Goosby runs for fifth term

The race for the Town of Hempstead’s 1st Councilmatic District pits Democratic incumbent Dorothy Goosby, who has held the seat since 1999, against Republican Tracy Worthy, a Hempstead community activist who is making her first bid for elected office.

The two candidates are vying to represent a district that encompasses Lakeview, portions of West Hempstead and Baldwin, and all of Roosevelt and Uniondale, among other areas.

The incumbent

Goosby’s election to the Town Council 10 years ago made history: She became the first African-American woman to serve on the board and the first Democrat to be elected since 1905.

After serving one-year terms in 1999 and 2000, she was re-elected to four-year terms in 2001 and 2005. This election race marks her third bid for a four-year term. She is also running on the Independence and Working Families party lines.

Goosby said she is seeking re-election because she wants to continue to improve the district’s infrastructure. During her current term she has helped advance and complete many projects in the district, including several Rebuild Roosevelt initiatives.

The projects — which have brought more than $200,000 in funding for improvements to the hamlet — have given Roosevelt’s downtown business district on Nassau Road a needed facelift. They included facade enhancements to a strip of retail shops as well as the installation of benches, plantings and a Victorian clock tower in the business corridor.

“We are also turning 380 Nassau Road in Roosevelt, an office building that has been vacant for more than 20 years, into a health clinic,” Goosby explained. “The clinic will be managed by Nassau Health Care Corporation, and it’s going to be a state of-the-art health care facility.”

Goosby has also spearheaded refurbishments of town parks, including work on the basketball courts and playgrounds and aesthetic enhancements at Harold Walker Memorial Park in Lakeview and Coes Neck Park in Baldwin.