By Scott Brinton
Murray, 45, of Levittown, said she has held the line on town taxes since taking office five years ago while also working to preserve the town's environment and revitalize neglected business districts, such as those in Baldwin, Elmont, Inwood and Roosevelt.
Gorman, 56, of Wantagh, said the town's record on the environment is admirable, but more could be done. And, he said, the town may have frozen taxes in its general fund, but it has "hidden" increases in line items on residents' tax bills for any one of 19 town-supervised special districts, such as the Seaford Parking District and the Levittown Water District. Such districts, Gorman noted, differ from the commissioner-run special districts that dot the South Shore in that they do not have boards of commissioners, but rather are under the town¹s direct control.
Gorman also said that, while the town has developed blueprints for downtown revitalization projects, many of those plans have yet to come to fruition. And, he said, the lack of redevelopment in West Hempstead, particularly in the area surrounding the Courtesy Hotel, has become a sore subject for local residents.
Indeed, the town supervisor race may become a fiery one, but Gorman faces a tough battle against Murray, who enjoys a 3-to-2 Republican-to-Democrat voter registration advantage as well as popular support from business and environmental leaders alike. Democrats say, however, that even in the GOP-dominated Town of Hempstead, residents are showing a greater willingness to cross party lines and vote Democratic, and they add that the town's demographics are changing continually, with a greater number of minorities, which traditionally vote Democratic, moving in.
The supervisor serves a two-year term.
The environment
Murray, who lives next door to her childhood home, said she has been interested in the natural world since her childhood, when she played at local parks and beaches. She said she realizes how precious a commodity open space is in a highly developed municipality such as the Town of Hempstead. And that is why, she said, she has made preserving the environment one of her top priorities while in office.
Murray said the town has installed 300 solar panels on Town Hall in Hempstead, as well as at the town's Department of Conservation and Waterways offices in Lido Beach. A $260,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and a $50,000 rebate from the Long Island Power Authority paid for the projects. The solar installations, she said, are saving the town $19,000 in energy bills annually.
A fuel cell, which creates electricity through an electrochemical process rather than by burning fossil fuels, now helps power the town's animal shelter in Wantagh. Fuel cells emit few greenhouse gases, and their only real byproduct is boiling water, which the town uses to clean the shelter's animal cages.
The town has Long Island's only fleet of hybrid electric garbage trucks, Murray said. The five vehicles run on diesel fuel and electricity, and emit only a fraction of the greenhouse gases that traditional garbage trucks do. A $325,000 NYSERDA grant helped fund the project.
The town also has a fleet of 77 Global Electric Motor Cars, built by Daimler Chrysler. A New York state grant, secured by Sen. Dean Skelos, a Republican from Rockville Centre, helped to fund the fleet. The cars, which are similar in appearance to golf carts, but larger and sturdier, replaced a number of gasoline-powered town cars.
Most of the town's big environmental projects, Murray said, have been paid for through grants. And, she said, the town has looked for ways to increase residents' awareness of the environment. This past summer, the town started offering kayak "eco-tours" of the saltwater wetlands that hug the Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve in Merrick. Town rangers lead the tours, which give residents a glimpse of the diverse bird, animal and marine species that inhabit the South Shore's vast expanses of Spartina marsh grass.
Gorman said the Town of Hempstead should do more to reduce runoff from street drains, which carry a host of toxins, from pesticides to motor oil, into South Shore bays. He would like to see filtration systems installed in the drains, and explained that the systems could be paid for if the town consolidated its special districts and folded their budgets into the town's general fund.
Redevelopment
Murray said Nassau County was fortunate to have recently received an Empire Zone, which offers special state tax and financial incentives to private businesses to help attract them to lower-income communities. It is one of more than 80 such districts across the state. Ninety percent of Nassau's Empire Zone falls within the town¹s borders.
Murray said the town has conducted blight studies in communities such as Elmont and worked with Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and the nonprofit Sustainable Long Island in what Murray called a "visioning program." The program takes time because, she said, community stakeholders first offer their visions for their downtowns, and the town develops plans from there. After that, the town seeks developers.
Murray said the town recently scored a success in Roosevelt with a dilapidated hulk of a building at 380 Nassau Road. The eyesore, on seven acres, was known for years by residents as the "pink elephant." After years of searching, the town found a developer, which is turning the abandoned property into a corporate office complex, returning it to the tax rolls. "We find ourselves in the very enviable position of having to fend off potential tenants," Murray said.
Gorman, who lives in his childhood home, said he would like to see a greater amount of what he called "work force" apartment complexes centered around South Shore downtowns, providing young people and low-income families with affordable housing while giving downtown businesses a shot in the arm with a steady stream of local customers.
If elected, Gorman said, he would hold a redevelopment summit that included representatives of Sustainable Long Island and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now to develop a "work force housing rental solution," as well as an overall plan for town-wide redevelopment. He noted that Sustainable Long Island projects that the town needs 5,000 units of affordable housing to meet the needs of lower-income families and seniors, but is building, on average, only 10 to 20 units a year.
"Our young people can't stay here. Our older residents are home-rich, cash-poor," Gorman said.
Oversight
Gorman said he would bring a more critical eye to town government. He said Hempstead commissioners are, generally speaking, Republican Party leaders. And, with the GOP having enjoyed one-party rule for 107 years, Republicans have grown too comfortable, which, at times, leads to corruption, he said. Gorman mentioned a recent scandal involving a town Building Department commissioner, John Loeffel, who expanded his Levittown home without filing for the necessary permits with his own department, and installed an illegal apartment at the residence.
Murray and other Republican leaders said the case, which came to light last February, was an isolated incident, and they were unaware that the commissioner had not filed for needed permits. When Murray learned of Loeffel's actions, she called on him to resign, which he did the next day.
"This whole revelation has been horrendous," Murray said in a published report last February.
Candidates' backgrounds
Murray, an attorney, served in the New York State Assembly from 1998 to 2001. She then became Town of Hempstead clerk. In 2002, former Hempstead supervisor Richard Guardino, a Republican, resigned from office to take a post at Hofstra University. The town board then appointed Murray as supervisor before she ran for and won election as the town's chief executive.
Gorman, who holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Fordham University, was in banking and financial planning for 20 years, helping customers process home loan applications. He is now executive director of labor and facilities for the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
