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Senate Candidate Hopes To Bring Common Sense Approach To Rockland

An example of Tom DePrisco's problem-solving ability was the subject of a New York Daily News article published more than 10 years ago when he was a captain in the New York Police Department. 

Tom DePrisco

Tom DePrisco

Photo Credit: Tom DePrisco

At the time, members of the Asian community in the 72nd precinct in Sunset Park, Brooklyn were the victims of crimes because they didn't speak the language and couldn't report the incidents. 

DePrisco, a Brooklyn-native and incumbent on the Pearl River Board of Education, created a bilingual questionnaire with translations to allow victims to communicate what happened to officers. 

"And I'm not saying I'm the ultimate problem solver," DePrisco admitted. 

DePrisco wants to bring this practical approach, what he referred to as "common sense legislation," to the statehouse as the Republican candidate in the 38th Senate District race. He will oppose incumbent Sen. David Carlucci.

"Nothing is happening up in Albany," DePrisco recently said over coffee. 

His common sense approach is focused on fiscal responsibility and passing a reasonable budget. This starts with eliminating unnecessary expenditures-something he has done on the Pearl River School Board-investigating Medicaid fraud, and rectifying changes to public education funding from the state. 

In his first year on the Pearl River School Board DePrisco helped identify and eliminate between $200,000 and $300,000 worth of unnecessary expenditures from the budget, which significantly limited tax growth over the last eight years.

Another concern is reforming the state tax levy cap to ensure homeowners will continue to receive their rebate checks. Ensuring residents can afford to live in Rockland starts with fiscal responsibility and a reasonable budget, he said. 

"I know I can solve them," DePrisco said of the issues that motivated him to run for office. "If I'm up in Albany, people will see some improvement."

After serving in the New York Police Department for 20 years in a variety of positions, DePrisco came to Pearl River in 2003 to raise his nephew, Nicholas, after his sister passed away. Five years ago he married his wife, Lorraine.

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