Judi Bosworth began the second year of her tenure as North Hempstead town supervisor the way she began her first – with a major snowstorm to touch down on the region just as she prepared to deliver a major speech.
So in her second State of the Town address Friday, Bosworth looked to former Town Supervisor May Newburger’s 1995 speech – the second of her nine-year stint in the position – for inspiration, as North Hempstead continued to dig itself out from Winter Storm Juno.
“Battling 17 snow storms is a rugged beginning, but it gave me basic training for what would be a tough and rewarding year,” Bosworth told a luncheon of elected officials and guests of the Port Washington-Manhasset chapter of the League of Women Voters at the Harbor Links Golf Course, before revealing she had been reading Newburger’s words.
“…I guess some things don’t change,” she added, “even 20 years later.”
Bosworth, a former Nassau County Legislator and Great Neck Board of Education official who was elected town supervisor in 2013, said her administration would continue to achieve goals of increased efficiency and transparency in its second year, as many town departments have eliminated the use of paper and more information has become available on the town’s website.
But those were minor accomplishments, she said, as even larger initiatives toward those goals were met in the previous year. Bosworth touted the announcement of the town’s $125 million 2015 budget prior to the November elections, going off-script to say that “everything we do has fiscal ramifications.”
“You have a right to know what the budget is before you step into the voting booth on election day,” she said, adding the budget was “fiscally conservative” while maintaining town programs.
In addition, Bosworth said she was proud of a restructuring of the town’s building department – a one-time campaign goal – and praised Applicant Advocate Lauren Summa and department Commissioner John Niewender for their efforts in the last year.
In 2015, Bosworth said she would push for even more significant building department reforms, including an online program that would enable applicants to check the status of their applications and various initiatives to cut down on wait times on plan reviews.
“We are optimistic about achieving these goals, as more and more residents give us feedback that they are receiving better answers, more accurate information and real assistance from our building department,” she said.
“Yes, we have more work to do,” Bosworth added, “but we are on our way to a building department that is user-friendly, thoroughly professional and more efficient and responsive.”
Bosworth said she would continue to combat two ongoing disputes that were “bookends” to her first year in office – the installation of 200 80-foot utility poles sprayed with the pesticide “penta” and a plan to open a 1,000-slot video terminal gambling parlor at the site of the former Fortunoff building in Westbury.
The North Hempstead town council last fall passed legislation requiring the removal of decommissioned utility poles – Bosworth said 137 had been removed since – as well as another law requiring utilities identify the use of penta.
Bosworth said she has also called upon the Environmental Protection Agency to ban penta altogether, saying, “There’s no place in this community or any community for such a toxin to be used on an easily accessible object, within reach of school children, pedestrians and even pets.”
With regard to the proposed gambling parlor, Bosworth said the town is one of several municipalities to file a lawsuit against the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. for a temporary injunction against the acquisition of the Old Country Road site.
Though the site is located within the Town of Hempstead, Bosworth and other town officials have spoken at rallies against the use of the site, whose opponents also include Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Nassau County Legislator Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) and Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola.
“Contrary to what OTB officials say, all the studies in the world can’t turn a bad idea into a good idea, and this is a colossally bad idea,” Bosworth said.
Bosworth said one of the most significant aspects of her 2015 agenda would come from protecting water resources.
In her speech Friday, she called on the state to form an oversight mechanism to determine the long-term stability of Long Island’s water supply as well as for New York City to analyze the health impact a plan to reopen several dozen wells in Jamaica, Queens would have on Long Island residents.
She said she would also continue to seek housing for senior residents, saying the town is exploring housing initiatives at the old Grand Street property in New Cassel as well as a proposed development near Community Drive in Manhasset.
“It’s so important to be able to provide our aging residents with safe and secure places to live, so they are not priced out of the community that they themselves helped build,” Bosworth said.
In the next year, Bosworth said the town would continue to improve its parks and facilities using its 2014 capital plan and nearly $8 million in state and federal grants.
Notably, she said the town would focus on creating a long-term plan to revitalize North Hempstead Beach Park and begin work to the Roslyn Country Club Park District.
“As tough as it sometimes was, this has been a wonderful and challenging job for me, and I hope to continue,” Bosworth said in her concluding remarks, again borrowing Newburger’s words. “There’s still so much to do – some of it tough, some of it easy – but all of it rewarding.”
