By Angela Marshall
So when longtime neighbor and family friend Mondello announced her as his choice for supervisor to the party's executive leaders last Thursday, Jan. 16 and they unanimously accepted her selection, she couldn't help but feel overwhelming pride and gratitude. "It was quite a moment," Murray said during an interview the next day.
Guardino is leaving in February to take a post at Hofstra University.
Members of the town board are expected to vote on Murray's selection on Tuesday, Jan. 28. If approved, Murray, 40, will be the first woman town supervisor in Hempstead's 350-year history.
She has broken other gender barriers during her political career. Murray was the first state assemblywoman for the 19th district and was the first female town clerk when she was elected in 2001.
She feels that being a woman will only help her when it comes to being elected supervisor in her own right in November. Murray said she often sees a "visceral reaction" in women when they learn she is a politician with her eyes on higher office. She said they say, "Well, it's about time."
An attorney, Murray left her law practice when she was appointed to the 19th Assembly District, which runs from Levittown to Island Park, in 1998. She was elected twice and served for three years before running for town clerk.
Murray said many of her constituents from the 19th still call her with their problems and she's happy to help them. Just last week, she said, she called a school superintendent on behalf of a woman whose child has a reading problem.
Fellow Republican Assemblyman Dave McDonough, who succeeded Murray in the 19th, said that he is impressed by the reputation she earned during her time there, calling her an "outstanding administrator and legislator." He said she is definitely capable of running the town.
During her year as town clerk, Murray said that because she handles all of the town's licenses and permits, she's had her hands on all of the departments already and knows all of the commissioners and department heads. She has also worked closely with Guardino, and said that over the past few days they have been on the phone constantly. Guardino has made it clear that that doesn't have to stop once he leaves for Hofstra. "Twenty-four hours a day, Kate, call me," she said he told her.
When asked what she thinks will be the hardest task in running the town, Murray paused and said the sheer volume of everything. It is the largest township in the country -- but she said she's not daunted by it. "I really feel I'm qualified," she said.
As for working with the only Democrat on the town board, Dorothy Goosby, or any other Democrat elected to the board, Murray said, "I have every hope and every belief that we're going to get along."
During her years in the assembly, Murray said she worked across party lines on numerous bills and hopes to be able to develop a shared agenda with Goosby. "I'm not a fighter," Murray said, explaining that she believes in hashing things out and not trading barbs in newspapers. "I'm not going to change."
The biggest thing Murray will miss about being town clerk is performing weddings. She said it was good therapy, and she hopes to be able to find the time to squeeze a wedding in once in a while as supervisor. In between all her interviews and conversations with Guardino last Friday, she managed to marry a Baldwin couple.
Murray said she will continue to carry on the "great legacy" created by Guardino and build on it. "I'm very excited," she said. "I can't wait to plunge in."
