resources and improving Nassau’s parks and preserves. In short, the bonds protect precious resources for future generations.
Denenberg has championed youth issues. He successfully fought to protect and increase funding for youth programs as well as domestic violence prevention, suicide prevention, drug and alcohol and mental health agencies.
Denenberg is protecting our children from sex offenders. He sponsored legislation establishing residency restrictions prohibiting registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet from a victim’s residence or workplace, 1,000 feet from a school, and 500 feet from a public park which contains a playground. Denenberg secured funding for Parents for Megan’s Law to establish a helpline to provide citizens with sex offender information, as well as recent legislation allowing law enforcement officials to track the computer activity of registered sex offenders. He recently sponsored legislation requiring the Nassau County Department of Probation to request that all Level 3 sex offenders on probation be monitored by GPS surveillance devices and allowing the department to request such GPS surveillance for all sex offenders.
Legislator Denenberg is actively involved in many community organizations. He is on the boards of the Bellmore-Merrick and Seaford/Wantagh Wellness Councils, SPLASH (Stop Polluting and Littering and Save Our Harbors) and Merrick Kiwanis Club. He is a member of the Bellmore Kiwanis Club and Lion’s Club, Knights of Pythias, the Freeport Rotary Club and Tuna Club and the Sons of Italy. He belongs to the Freeport, Merrick and Seaford Historical Societies and the Wantagh Preservation Society. He is a member of the Central Merrick, Central Bellmore, Great Living on the Water, Merrick Park, Merrick Gables, Merrick Estates, North Merrick, North Bellmore, Old Lindenmere, Seaford, Smith Pond, South Merrick and Wantagh Seaford Civic, Homeowner’s and/or Community Associations. Denenberg is a past president of Congregation Ohav Sholom in Merrick and is a PAL travel soccer coach, and is actively involved in the PAL and various little leagues.
Denenberg sponsored laws promoting good sportsmanship on county fields and facilities and banning the sale of BB guns and other weapons to minors, drop-side cribs and products containing the often abused cough suppressant chemical DXM. He was instrumental in the passage of what is called a social host law, which makes adult party hosts and/or homeowners criminally responsible for underage guests found to be drinking alcohol in the home. The legislator also sponsored a law requiring restaurants to post the prices specials on the menu.
Six out of the last seven years, the legislature approved a “no tax increase” budget for Nassau County taxpayers and added belt-tightening measures for county departments while funding programs that benefit the county’s neediest residents and children. Denenberg successfully opposed legislative pay raises three times.
The legislator sponsored a “living wage” law that increased wages for workers contracted by the county to $9.50 in 2007. Increases will follow in 2008 to $10.50 an hour and rise up to $12.50 an hour in 2010. Supporters of the law included many labor groups representing home health care workers and the Long Island Progressive Coalition. He also sponsored legislation that requires contractors and subcontractors who work for Nassau County to create apprenticeship training programs for their employees.
The legislator was a sponsor of a bill providing a partial tax exemption for cold war veterans, volunteer firefighter and EMT workers and qualified first-time home buyers in Nassau County. Denenberg also authored legislation enabling the county to create a tuition assistance program for volunteer firefighters.
Denenberg championed several county projects to improve the quality of life in his district. Legislator Denenberg secured funding for community revitalization in Bellmore, Freeport, Merrick, North Merrick, North Bellmore, Seaford and Wantagh, where the county installed brick pavers, curbing, decorative lighting, and benches, and resurfaced roads in the business district. Legislator Denenberg successfully sponsored projects for new playgrounds, ballfields, and courts in Cedar Creek, Cow Meadow, Wantagh and Washington Avenue Parks and improvements to facilities at Camman’s Pond in Merrick and Tackapausha Pond in Seaford. During his tenure, Babylon Turnpike, City Avenue, Guy Lombardo Avenue, Main Street, Merrick Avenue, Merrick Road, Mill Road and Newbridge Road were completely rehabilitated and , in many cases, revitalized.
Finally, Legislator Denenberg led an aggressive program to maintain and restore south shore ponds. This includes multi-million dollar projects at Milburn Pond in Freeport, Mill Pond in Bellmore and Wantagh, Smith Pond in Bellmore and Merrick and Camman’s Pond in Merrick and a storm water protection project that included over 350 catch basin inserts.
Legislator Denenberg has a degree in chemical engineering from Cooper Union, a law degree from Brooklyn Law School, and is a partner in the New York and Long Island law firm Davidoff, Malito & Hutcher. He specializes in intellectual property and environmental law. He and his wife, Cara, have three children: Amanda, 21, who is a senior at SUNY Binghamton, Danielle, 18, who is a freshman at Hofstra University, and Aron, 16, who attends the Bellmore-Merrick schools.
