Tuesday’s election for Rockland County executive is a battle between the veteran Republican incumbent and an independent challenger who have competing ideas on how to address overdevelopment and how to bring relief to businesses suffering because of the construction of a pipeline along a main thoroughfare.

Rockland Executive Ed Day, a former NYPD officer, is seeking a fourth term.

He is running on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines, touting the county's economic recovery.

"Rockland County, when I first walked in the door, had tax increases of 30%, 18% and 12%," Day said during an interview at his office. "The last five years, we've had three years of zero tax increases and two years of 4% tax cuts."

Since the Rockland County Democratic Party is not fielding a candidate, West Point alumnus and entrepreneur Mike Parietti is running as an independent, promising to reject campaign donations from big banks and developers.

"Our system lends itself to people becoming trapped in this web of big money and big donor influence," Parietti said during an interview at Katkiat Park, "but I just won't go there. It's not going to be a factor in my administration."

Parietti served on the Rockland County Planning Board for 10 years.

He said that even when the board votes down projects for being too dense and too much for the infrastructure to handle, municipal boards often override the county and permit construction of the projects anyway.

Parietti says he plans to drag developers into court if he is elected.

"I would try to create, within the county, a special team of attorneys that will explore every avenue available to us," he said, "to try and bring overdevelopment in these local municipalities under control."

Day plans to keep using his executive power. For example, he recently ordered that projects that proceed without county approval will not receive certain county services like 911 and sewer.

"You better plan outhouses because you're not going to have any bathrooms," Day said of developers of projects not approved by the county. "It got the attention of other developers who were in here lining up, making sure that any development that was coming in was compliant with the findings of the county health department."

Both candidates want to hold contractors accountable for the state-commissioned Champlain Hudson Power Express hydropower pipeline project along Route 9W in North Rockland.

Representatives of the business community blame monthslong street closures and safety hazards for millions in lost revenue among businesses in three municipalities and two failed businesses.

Day said he is refusing to sign off on a county tax break for the project until project developers make the small businesses whole.

"The state of New York is holding the bag on this," Day said. "There's no getting around it. Either CHPE or the state has to come up with some cash here. How this played out was ridiculous, it really was."

Parietti supports Day's move and plans to go further.

He said he would devote time each day to organizing and empowering the suffering businesses.

"Rather than putting up some fixed amount in advance, it should be an ongoing thing because you never know how long these things are going to last, right?" Parietti said of the project that is nearing completion. "Let the businesses tabulate what the economic harm is, and then they should be able to get fully compensated."

Based on the numbers from the last 12 years, Day said he is the candidate of fiscal responsibility.

Day helped rescue the county from near-insolvency without raising taxes by restricting spending, cutting staff and maximizing tourism.

Parietti said he plans to look deeper into the county's bonding — which he sees as debt — to provide a clearer picture of the county's financial health.

Parietti has run in several local elections before without success.

Day has won three straight elections, including in the 2021 contest, in which he won with 71% of the vote.