(Editor's Note: The North Hempstead Republican Committee released the following statement relating to the town board's appointment Nov. 14 of former Republican Councilman Jim O'Connor as the town's new building commissioner.)

It is sad to see Supervisor Jon Kaiman and the North Hempstead Town Board continue to play politics with the town building department to the continued detriment of North Hempstead's residents and taxpayers. Despite the ongoing Grand Jury and Nassau District Attorney investigations into improprieties in the town's building department with respect to land use and zoning policies and practices, the hiring of former Councilman Jim O'Connor as the building commissioner is nothing more than a political stunt by the town administration.

Jim O'Connor is a friend and was a terrific councilman. He certainly is honest and hard working, which will be a welcome change for the building department. However, the town board should have hired a seasoned zoning and planning professional to head this important and decimated department. His appointment has more to do with politics and damage control than it does with good government or righting the wrongs in the building department.

This appointment is an attempt by Supervisor Kaiman to blunt the criticism for his gross negligence in supervising his administration and the building department in particular. The continuing investigations have been ongoing for many months and apparently have many facets. The facts and circumstances surrounding a scandal of such great proportions were certainly commonly know by the residents of the town and were brought to the Town's attention repeatedly by civic association officials and residents many, many times, yet the supervisor and other responsible town officials chose not to act. The cost to the taxpayers of North Hempstead from this dereliction of duty cannot be measured.

Now it seems that the supervisor is looking to a former Republican official who, when in office, tried to call attention to problems in the building department, to cure the problems. It is ironic that just a few short years ago, when Jim O'Connor was running for re-election, he was deemed unfit by the supervisor and his party to be re-elected as a councilman. It is not a surprise, however, that it is a Republican who will provide good government and reform to the residents of North Hempstead and clean up the fraud, abuse and illegality that the Kaiman administration has created.

We urge that the town's voters remember this in the November 2007 town elections when voters will have an opportunity to return true, two-party accountable governance to North Hempstead. One party domination of North Hempstead government has gone on too long and has resulted in the corruption, scandal and general disregard for the public good that is evident in the Kaiman administration.

Despite the fact that Jim O'Connor will be an improvement in the building department to the cast of characters that the Kaiman administration had in place, it is disappointing that Jim O'Connor would place himself in a position of being used as a political tool by the supervisor. The blame for this political stunt rests with Supervisor Kaiman who continues to play politics with each and every one of his governmental decisions.

Peter Cavallaro

Chairman, North Hempstead Republican Committee