Serving The Willistons, Albertson, Herricks, Mineola, Roslyn Heights, and Searingtown
$1
Friday, September 22, 2017
Vol. 66, No. 38
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 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 conflicts 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 professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Government. Continued on Page 71
PHOTO BY AMELIA CAMURATI
Hoopin’ it up A girl competes in one of the final rounds of the hula hoop contest at Sunday’s 39th annual Williston Day Street Fair. See story on page 3 and more photos on page 13.
Lou Sanders, founder of Mineola paper, dies at 94 was 94. “It became a bedrock of this town,” Tom Sanders, his Lou Sanders, founder of son, said of the Mineola Amerithe Mineola American weekly can. “I would definitely have to newspaper and staple of the lo- say that [he considered] foundcal community, died Friday. He ing the paper to be one of his
BY LU K E TORRANCE
greatest accomplishments.” Sanders was born on July 22, 1923, in the St. Albans neighborhood in Queens. He was drafted into the Army in 1942 and served four years in Continued on Page 57
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