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Friday, February 10, 2023
Vol. 11, No. 6
VALENTINE’S DINING & GIFTS
SANTOS TAKES WEINSTOCK MIXED RESPONSE TO STATE OF THE UNION TO HOCHUL BUDGET
PAGES 25-32
PAGES 2
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Audit blocked: DeSena Supervisor says she interceded BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said Thursday she recently had to intervene on behalf of an audit she had requested of the town Building Department by the Nassau Country comptroller when certain documents were not turned over. “As part of the independent audit, the county comptroller is fully within their rights to request any and all information they deem relevant to the process, so refusing a records request and potentially impeding the comptroller’s audit is quite alarming,” DeSena said in a statement. “When I was notified by auditors that the department wasn’t complying, I immediately stepped in, and reiterated to the commissioner directly that the department is to cooperate fully and fulfill any request from the comptroller’s office.” DeSena said since she made her request the Building Department has provided the requested records to the auditors. She said they included details surrounding the last 200 permit applications to come into the department. “Going forward, our Building Department must be open, honest, and transparent in this process and without any delays,” added DeSena, a Republican. Continued on Page 47
PHOTO BY ROBERT PELAEZ
3rd District residents gathered at the Roslyn train station Tuesday morning before traveling to Washington D.C. to call on U.S. Rep. George Santos to resign. See stories on pages 2, 6.
Mascot clarification awaited State Ed Dept. seeks elimination of images depicting Native Americans BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z Members of the Manhasset Board of Education are seeking more clarification on proposed requirements by the state’s education department to have school districts stop using mascots, team names or imagery depicting Native Americans during Thursday night’s public meeting.
The state DOE released a memo on Nov. 17 informing school districts that do fall under that category, such as Manhasset, to adopt a resolution to eliminate the names of all indigenous names, logos and mascots by the end of the 2022-23 school year. Superintendent Gaurav Passi said all indications from the state’s education department and its council of su-
perintendents point to the regulations being adopted. Officials did not go into specifics on what would be done with the district’s “Indians” mascot, but members of the board presented questions to Passi and board President Pat Aitken on what the requirements would mean for Manhasset. Trustee Erin Royce questioned
what the district’s legal responsibility would be if, down the line, someone attended a district event with attire dawning the “Indian” mascot. The resolution Manhasset would have to adopt under the proposed regulation requires them to “identify a plan to eliminate all use of the prohibited name, work, or mascot within a reasonContinued on Page 46
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