Town of Hempstead Council Member District 2

The Island Now

Town of Hempstead Council Member District 2

Description:

 

Candidates (choose 1):

Thomas E. Muscarella

Party: REP, CON, IND

Biographical Info:

Campaign Phone: (516) 312-4588

Campaign Web Site: https://tommuscarella.com

Campaign Email: tomtoh2@gmail.com

City/Town of Residence: Garden City

Prior Civic Service: Sons of Italy Knights of Columbus Elmont Little League Garden City Little League Franklin Square Lions Saint Annes Church

Questions:

Q: What do you consider are the most important two issues facing the town at this time?

A: The most important issues facing the town are the need to control taxes and spending, as well as addressing unsustainable development and including local communities in the development process. I am a proponent of controlling government taxes and spending. I support the Hempstead Town Board’s 2019 adopted tax cut budget, which was supported by every member of the Town Board except Supervisor Laura Gillen.

In fact, the supervisor proposed hiking town taxes by millions for 2019, and I was a vocal critic of that maneuver. Regarding unsustainable development, the 2nd Councilmanic District is under assault. The third track is having a major adverse quality-of-life impact on our communities. At the same time, the Belmont project has the potential to devastate our neighborhoods.

A massive apartment construction proposal in a residential neighborhood of Hew Hyde Park further threatened to bring local traffic to a standstill. The governor’s last-minute addition of a full-time Belmont LIRR commuter station to his massive project did not provide adequate community input, and residents are rightly concerned about issues such as traffic, parking, pollution, noise and crime. I am an advocate of sustainable development; however, the 2nd Councilmanic district is being slammed with development initiatives that have not been adequately studied and lack sufficient community inclusion.

Q: What do you plan to do to make our town government more transparent and efficient?

A: Enhanced openness and transparency are top priorities for me as a governmental official. I was proud to recently vote in favor of enhanced ethics legislation on the Town Board, which implemented strong safeguards in the Town’s Building Department. Specifically, the legislation precludes employees from handling the building applications of family members. And, the new law also prohibits Building Department staffers from “flipping” properties. I also was a vocal supporter of the Town’s enhanced ethics reforms that were approved in April. These reforms established new rules against conflicts of interest, protections against nepotism and safeguards of free speech, particularly protecting those who are critical of town elected officials, policies and procedures.

Thomas J. Tweedy

Party: DEM, WFP

Photo provided by the League of Women Voters
Biographical Info:

Campaign Web Site: https://tomtweedy2019.org

Campaign Email: teamtweedy2019@gmail.com

City/Town of Residence: Floral Park

Prior Civic Service: Three-term mayor of Floral Park and five-term village trustee

Questions:

Q: What do you consider are the most important two issues facing the town at this time?

A: First, Nassau County and our town has a corruption, nepotism and patronage problem. Ambrosino, Mangano, Walker, Skelos: Too many GOP politicians place corrupt political interests before homeowners, small businesses and families. I’m tired of the waste of taxpayer dollars that happens when jobs and contracts go to insiders. And I’m tired of our town government being defined by splashy Newsday headlines rather than good government initiatives. I’m a registered Republican, but I’m running as a Democrat because the Hempstead GOP has become more interested in lining their own pockets than creating a good, fiscally responsible local government. Second, we need a real plan to fix our aging roads and infrastructure. The condition of our roads not only affects the condition of our cars and the safety of our streets, it has a distinct effect on the value of our homes for years to come. I want to make sure that the Long Island that I leave to my kids as good as the one I’ve helped to build.

Q: What do you plan to do to make our town government more transparent and efficient?

A: Our government is less efficient, and our tax dollars are wasted when jobs go to insiders. We need to end our culture of nepotism and patronage to create a government that works for everyone – not just the politically connected. I want to see fewer family names in our local government and more qualified workers. That means modernizing our government and making it 100% accessible online. Transparency starts with accessibility. As mayor, I worked every day to use our resources as efficiently as possible – eliminating waste and only hiring the best for government jobs. That’s how we built a new multimillion-dollar pool complex on-time and on-budget, managed a village leading road repair program, built Floral Park’s 9/11 memorial, created a new Tree Department and Maintenance Division, and rebuilt after Sandy without piercing the 2% tax cap. I want to bring that efficient leadership to our Town to make sure that every dime of our tax dollars helps the communities that need it the most.

Share this Article