Idea that there’s no transparency is ‘ridiculous’: De Giorgio

Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio has rejected criticism from her opponent in the race for North Hempstead Town Board that she has not been transparent.

Mariann Dalimonte, a Democrat running for the 6th District seat, had said she wanted to  bring back the voice of residents and said De Giorgio fell short of engaging all of her constituents.

“There was no merchant meeting. Not one merchant had a meeting with the councilperson,” Dalimonte said of a Port Washington project. “There was no community meeting.”

“Ridiculous is the only word I can come up with,” De Giorgio said in response.

The councilwoman, a Republican running for her third term in the November election, cited a community meeting held at the library for Port Washington residents in July 2018, which resulted in the creation of an email group for all who wanted to be informed of progress on the project, and continuous updates on her web page Portal 2 Port.

“We created an email group, and I’ve been communicating from July 2018 to today, about any updates,” De Giorgio said. “We’re even adding those who weren’t at that first meeting who want in on the email list.”

De Giorgio also said that she had held meetings with groups such as the Port Washington Waterfront Association and Residents Forward, among other groups.

“Since July [2018], I’ve met individually with any group that’s asked to meet with me,” De Giorgio said. “If you’re an interested group and you want to meet with me, I’ll meet with you.”

In addition, De Giorgio said, she created a steering committee to serve in an advisory capacity, which meets publicly and comprises local residents and representatives from Port groups.

“The idea that nobody knows what’s going on, that people can’t get involved, and that  we’re only listening to a select group is completely inaccurate,” De Giorgio said. “It’s just not borne out by what’s actually happening. If you ask the people on the committee, they’re very happy with the process.”

The goal for the steering committee, De Giorgio said, is to focus on commercial activity.

“Everybody on the steering committee was pretty pleased with the process, and how it’s going, so I think Mariann’s the only one that isn’t satisfied,” Di Giorgio said.

A request for comment from Dalimonte’s campaign was unavailing.