Village activist to challenge trustee

Carol Hassett is determined get the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps into its new home — a newly constructed building that has been prepared for occupancy for about six months. That goal is her “primary motivator,” Hassett said, in her run for a seat on the village Board of Trustees.

Since she moved to Malverne with her family in 1972, Hassett, a psychologist who declined to give her age, has been involved in every facet of the village, serving on the boards of several organizations, coordinating fundraisers and other events, marching in parades, working booths at street fairs, taking part in church activities and more. It seems fitting that she would take a shot at joining the village government, even though she’s got her hands full with everything else.

Like her son, John Hassett Jr., who ran for a trustee seat and lost last year, Hassett takes issue with some of the board’s actions and is ready to make some changes. She said she believes that the trustees, including Mayor Patricia McDonald, treat village residents who oppose or criticize their decisions disrespectfully. Too often, Hassett said, trustees act collectively and leave little room for dissent.

“I know that I’m only going to be one vote, and I know that they’re probably going to be solid against me,” she said, “but I at least can be the eyes and ears for the people, for the village residents, so that when somebody says something, there’s [a trustee] who says, ‘Wait a minute, maybe we should at least hear them out.’”

Following another failed attempt to negotiate the ambulance corps’ new contract and lease with the village last Friday, Hassett, vice chairman of its Board of Directors, announced that she would challenge Trustee Patricia Canzoneri-Callahan. The village board has butted heads with the corps leadership for several years, each side blaming the discord on the other. Hassett said she believes the trustees carry that acerbity over to their decision-making.

“Our board — sometimes they take everything personally … but it’s not like that,” Hassett said of the trustees. “I like them personally, but when they act collectively, they all lockstep, and that’s when you have a problem, because you should always be looking and say, ‘Well, wait a minute, could this be a different circumstance? Could we handle this differently? Is there a better way?’ And that’s all I’m saying. … I know I’m not going to be able to change them, but I can at least report what’s happening.”

Hassett also takes issue with political dynasties that have governed Malverne for many years. McDonald appointed Canzoneri-Callahan, the daughter of former Mayor Joseph Canzoneri, last summer, several months after her husband, Deputy Mayor James Callahan, died unexpectedly. Canzoneri-Callahan, a member of the village Independent Party, completed the first year of his four-year term and is now running in a special election for the remainder of the term.

“My philosophy is different than [the trustees’] because I believe that people who are running for office need to be more a public servant rather than a public official,” Hassett said. To prove that she means that, she has vowed not to take village benefits if she is elected. She would also donate her village salary: a quarter to the ambulance corps, a quarter to American Legion Malverne Post 44 and Ladies Auxiliary Unit 44, another quarter to Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the rest to her grandchildren for their education.

“I don’t believe that you should get used to money from a public salary because … then you stay too long,” she said. “I think that you should … go in, accomplish your goals and move along.”

In addition to her professional career and her work for the ambulance corps, Hassett is a past president of Ladies Auxiliary Unit 44, the first vice president of the Nassau County American Legion Auxiliary, president of the Malverne Public Library Board of Trustees and the secretary and treasurer of the Nassau County Psychological Association. “I do a lot of things,” she said. “I find keeping busy helps, number one, keep you young and, number two, helps keep you aware of what’s going on so you don’t get stale.”

Hassett does not belong to any party — “I’m running on the common sense party,” she said — but will accept endorsements from anyone who wishes to give them.

Residents can cast their votes at the Malverne firehouse on Tuesday, March 20, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.