Serving New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Garden City Park, North Hills, Manhasset Hills and North New Hyde Park
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Friday, October 11, 2019
Vol. 68, No. 41
N E W H Y D E PA R K
SENIOR LIVING
STACKED SCHEDULE MANGANO LOSES OF CANDIDATE FORUMS LAW LICENSE
PAGES 33-40
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Gillen proposing restrictions on town leaders Says employees pressured into donations BY TOM M CC A RT HY
PHOTO BY TOM MCCARTHY
Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, left, and Town Clerk Sylvia Cabana, said last Thursday they are supporting a resolution that would prevent town department heads from also serving as political committee leaders.
Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen said last Thursday she plans to take on a “culture of corruption” in the town with legislation that would ban department heads from holding positions of power and influence in political party organizations. Gillen said that about half of the Town of Hempstead’s department chiefs, including nearly every commissioner and the town attorney, hold positions of power, influence and authority in local Republican clubs. Gillen said her legislation would
not prevent people from joining political parties of their choice, but it would prevent them from having a high rank in conjunction with their town position. “Government employees should never become or feel that they have to become part of a political party machine beholden to party officials and not to the taxpayers,” Gillen said. “No town employee should feel that their promotions, their raises or their very employment are dependent on giving a donation to a candidate or for doing political work.” The legislation would prohibit Continued on Page 59
Third track a model for island: report BY TOM M CC A RT HY
ress in getting large-scale projects done. At a Sept. 27 conference, The Rauch Foundation said that the Long Island Rail Road’s local officials joined the foundathird track project can serve as a tion in celebrating the release model for partnership and prog- of former Newsday journalist
Elizabeth Moore’s report for the Rauch Foundation “Breaking Through: How smart partnerships overcame decades of resistance to modernize America’s busiest commuter railroad.” The report serves as a model for partnership and progress, a replicable way to overcome a seemingly intractable problem and get the job done through deep
research, broad coalition building, perseverance and nonpartisan support, according to the Rauch Foundation. “Make no mistake, supporting the third track took courage on the part of nearly all parties involved,” said Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the foundation. “Elected officials risked their political careers. Businesses and private industries risked
their bottom lines.” Douzinas said she hopes the report will serve as a model for both Long Island and other regions on the importance of communication between local leaders, sharing good and honest research and being willing to negotiate. The LIRR expansion project will add a third track on the Continued on Page 58
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