Chatting with Councilwoman Goosby

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Years ago, Dorothy Goosby, councilwoman for Lakeview and other areas of the Town of Hempstead, was looking for a way to get people more engaged with local government. She wanted to find a way to encourage her constituents and more freely express their opinions and needs.

“So I started community meetings,” Goosby said, “and every year I have one in each area I represent.”

She hosted one of those meetings recently in Lakeview, and roughly 70 residents of the hamlet attended. Goosby brought with her representatives of town, county and state government offices.

The community meeting process is educational for both Goosby and her constituents, she said, since they can learn from one another. “We try to explain to them what we can do and cannot do,” she said, “and they tell me what’s on their minds.” The concept, she said, caught on with other politicians once she began doing it.


So what was on the minds of her constituents in Lakeview? Some wanted speed bumps added to local streets. Others complained about possums. “Possums are a state problem,” Goosby said. “We can't under any circumstances expose our staff to these wild animals. I just make sure people are doing what they can to protect themselves — like making sure their garbage can has a cover, and after it’s covered, that they put it in the garage until it’s time for a garbage pickup.”


Others had complaints about local cell phone service. “No one wants those cell phone towers, but everyone has cell phones,” Goosby said. “Requests for these towers have to come through our Building Department before anything goes up.”

Then there’s the problem of blighted buildings. “I had received many [petition] signatures concerning a certain house, and I had been there three or four times to check it out myself,” the councilwoman said. “What people don’t fully understand, however, is the process that needs to be done before any action can be taken, like finding out if [the house] belongs to the bank and proceeding from there.” she said.

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