By Scott Brinton
The Nassau County Republican Party threw its might behind winning the entire Town of Hempstead Council in this year's election. Except for one of six seats that went to a Democrat, it succeeded.
The GOP captured Council Districts 2 through 6. Only District 1, which was carved out by the courts as a "minority" district, voted in a Democrat - Dorothy Goosby, of Hempstead.
The Town of Hempstead Council-elect comprises: Ms. Goosby; Joseph Kearney (R-Garden City), District 2; James Darcy (R-Valley Stream), District 3; Anthony Santino (R-East Rockaway); Angelina Cullin (R-Freeport), District 5; and Gary Hudes (R-Levittown), District 6. Council members earn $47,500 annually.
Democratic leaders expressed disappointment upon losing two of their three seats on the council, which presides over the nation's largest township with more than 700,000 residents. "I feel the community lost. I'm sad for the district, and I'm sad for the town," said Councilwoman Rita Kestenbaum (D-Bellmore), who lost her seat to Town Tax Receiver Angelina Cullin (R-Freeport).
Ms. Kestenbaum said a Democratic presence on the board brought "two-party" government to the Hempstead Council. Before 1999, the Republican Party controlled town policy; Democratic councilpeople helped keep the GOP in check during the last year, she said.
"I'm just very disappointed that people did not respond to the message of a two-party system of government," said Ms. Kestenbaum. "The message [from voters] was: 'We like our machine politics.'"
Before 1999, Dems had not held a council post for decades. Then, in last year's final at-large election, they picked up three seats to the Republicans' three, giving Dems a solid foothold on the council. Republicans kept control of the board only because the town supervisor, Richard Guardino (R-Point Lookout), retained a tie-breaking vote.
GOP leaders said that in last year's election, Republican Town Council members were unfairly painted as fiscally irresponsible because of Nassau County's economic woes, particularly a county deficit estimated then at $325 million. The town, under Republican leadership, had seen only budget surpluses in recent years, they said.
Pitch battle
Republican defeats on the Hempstead Town Council in 1999 embarrassed the county GOP. Hempstead Town, after all, is considered Nassau's Republican stronghold, where the GOP enjoys a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage overall, and in many areas, a 3-to-1 margin.
The GOP was said to have spent anywhere from $1.3 million to $2 million - or about $215,000 to $330,000 per district - on a barrage of mailings to residents' homes, television spots and newspaper advertisements. The ad campaign touted Republican candidates for Town Council, as well as distanced "Hempstead Republicans" from their GOP colleagues at the county level.
By comparison, Democratic council candidates said they spent from $15,000 to $40,000 per district. "I ran my own campaign," said Ms. Kestenbaum. "I was a one-person operation. I did not have the resources of Angie Cullin."
No matter the dollar figures, the Republican Party did all it could to win back the Town Council. Joseph Mondello, chairman of the Nassau Republican Party, sounded the battle cry during the GOP's convention in Levittown in May, calling upon the party to "take back" the council.
Republicans lined up a slate of "heavy-hitter" politicos to run for Town Council. Mr. Darcy served as Village of Valley Stream mayor and state assemblyman before seeking town office. Ms. Cullin was tax receiver and the town's first councilwoman. Mr. Kearney and Mr. Santino were long-time council incumbents. And Mr. Hudes was a councilman for four months in 1999, as well as president of the Nassau County Chambers of Commerce.
Republicans made no apologies for their all-out effort to win the council, including their spending on advertising. Mr. Darcy said, "Whatever advertising the Republicans had to do was offset by the free publicity the media gives to Democrats."
Hempstead, open or closed?
With the GOP in firm control of the Hempstead Council again, Democrats say their efforts to "open" town government will be lost. They include the council's night meetings, which were begun earlier this year, among those initiatives. Evening sessions, which Republicans fought at the outset, enabled more residents to take part in town government, Democrats said.
Councilman N. Scott Banks (D-West Hempstead), who lost to Mr. Kearney for the Second District, said of town government, "I see it closing. It was only open because [Democrats] opened it. We forced the [Republicans'] hand in response to what people were telling us."
GOP leaders, however, refute the notion that town government was ever "closed." Town Supervisor Guardino said, "Our candidates and public officials have always been visible and open."
Ms. Goosby said that, also, despite an overwhelming GOP majority on the town board, she remains as a Democratic watchdog over the council. "I will not keep my mouth closed ..." she said. "I'm not a yes person. I haven't been, and I don't plan to be."
Mr. Banks, however, warned, "My friend Dorothy Goosby is going to be left with no ability to effect change. She's going to be stuck doing community-based things without being able to get legislation through." He added, "I hope I'm wrong."
Future plans
Republicans said they plan to continue the town policies that got them elected to office. Maintaining Hempstead's high bond rating ranks among their top priorities, they said. Keeping such a rating saves the town millions of dollars in interest charges over the long run. With higher ratings from such investment agencies as Moody's, the town receives lower interest rates when it floats bonds for capital-improvement projects.
Central to keeping that rating is Hempstead's $50 million surplus fund, Republican officials said. Democrats said during the election that more of the surplus should go to town services, such as the parks. GOP candidates responded that parks would be repaired and upgraded regardless of the surplus.
Mr. Guardino said that Moody's supports Hempstead's policy of banking $50 million for unexpected emergencies and downturns in town revenues. "The financial professionals say this is what we should be doing," the supervisor said.
Referring to Nassau County's deficit financing of recent years, Councilman-elect Hudes said, "I happen to be one who thought that the town, under the qualified people who have guided its progress over the years, has done an exceptional job. It did not follow the path of the county. It ran completely the opposite of the county's trend."
History behind the vote
Councilwoman Goosby, a former high-school chemistry teacher, was one of two Hempstead residents who filed the 1997 federal lawsuit that overturned the town's system of at-large elections and replaced it with the current system of councilmatic district elections. The suit ultimately led to this year's special Town Council race.
Ms. Goosby and Sam Prioleau, both of whom are African-American, charged that at-large elections violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was drafted to ensure that minorities receive fair representation in government.
