Supervisor Newburger Looks to the Future

By Eileen Brennan

With the election behind her and approval of a tax increase by the town board, North Hempstead Town Supervisor May Newburger took time last week to talk about her plans for the town's future. The tax increase will have little effect on the majority of the town's residents who live in incorporated villages. It is estimated that a home assessed at $7,200, the average, will see an increase of $5.76. Residents in unincorporated areas will see a tax hike of $33.76 a year for a similarly assessed house. Supervisor Newburger said that the increase is necessary due to the diminution of state funds and as a hedge against a predicted economic downturn. It also reflects the town's loss of a judgment in the Sumitomo case, a failed garbage contract. At the Nov. 13 town board meeting, the budget passed with the vote 3-2 on party lines. Supervisor Newburger and her Democratic colleagues, Doreen Banks and Tony D'Urso, voted aye and Assemblymen Angelo Ferrara and James O'Connor voted nay.

After Jan. 1, Supervisor will have a Democratic board consisting of Councilwoman Banks, Councilman D'Urso and two newly elected councilmen, Fred Pollack and Wayne Wink. "That will make it easier in some ways," Mrs. Newburger said. "You're not always sitting on the edge of your seat." What will make her job less easy, she said, is that she has lost her top financial advisor, Arthur Gianelli, former North Hempstead director of operations. Mr. Gianelli has joined county executive-elect Tom Suozzi's team as director of his transition team. "Arthur and Mike (Locorriere, town comptroller) were the architects of our fiscal plan," she said. Matthew Miner, formerly the Commissioner of Public Works and the director of Solid Waste Management will succeed Mr. Gianelli. Denise Harrington, Mr. Miner's deputy, has been named acting commissioner of public works.

Having a Democrat in the county executive's position may be a help to the Newburger administration in other ways. The supervisor said that it may help the town and the county to share some services, such as snow removal, "Maybe we can work on other joint operations with the county," she said. "Certain things should be multi-jurisdictional and having Arthur over there should help. "

Supervisor Newburger has identified certain goals for her next term. She wants to work on finding affordable housing for seniors, young people and families. "The great difficulty in North Hempstead," she said, "is that there is so little open space. We've jump started the project in New Cassel but it needs more work." Another goal is further implementation of the projects approved under the Environmental Legacy Fund (ELF).

New projects include the establishment of a Bureau of Cultural Affairs, similar to one that exists in the Town of Oyster Bay. Supervisor Newburger has enlisted the help of Constance Schwartz, director of the Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts, actress Shirley Romaine and Regina Gill, executive director of the Great Neck Arts Center. The supervisor hopes that the bureau will promote art events in North Hempstead and encourage activities in the schools. The bureau may also work with Public Access Television and the schools to develop a cable channel for North Hempstead. She would also like to see the town reactivate its historic preservation activities. "We have a number of cemeteries with a history," she said, as an example.

Another project in North Hempstead's future is the building of a clubhouse for Harbor Links golf course. "We're looking to do it with a minimum of cost to the town," she said.

Quality of life issues have always been a priority with May Newburger and one of them is much on her mind these days. It is the question of leaf blowers used by commercial gardeners. She would like to see them banned from May 15 to Oct. 15. She has brought up the issue before and lost. "I'll try it again," she said, "and if I lose four-to-one, I lose four-to-one."

Supervisor Newburger also plans to reinstitute breakfast meetings with the mayors of the 31 incorporated villages that exist in North Hempstead. In the past she has used these events as a way of keeping lines of communications open between town and village.