Serving New Hyde Park, North New Hyde Park, Herricks, Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Floral Park
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Friday, September 22, 2017
Vol. 66, No. 38
N E W H Y D E PA R K
CAREERS & EDUCATION
BIERWIRTH TAPPED TO COUNTY BUDGET CALLS HELP FIX HEMPSTEAD FOR TAX, FEE HIKES
PAGES 31-42
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r 22, 2017 ction • septembe ations special se ia / litmor public a blank slate med
No sanctions from ethics board in 4 years
F U N AT T H E FA I R
County body has two vacant seats; new law aims to increase activity BY N O A H M A N S K A R Since January 2013, three Nassau County legislators have reported to prison, County Executive Edward Mangano has been indicted, and his chief deputy, Rob Walker, has admitted on the stand in another corruption trial that he is under federal investigation. In the same time, the Nassau County Board of Ethics, a recent object of reform efforts by Democrats and Republicans, has issued no sanctions for violations of the county ethics code. In response to Blank Slate Media’s Freedom of Information request seeking all decisions in ethics cases from Jan. 1, 2013, to July 10 of this year, the board said any complaints received during that period “did not result in any final decision where the board found that a violation had occurred” and imposed a penalty. The ethics board is tasked with enforcing the county’s ethics code, which aims to protect against con-
flicts of interest, bribery, nepotism and other abuses by public officials and employees. It can impose fines of up to $10,000. The code gives the board five members: the county attorney and four other people appointed by the county executive to five-year terms. All but the county attorney are unpaid. But the board has been at less than full strength for more than four years. Mangano never appointed a replacement for Stephen Turman after his resignation in May 2013. And Albert D’Agostino, whom Mangano appointed to the board that year, resigned on May 7 of this year, he said in an interview. “In general terms, it suggests it’s the kind of ethics commission the elected officials want — one that is not causing trouble and examining their behavior and potentially sanctioning them,” said James Svara, the author of several articles on government ethics and a visiting profesContinued on Page 57
PHOTO BY NOAH MANSKAR
A girl makes sand art at last Saturday’s New Hyde Park Street Fair. The 22nd annual event drew thousands of people to Jericho Turnpike. See story on page 3.
Groundbreaking drug gives hope to NHP sisters BY N O A H MANSKAR For most of their lives, Laura Chamadian and Lisa Panzica were resigned to living with spinal muscular atrophy, a ge-
netic disease that inhibits their muscle movement and often left them fatigued. That changed in July, when the New Hyde Park sisters became the first siblings in New York to be treated with Spinra-
za, a groundbreaking new drug that they said has changed their lives. “I have been given a hope and a miracle, one that I never thought I would see in my lifeContinued on Page 56
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