By John C. O'Connell
The duties of the village clerk in Valley Stream are decidedly plural. They range from supervising the activities of all department heads and their staffs, to acting as the village receiver of taxes, to serving as registrar of all vital records, to fulfilling a long list of other everyday responsibilities that assure the village runs smoothly and in the residents' best interests. In business, the village clerk would be the chief operating officer.
The village clerk also serves as clerk of the Village Board of Trustees, preparing the agenda for decisions at the direction of the mayor and the board, and making sure the board's policies are followed and actions are carried out.
Vincent Ang has been the village clerk for 12 years.
"The job really hasn't changed all that much in my time here, in terms of the basic responsibilities," Ang said. "But there have been significant changes in the sense that it's gotten more complicated, more involved, thanks to more regulations and more [state] mandates. ... The job is very hectic, very busy."
The village clerk -- in Valley Stream the title is technically village clerk/administrator -- supervises a Village Hall staff of 30 to 35 and is ultimately responsible for the entire village complement of 350 to 600 employees, depending on the season.
The village clerk, whether directly or through subordinate managers, has supervisory or oversight responsibilities for library administration, recreation, parks, the multi-faceted public works department, building maintenance and meters, purchasing, legal affairs, the treasurer's office, the building department, human resources and court administration, the fire department and the auxiliary police.
Valley Stream is larger than either of the two cities in Nassau County, the South Shore's Long Beach and the North Shore's Glen Cove, from which the county's new executive, Tom Suozzi, hails. In fact, Suozzi was a full-time mayor of a city only about two-thirds the size of Valley Stream, which has a part-time mayor.
Valley Stream has 11,000 taxable parcels, the largest number in the state of New York. The village population stands at about 38,000.
As big as the village is, Ang says he loves his work. "One of the best parts of the job for me is taking care of a person who's upset and making him leave with a smile on his face," he said. "I like to resolve people's problems whenever I can."
Ang says the biggest challenge -- and the biggest satisfaction -- of the position is seeing large projects through to completion. "Sometimes it's frustrating when we try to get major progressive projects, ones where I see there will be benefits to the residents, like the miniature golf course, for example -- to get that through all the hurdles that get put up," Ang said. "And yet when it does finally get done, after all the problems, it is very rewarding to actually see it getting accomplished."
Ang also cited the clubhouse in Firemen's Field as another example. "So much misinformation gets put out -- that's part of what's frustrating," he said. "Even a road program. To go from identifying a road, doing the engineering, bidding, awarding, bonding, [to] getting it actually done. Each step has its challenges that need to be met."
Ang tells a story about taxes and trying to help people understand what they're getting for what they're paying. "There was this man who came to me and said he was unhappy with the village. When I asked him why, he said he wasn't getting enough for the $6,000 he pays in taxes," Ang said.
"So I asked him how much he was paying for the schools. He didn't know, and I told him 60 percent of his taxes go to his school districts. That's about $3,600. About 21 percent goes to the town and the county, I told him. We figured that was about $1,260. That leaves about eleven hundred dollars that goes to the village. I explained that for that he gets the sewer service, street sweeping, snow removal from village streets, the highway department, all the parks and recreation services and quite a bit more."
Ang said the man changed how he felt about his taxes and the value of what he gets from the village.
To do the village clerk/administrator job right, according to Ang, one must be a "very patient person and have an unflappable temperament."
Unflappable or not, the job can't possibly be done single-handedly. The village clerk is greatly assisted in his responsibilities by his secretary, Barbara Cassidy, and an "excellent management staff," he said. "This is the best staff I have ever had. I'm not a micro-manager. I expect them to do their jobs and to act responsibly."
Cassidy has been the village clerk's secretary for 15 years, and Ang speaks of her as a blessing. "She is a very committed person, a hard worker on whom I rely a lot," he said. Cassidy is also the sub-registrar, so it's not unusual for her to be called to duty on weekends from home to sign death certificates.
Ang is grateful for the people he works with, and loves the village he works for. "You see, the village addresses people's needs on a personal basis, on the closest governmental level there is," he said. "We know we have to stretch that tax dollar as wisely as we can."
Editor's note: This story is part of an occasional series of Herald articles that focus on village positions and employees, what they do and how their work benefits the Valley Stream community.
