Thursday, December 12, 2024
When Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe announced her campaign for the seat in the 6th State Senate District last December, she highlighted her decades of work in Mineola and emphasized that there is still more work to be done across the state.
During her visit to the Herald for a Roundtable session, Bynoe, 56, reflected on her time as a public servant — a path inspired by her parents, who were dedicated to serving their community.
“I believe that my parents, the way they raised my sister and I, it was to really do hard work,” she said. “They were public servants themselves, and they taught us the value of always making sure you work to make wherever you live or work a better place.”
Before becoming the legislator for District 2, Bynoe built a foundation in public service as commissioner of the North Hempstead Housing Authority, to which she was appointed by the North Hempstead Town Council in 2008. The Westbury native was elected to the Westbury Board of Education in 2010, where she served two terms and focused on educational policies. In 2014, she was elected to the County Legislature in a special election.
Despite being in the minority in Mineola, Bynoe said that many of the things she has accomplished — including the passage of the Ground Water and Public Supply Facts Report Law and implementation of police body cameras — could be advanced to the state agenda if she were elected to the Senate.
Her top priority in Albany would be to preserve public benefits and resources like Nassau University Medical Center, which was on the brink of a financial collapse earlier this year. Another priority is the need for housing, particularly the potential for residential development on the NUMC campus.
“We need to turn the corner — it’s a public-benefit hospital that provides Trauma One care, and we have tons of people within the Senate district that rely on that hospital,” Bynoe said. “There are opportunities there for senior housing, workforce housing, especially for folks who we want to ensure have access to health care; they could be right on the campus.”
On the topic of mental and behavioral health, Bynoe is a strong advocate of increasing access to mental health resources, a pressing issue in today’s society. In Mineola, she successfully passed legislation to conduct a study and recommend alternative police responses to calls about mental health crises.
Earlier this year, Baldwin Middle School unveiled an in-house wellness center on its campus. Asked if she would push for more in-house facilities at schools, Bynoe said that she would, in a thoughtful way.
“We should go to those community organizations, including schools, that can host those types of facilities on their campuses and have folks that are already doing the work, fund them, and go in and talk to the young people,” she said.
With years of experience in the legislature, Bynoe aims to be the voice for Long Island residents in Albany if she is elected, addressing their concerns and striving for balance.
“Making sure that we have a voice — a strong voice in the Senate that really has a pulse on the issues and the concerns of Long Islanders,” she said. “I also want to go to Albany to bring some balance and make sure that, despite the fact that we have fewer members, we are equally as important, and our issues need to be addressed.”
