Hempstead Town Board members may not see eye to eye on all issues, with a pending lawsuit between Town Supervisor Laura Gillen and the board members, but there is one thing they agree on – people should not be able to pee in public.
The Town Board voted unanimously to ban public urination and defecation at last Tuesday’s board meeting.
The new law will allow Hempstead Town public safety officers and Nassau County police and park rangers to write tickets to those violating the law, according to Newsday.
Before the law passed, police could not write citations when responding to complaints because there wasn’t a law in the town code, Councilman Dennis Dunne said, according to Newsday.
“The reason for this is, there’s been a problem — police couldn’t write a ticket,” Dunne said, according to Newsday. “This is disgusting. Most of the time there are big-rig drivers or cabdrivers urinating in clear sight in our parking fields.”
The board also unanimously passed a bipartisan transparency law at the meeting.
The resolution requires all town contracts over $10,000 to be posted online, along with full disclosure of all financial, forensic and performance audits relating to the town departments, agencies and operations.
The resolution was proposed by Gillen, Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney and Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby.
It also will require all preliminary and final town budget materials and documents relating to the Highway Capital Plan to be posted online.
There will also be a link to the New York state Board of Elections campaign finance disclosure page so residents are aware of public information relating to current and past political campaign contributions.
“Openness and transparency were hallmarks of my campaign, which are not only key to rebuilding trust in Town Hall, but vital for the functioning of basic Democracy,” Gillen said in a news release. “I am proud to have worked jointly with Council members on this and look forward to implementing what will lead to greater civic engagement and public participation in our town.”
