Louis Chisari has lived in Garden City Park almost his entire life. He is currently running for North Hempstead Town Clerk, his first venture running for political office. He has the endorsement of both the Republican and Conservative Parties.

Chisari earned a B.S. in criminal justice from St. John's University in 1993 and in 1991 he was a NCAA champion in track and field. In 1998 he graduated from Hofstra Law School. At present he is an attorney with Theresa M. Spina Law Offices, staff counsel for GEICO.

Louis Chisari said he is running because he feels there are problems in the town clerk's office. One issue he cites is the hours of operation. "The office is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and that is not convenient for people who are working. If you need a dog license you have to take time off from work. Most companies are open at least one night for the convenience of the public," he stated. Also at issue he said, "Is the ridiculously long time it takes when filing applications for permits."

Because he was a former deputy Nassau County attorney from 2000 to 2002, Chisari believes he has working knowledge of how a municipality functions, making him a good candidate. If elected he said he would make business hours more convenient, streamline the permit process for filing applications and strive to improve the working relationship of the town clerk's office with other municipalities. If elected he said he would tackle what he sees as the communications problem by designating someone in the office as the contact person for each of the municipalities: fire, water etc., so they would not be passed around, spending too much time caught up in the process. Louis Chisari said, "Elected officials need to help make it better and make it easier to deal with government entities."

Speaking of the district, he added, "I have lived in the area most of my life and I love it here." Chisari is married and has a young son.

Michelle Schimel lives in Great Neck, has been a resident of the Town of North Hempstead for 23 years, and is seeking re-election to her fourth term as North Hempstead Town Clerk. Her candidacy is endorsed by both the Democratic and Working Families Parties.

Schimel, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, was formerly a physical therapist at North Shore University Hospital and is board certified in wound care. In 1998 she was honored by the hospital for her performance.

Schimel has held her position for six years and stated she is recognized throughout the state as a leader among town clerks and is the only town clerk in Nassau County accredited as a Registered Municipal Clerk having met the town clerks association's requirements for the distinction.

Schimel said she has grown into the position and that "I know what works and what doesn't." She added "I make good budget decisions-- it is all about goals, all about planning with the help of technology." She sets her goals in what she calls the Touchdown Book, which she checks every six months. She is running, she said, "Because I am the most qualified and because the work is not done." She continued, "The job still fills my needs and is still exciting. I thought I'd be coasting by now but the more I do, the more there is to do."

Ms. Schimel said she has, "expanded the scope of the office" and has received several state appointments, one to the Local Government Records Advisory Committee (LGRAC), determining records policy for local governments. She served as a District Director for the NY State Town Clerks Association and was recently selected by New York State Department of Health as the only New York Town Clerk to participate in a national survey project sponsored by Health and Human Services (HSS) on processing marriage licenses. "I have one of the best Registrar's offices in the state," Schimel claims, and she said the Town of North Hempstead has one of the busiest, processing over 30,000 transactions in the registrar's office alone. She has received numerous state grants for preserving historic permanent records. Security of vital documents has been the hallmark of her administration and if elected she said she will continue the job of preserving vital records and it is important, she believes, to secure some documents off site.

If elected she would like to spearhead the preservation of documents in other departments in the township. She would like the town to be aware of what the town clerk's office does and how it can serve them-how the documents they need can be accessible to them.

"Much of what I do involves the law and I work closely with the town attorney as so many issues are not clear, not written in stone" she explained. "I gather information from various sources and over the years have developed an extensive list of contacts."

Ms. Schimel was cited by the Sierra Club as a leader in bringing hybrid electric vehicles into the fleet of the town of North Hempstead. Schimel spearheaded another environmental initiative, a computer hardware recycling program. Michelle Schimel sponsors and presents numerous seminars for her fellow town clerks including topics on Identity Papers and Fraud, and New Topics in Vital Statistics Documents.

Her community activities include board member of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and she is co-chair of their Long Island chapter. She is a member of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck and is also a member of Manhasset Kiwanis.

Michelle Schimel is married and is the mother of two sons.