Hempstead Town Councilman Gary Hudes, Republican incumbent for the seat in the 6th Councilmatic District, is facing Democrat Pat Maher. The 6th District includes East Meadow, Levittown, North Wantagh, Plainedge, Salisbury and portions of Bethpage, Merrick, North Bellmore and North Merrick.

According to Hudes, being re-elected for the second time last November when the town was split into districts made him realize what type of representative members of the 6th district wanted.

"That made me very happy, [knowing] that people had confidence in me in what I've done for 20 years as a community activist," Hudes said. "It sent a message to me that people want someone to represent them that is accessible to them, that returns phone calls to them, that works hard to try to satisfy them when they have run into occasional bureaucracy."

Having done community work for 20 years as a volunteer, Hudes knew he wanted a position where he could help people. When the town was divided into councilmatic districts, he looked to represent members of his own community, being a resident of Levittown.

"To run for this position was an opportunity for me to get more done because I was in an official capacity and I was able to be in the position of government to initiate programs and action," Hudes said of his first time running for the town board.

"My background has been in customer service. Political people always call [residents] constituents, I call them customers. Government needs to be accountable to its customers," he said.

In his first year as councilman, after hearing numerous complaints from residents on local streets about cars speeding through their roads, Hudes initiated the SLOW Program, (Speed Limit Odometer Warning), which brings a radar instrument mounted on top of a public safety car to local roads. The instrument lets drivers know how fast they are going as opposed to how fast they should be going.

"The program has been happily accepted," Hudes said. "The county does it on the main roads. This was for the streets that are within the community that the county cannot set up in. We're trying to get additional units through some state grants so we can put them in more places more often," he said.

In addition, Hudes has brought his "Town of Hempstead and You" slide program to approximately 15 to 20 community organizations.

"I explain to them all of the programs available to them at the Town of Hempstead that they are paying for," he said, "and I want them to make use of [these programs]. In addition, I explain to them why the town is in good financial condition, how the town saves money in certain areas; why things happen and how things happen. That has been very educational for community groups. It makes government more accessible to them."

In addition, Hudes initiated a program together with Town Supervisor Rich Guardino, called "Operation Wheelchair," which collects wheelchairs from residents who have no use for them and redistributes the wheelchairs to those who really need them.

"We need to continue to improve our community facilities," Hudes said. "We have a $40 million bond for our park improvements, which are going forward." He added that those improvements include installing bathrooms on little league fields and refurbishing more local playgrounds.

"Whether you have children young enough to use them or not, they absolutely enhance the neighborhood," Hudes said of the parks. "They serve the children and they also serve to sustain the home values in the area."

Hudes added that he also wants to continue to improve the roads that need work in the area, noting that work on N. Bellmore Road is already underway.

Hudes said that one of his main goals as councilman is "to make sure that the government runs as lean as possible but still providing a multitude of services to the people. This will be the third year in a row, and 10 out of 11 years, that property taxes have not increased in the Town of Hempstead. While we're doing that, we're still improving the infrastructure," he said.

Hudes noted that some of the local improvements he looks to accomplish include repainting the water towers in Levittown. Hudes explained that while this may not seem like a big deal today, maintaining the towers is less costly than replacing them in the future.

Hudes said that he is happy to able to help so many local residents, but that he doesn't do it alone. "I didn't do it myself," he said. "I have a great staff of people. I'm out on the road a lot, I'm often in the community checking on the concerns people have and [my staff] understands how I want my district run. They know you're not going to solve everybody's problem but you're going to try very hard before you give up.

"This job is community service and I have 20 years of it. More importantly, my first 20 years was as a volunteer, which means I wanted to do it. I don't do this job because I need a job, I have a job (Hudes is owner and president of a jewelry business in Bellmore Village); I do this because I like helping people," Hudes said.

Hudes, a resident of Levittown for the past 21 years, lives with his wife Sheree and their three children, Jason, Jenna and Jessica.

Hudes said that representing the 6th District makes him feel like he has thousands of friends everywhere he goes. "The people are real; they're genuine," he said about the residents of the community. "I like the fact that these people feel comfortable enough to approach me. They don't feel that I'm stand-offish, they come up to me, they feel comfortable calling me. I love this job and as long as I feel that I can continue helping people then it's all worth it. As long as I keep making people happy and coming up with programs that make people's quality of life better then I will keep running."