Keep Murray as supervisor
KATHLEEN MURRAY
When Richard Guardino stepped down as Town of Hempstead supervisor eight months ago, the names of many potential replacements were bandied about. Ultimately, the town board, with a push from the Nassau County Republican Party, selected Kathleen Murray. We said at the time that she was the right choice, and she has not disappointed.
Murray is candid, able, likable and hardworking. She proved this first as a state assemblywoman, then as the town clerk, and now continues to impress as supervisor.
Her state experience gives her insights into the bigger picture on some issues, and may help her enlist Albany's support if it is needed in the future.
The town's stable financial footing has been a blessing during the fiscal crumbling and rebuilding of Nassau County. But challenging times lie ahead, as government at all levels will have to deal with mounting health insurance and retirement costs. Murray has taken steps to help the town meet those unavoidable demands, even proposing modest tax increases to make sure the rainy-day fund is not unexpectedly drained.
Murray's opponent, Dorothy Goosby, has devoted herself to the town. Her lawsuit to bring about councilmanic districts has forever changed the face of town government and made it more accessible and accountable to residents.
But Goosby simply lacks what it takes to run one of the largest towns in America. She flounders when discussing the issues, big or small. Her efforts, well-intentioned as they are, don't make her a suitable choice for supervisor.
That said, we would still encourage Murray to look into Goosby's charge that the town's budget is bloated by patronage positions. Every cent could count going forward in these fiscally uncertain times.
The Herald endorses Kathleen Murray for town supervisor.
Vote Bonilla, Clavin in clerk and tax receiver races
MARK BONILLA
DONALD X. CLAVIN
In the races for Town of Hempstead receiver of taxes and clerk, the Herald endorses Republican incumbents Donald Clavin and Mark Bonilla, respectively.
Both men are energetic, open-minded and focused on the job at hand. Moreover, they work well with Republican town Supervisor Kathleen Murray, whom the Herald has also endorsed.
Clavin and Bonilla's respective opponents, Democrats Jerry LaMonica and Kevin Gorman, appear to view the tax receiver and clerk's posts as stepping stones to higher office. Both have also said they want to shake up the town through these offices. The tax receiver and clerk, however, have no ability to write new policy. Instead, they mainly educate residents about town services.
Gorman and LaMonica have proved to be effective community activists, but we see no reason to unseat the Republican incumbents for tax receiver and clerk.
Vote Clavin for Hempstead Town tax receiver and Bonilla for clerk on Nov. 4th.
Vote O'Shea for county assessor
CHARLES O'SHEA
This year's race for Nassau County assessor has turned into a pitched battle, rife with partisan rhetoric. Voters wouldn't necessarily expect that of the race for assessor. The post is generally considered low-profile. This year, however, it's anything but.
Both men running for assessor -- incumbent Republican Charles O'Shea and Democrat Harvey Levinson, are accomplished leaders. Each is smart and well educated, with a long commitment to public service.
Though we like the challenger, our endorsement must go to O'Shea. He has seen the county through the often arcane reassessment of Nassau County's more than 400,000 residential and commercial properties. The court-ordered project, which wound down in 2002, was a three-year ordeal in which all of the county's assessments were recalculated.
Levinson claims that the company charged with carrying out the project -- Cole, Layer and Trumble -- failed in its mission in many respects. He says that some 40,000 properties were incorrectly assessed. O'Shea defends Cole, Layer and Trumble's effort, saying 40,000 amounts to roughly 10 percent of the county's total number of properties. That means 90 percent of properties were correctly assessed. O'Shea says that's excellent, considering the fact that the county hadn't reassessed properties for more than 60 years.
We agree -- the result was excellent. Of course, it could be improved upon, and O'Shea promises to do just that during the county's annual updates of its assessment rolls.
Two types of properties that proved difficult to assess were waterfront and luxury homes (those selling for $1 million or more). Jeff Gold, a Democratic member of the county's Board of Assessors and now a Town of Hempstead Council candidate, tried to raise the issue of waterfront assessments. When he did, however, the Assessor's Office re-examined assessments only in Gold's hometown of Bellmore. Gold said the move was blatantly political, and that O'Shea should be ashamed. We agree.
Levinson, however, has played his fair share of political tricks. He was appointed by County Executive Thomas Suozzi to review the reassessment. Last March he issued a scathing report attacking the project. O'Shea predicted that Levinson would run for the assessor's office. Levinson said he wouldn't, but later reversed himself.
Furthermore, Levinson's election palm cards read, "Harvey Levinson, Assessor," leaving voters with the impression that he already has the job in an attempt to give him the so-called incumbency advantage. It's an old political trick and really a minor point in the election. The thing is, Democrats made a big deal of it when Republican challenger Michael Carroll tried the same stunt against incumbent Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg in 2001.
We see no reason to unseat a successful incumbent. Vote Charles O'Shea for county assessor on Nov. 4.
Ambrosino deserves chance to be elected
EDWARD AMBROSINO
If it seems as if there's a pattern to politics in the Town of Hempstead, there is. For years, many incumbents in higher offices have run only to step down in mid-term, leaving the Republican majority to appoint a new supervisor or councilperson. As November approaches, the mailings increase and the name of the new "incumbent" is etched into the sides of many a fence along the major roads.
This isn't to say that such appointments never work out. The Town of Hempstead moves along without much fanfare or scandal, and the system remains sound for now.
Voters in the 2nd Councilmanic District were introduced to North Valley Stream lawyer Edward Ambrosino last March, when he stepped in for long-time Councilman Joseph Kearney. A Republican insider who has served in various capacities over the years, Ambrosino traveled with new supervisor Kate Murray to the obligatory photo-ops, ensuring voters would at least know his name.
Luckily for residents of Elmont, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and North Valley Stream, there is a live human behind the Ambrosino banners. The life-long resident is familiar with local issues and knows the inner workings of what he referred to as the "marble layer cake" of government in his district. Along the way, Ambrosino has listened to residents and has generally responded to them with enthusiasm, even saying that he's having "fun."
His opponent, West Hempstead lawyer and political newcomer George Bassias, has presented himself well and has shown a lot more fight than the Democrats generally do in town races. He is right in believing that balance on the town board is needed, but at the same time, the Town of Hempstead has been run very efficiently under its current setup. Bassias' goals are noble and his concerns sincere, and the Herald hopes he remains active in the local political scene.
But we also see no reason why the more experienced Ambrosino should not be elected to the post he was appointed to. He does not appear to be the type of politician who shows up for the photo-ops right before the election only to go unnoticed, once elected, until the next race rolls around. As long as Ambrosino remains aware of the many concerns of residents in the unincorporated areas he represents -- especially illegal housing and zoning troubles -- he has at least earned the opportunity to become a real incumbent.
Elect Cullin to town council
ANGELINA CULLIN
The Town of Hempstead has long been seen as Republican territory, a political stronghold that virtually ensures GOP candidates victory come Election Day. We, however, would like to see greater Democratic representation on the town level.
Hempstead is well run, no doubt. It maintains a multi-million-dollar surplus, keeps taxes low and is committed to delivering services. But a true two-party government would make the town all that much better.
A legitimate Democratic candidate for Hempstead Town Council, Jeff Gold, of Bellmore, has surfaced in the 5th Councilmanic District this year. We'd like to offer him our endorsement. But we can't.
Gold, a political protg of County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg, is involved, smart and caring. His GOP incumbent opponent, Angelina Cullin (R-Freeport), however, does her job too well for us to recommend ousting her from the position in order to gain greater Democratic representation on the council.
The way we see it, the primary responsibility of any council member is to ensure that services, from trash collection to street repair, are carried out on time and on budget. In this respect, Cullin excels. She has made sure myriad projects in the Merricks and Bellmores have gotten done over the past two years. In particular, numerous streets have been repaved in Merrick. Under Cullin and former town Supervisor Richard Guardino, the town created a wildlife sanctuary in Merrick. Local parks are well maintained. In particular, the town's Norman J. Levy Preserve has become a South Shore jewel.
We can't argue with Cullin's performance, and so we see no reason to remove her from office.
Gold makes a good point when he says the town suffers from political patronage. He mentioned Supervisor Kate Murray's father, who's on the town payroll for more than $100,000 a year, as an example. Gold also spoke of Cullin's own son, who works for the town at $71,000 annually. Cullin explained that her son joined the town before she entered public life as Hempstead's first councilwoman in 1986.
Gold makes another good point when he says the town should do more to enforce housing statutes governing illegal basement apartments. Cullin rightly says that more affordable housing should be built to reduce the need for illegal apartments. The only questions are when and how?
Finally, we'd like to see Cullin more at community events throughout her district so that she's more accessible to the people. She has, however, been easily reachable by phone or letter.
Vote Angelina Cullin for Hempstead Town Council on Nov. 4.
Darcy for town's 3rd Council District
JAMES DARCY
Residents of the Town of Hempstead's 3rd Councilmanic District -- encompassing Atlantic Beach, East Atlantic Beach, Cedarhurst, Elmont, Inwood, North Woodmere, Hewlett, Lawrence, North Woodmere, Valley Stream, Woodsburgh, Woodmere, and parts of Franklin Square, Lynbrook, Malverne and North Valley Stream -- are well represented by their current councilman, Republican James Darcy, and the Herald strongly endorses his bid for re-election.
Darcy has been the mayor of the incorporated Village of Valley Stream and this area's state assemblyman, and now has three years' experience on the town board, serving the diverse interests of the district. We believe he has a thorough understanding of the issues affecting the communities he serves and the energy and experience to get things done for the people he represents.
It was Darcy's leadership that enabled communities to contract with local libraries for full service after the state regents acted to deprive some areas of library access by prohibiting the purchase of library cards.
We like his current efforts to forge cooperative agreements between the town and the villages in his district on roadwork and other projects. By hooking necessary local village projects onto much larger town contracts, village taxpayers can use the town's greater contract-negotiating power to reduce village costs. Taxpayers have long complained about duplication of service and the inefficiencies of Nassau's multi-layered governments -- county, town and village -- but here's a case where Darcy is trying to use the power of one layer of government to benefit a smaller one. This is exactly what our elected officials at every level ought to be doing: getting important things done while keeping a keen eye on ways to do them more effectively and at the least cost.
Darcy's opponent, Vincent Grasso, is a bright and eager Democrat who must be applauded for his willingness to serve. We're sure he'll eventually find a way into elected office, and we're just as sure he'll do a commendable job when he does. But we think Jim Darcy is the right man for Hempstead's 3rd Councilmanic District in this election. He's demonstrated that he has the know-how, desire, experience and political savvy to do good things in the district, and we think he deserves another term to keep doing them.
