JANUARY 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 79
LAST LOOK
Jay Jacobs: Every dog has his day
Nassau Democratic chairman discusses his comeback and double life
By TIMOTHY BOLGER
The life of a political party
leader isn’t all screening
candidates, holding fundraisers
and orchestrating campaigns.
Nassau County Democratic Party
Chairman Jay Jacobs also runs a
half-dozen camps. We caught up
with Jacobs, who shared why he
quotes The Honeymooners, collects
owls, and credits Donald Trump
with recent local Democratic gains.
Long Island Press: For the first
time, Democrats and women hold
the Nassau County executive seat
and two of three town supervisor
seats in the county. To what do you
credit this historic change?
Jay Jacobs: The public was ready
for change. Between the corruption
in the towns and the county on
the Republican side and the fact
that the finances have been so
poorly managed both on the town
level and the county level, it gave
Democrats a great opportunity to
take those seats.
LIP: Did you ever think you’d ever
see the day?
JJ: We were coming into a very
strong political environment, both
with the corruption in the county
as well as nationally with Trump
and all of the turmoil and tumult
he has brought to the political
process.
LIP: What is your vision for Nassau
County?
JJ: In one sense cleaning up the
government and restoring trust. In
the second sense, taking control of
the finances and finally putting us
on the path to fiscal solvency. And
the third being creating a vision for
what the future of Nassau will be
and then starting us on the road to
getting us there.
LIP: You also run three sleepaway
camps and three day camps. How
did you get into that line of work?
JJ: The camp
that I went to
when I was a
camper and
worked
at when I
was 23 was
for sale. The
owners liked
me, turned
it over to me
and then I
built from
there. I love the
job of being a
camp director
and I also
love the job of
building a larger
corporation,
which has
multiple camps,
a school, and now
we’ve got bed and
breakfast inns
upstate.
LIP: What’s your
favorite story from
camp?
LIP: I love going on what we call
raid patrol at night, making sure
the boys and girls are in their
bunks appropriately. I’m not one
who plays by the rules. If I’ve got
a camper out of his bed and
I’m having difficulty finding
him, I know that sooner
or later he’s gonna come
back. And there has
been more than one
time that camper’s
come back to find
me in his bed.
LIP: How do
you juggle your
business obligations with
the rough-and-tumble career
in politics?
JJ: If you come into
my office, you’ll see
everywhere a large
collection of owls.
They represent my
biggest problem
and my most
important
problem
in both
business
and
politics:
Who? Who
am I going to
get to run in
the 10th
legislative
district?
Who
am I going
to get to to be on duty
tonight at boys’ bunk 9? When
some comes into my office with a
great idea, I always take one of the
owls and I pound it on the desk and
I say, “Who? Who’s going to run
it?” When you focus on the owls,
both in politics and business, and
you bring in really good people
and you delegate to them and you
nurture them, and you take care
of them and you let them get the
credit for the things that they get
done so that they feel an ownership,
then you have a system that enables
you to get a lot of things done.
LIP: What story best sums up the
considerations that go into being a
party leader?
JJ: I have a saying I take from the
words of the immortal philosopher
Ralph Kramden, whom you might
remember from The Honeymooners.
Ralph Kramden said “every dog
has his day.” I live by those words.
Because I get disappointed so many
times. I’m a person who believes
that if you give your word, you can
take it to the bank. But so many
people don’t in politics. So many
people that you help along the way
forget you when they get there.
There’s an arrogance that goes on
in politics. And I keep that phrase
in my mind because every time
I feel I’ve gotten the raw end of a
deal and somebody isn’t treating
me right, you can get stressed and
aggravated. I don’t. What goes
around comes around. Every dog
has his day.
LIP: What would readers be
surprised to learn about your
personal life?
JJ: I happen to be an introvert. I
have to work up to being able to
reach out and do my job. It’s an
advantage in some sense. I find that
being an introvert, while it’s more
difficult for me to do certain things,
I think that it may make me a little
more thoughtful and attentive to
people.
Nassau Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs was inducted in the Long
Island Press Power List Hall of Fame in 2011.