Supervisor Candidates Speak About Corruptions In Hempstead Town

There are many issues facing the Town of Hempstead, but foremost among them is the corruption that keeps getting exposed.

In recent years, there have been a series of corrupt and unethical decisions dogging the Town of Hempstead. A councilman pleaded guilty to tax evasion and resigned from his seat. A high-ranking employee was charged with stealing from the political club he ran.

Patch reached out to the three candidates running for Hempstead Town Supervisor — incumbent Democrat Laura Gillen, Republican challenger (and the town's receiver of taxes) Donald Clavin, and Independence Party challenger Diane Madden — to talk to them about corruption in the town, what they see as the problems and what can be done to fix them.

Corrupt Officials

In April, Hempstead Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino pleaded guilty to tax evasion and resigned from his seat on the council. In September, John Novello, the leader of the Five Towns Republican Club and the town's deputy commissioner of the Building Department, was charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the club.

Gillen said she has spent much of her first term trying to uncover corruption in the town, which she called a longstanding problem.

"Since day one, I have sought to and succeeded in exposing contracts to cronies, self dealing by commissioners and other corrupt practices that cheat residents and result in a corruption tax," she said. "Due to my efforts, there are multiple federal, state and district attorney investigations into the conduct I have exposed."

Gillen also touted the steps she says her administration has taken to combat corruption.

"My administration pushed to pass sweeping ethics, whistleblower and anti-harassment legislation," she said. "We also created a transparent, open and competitive process to bid for professional services contracts, instead of just handing them out to friends and family. This is a good start, but there remains more to be done."

Clavin did not go so far as to say there was a problem with corruption in the town, but did say he was committed to ethical and transparent government. He also called out Gillen for employing Jim LaCarrubba as her chief of staff. LaCarrubba has been accused of taking inappropriate payouts from the City of Long Beach.

"Articles in The Herald Community Newspapers have reported that City Council members believed that the supervisor’s chief of staff was a part-time employee at the time of his departure from the City of Long Beach, which would have made him ineligible to take a payout," he said. "Sadly, the supervisor has refused to comment on the issue or take any action against her chief of staff."

Clavin said he takes corruption in the town seriously, and outlined steps he would take as supervisor to ensure Hempstead Town government stays ethical.

"I have called for the online posting of financial disclosures of all town elected officials and senior managers," Clavin said. "I have also stated that I would call for the online posting of all bidding documents and financial disclosures by prospective town vendors and consultants. I also support the live streaming video of the opening of contract bids and related documents to ensure the highest ethical standards in our township."

Madden said she has spent years fighting town corruption in regard to the animal shelter, which she alleges is being run improperly. She pinpointed where she sees the corruption in the town stemming from.

"The solution to keeping officials honest is to call for the resignation of the town attorney, whose office is overflowing with documented conflicts and interference in town investigations," said Madden. "The town attorney, the roadblock to ethical reform, has not only publicly encouraged needless and costly law suits against the town, but also has protected wrongdoers by failing to follow the town's own laws and codes which sets the foundation for criminal acts and sends a message that the laws and consequences only apply to some, not all."

Dover Contracts At Lido Beach

Recently, it has come to light that the Dover Group, which runs Malibu Beach Club in Lido Beach, has not been paying rent on the beachfront property it leases from the town. Dover had also been operating The Sands at Lido Beach without a contract, and Gillen recently ordered them to stop operation of the catering hall.

"This situation reeks of corruption and the only reason it has been brought to light is because I am in office," said Gillen. "The town is currently in litigation over the status of the Malibu Beach Club contract. My office will seek to recoup all sums owed to the taxpayers of the town by Dover and to have the purported extension declared invalid."

Clavin did not comment on the status of the contracts or the controversy surrounding it, but did level some blame for it at Gillen's feet, despite the contract being negotiated by prior supervisors.

"The contracts that Dover Gourmet Corporation has with the town are the subject of ongoing investigation," he said. "The receiver of taxes does not review these contracts. The supervisor, on the other hand, has direct oversight of these agreements. In fact, the supervisor was furnished with copies of all Dover contracts shortly after taking office. Where has Laura Gillen been for the last two years? I support a thorough and complete review of the contracts that have come into question, and that all appropriate actions be taken based upon the findings of the investigation."

Madden attributed the problem with the contracts to greed.

"My plan to prevent such unethical contracts and prevent injuries is to bring in an administrative level a non-politically driven Inspector General accountable to a non-politically driven outside ethics board," shes aid. "Conflict background checks would be handled by outside review board to ensure integrity, and no contract over $5,000 would ever be agreed upon without board approval and public knowledge. Additionally, the outside review board would also review all current and past contracts dated from 2015 to current date for any discrepancies or conflicts."

Special Elections vs. Appointments

As it stands, the Town of Hemsptead uses an appointment process to fill vacancies on the Town Board. When a councilmember resigns from their position, the rest of the board appoints someone to serve the rest of their term.

Some advocates say this is an unethical practice, though, as it could allow the board to appoint friends and political operatives, and also gives the appointee an incumbent advantage in the next general election. Some, including Gillen, have advocated for switching the town to special elections to fill vacancies.

"When representatives are selected by parties and not the people, democracy is lost," Gillen said. "In Hempstead, appointments have been used to ensure that Republican candidates can always run as incumbents and use taxpayer-funded mail to build up their name recognition. Right now, every Republican official in town government, including the tax receiver, was originally hand picked by their party for their seat instead of being selected by the people. I believe this practice is wrong no matter what party does it."

Clavin said that the town is following the law in its appointments, and pointed out that the board opted not to appoint someone to fill the vacancy left when former Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney stepped down, due to how close it was to the election.

"Moreover, I think the council members in Hempstead Town have been reasonable and judicious in their approach to addressing vacancies on the Town Board," he said.

Madden said the decision is not as easy as special elections vs appointments, and said that compromise would be needed for any change.

"While I lean towards special elections and find the current system generally unfair, I do not believe there's a cut and dry answer nor is any two situations alike," she said. "I believe there's room for compromise and negotiation on this unsettled issue. For a general example, my recommendation to our board on whether to appoint or move forward with a special election would be to agree upon a time frame related to each particular elected seat in question. In other words, if within the first two years of the term a board member must vacate for any reason, a special election should take place. If such a vacancy occurs during the last years of the elected officials term, the seat can be appointed by the political party."