TNH Council District #2 Candidates
Friday, 21 October 2011 00:00
Anton Newspapers asked Democratic incumbent Thomas Dwyer and Republican challenger Edward Scott to respond to the following questions.
Thomas Dwyer
Do you support the condemnation of the Roslyn Country Club? If so, what services could you offer town residents at that site and at what cost?
As I have said from the start of this discussion, I support converting this property into a Class A Park for the residents of this area. The Roslyn Country Club has been an issue for decades, and I am committed to solving it once and for all. The town is working towards an agreement that will keep the catering facility portion of the park in the private owner’s hands with approximately 10 acres of land being preserved as open and recreational space. We fully expect revenue to meet expected costs, which means no additional financial impact to the average resident.
How do you define the position of a councilperson and how will you make yourself accessible to residents?
A councilperson is the citizens’ voice in their local government. A councilperson should be in touch with the general sentiment of the community in which they serve. In order to successfully tackle the issues faced, it is important to hold extensive ties within the community. I am a lifetime resident of this community and always readily available to the constituents that I serve.
What is the most pressing issue facing the town?
We hear from our constituents on a regular basis. Over the past several years, one of the most pressing issues has been the need to enhance our town parks and facilities. We have worked with Nassau Country in taking over several of their parks so that we have the ability to take our parks in North Hempstead from the 1960s to the 21st century. Most recently we were able to transform Manorhaven, Tully, and Sagamore Park into class A facilities for our residents. I will continue to secure grant funding to improve our parks such as Albertson Memorial Park as well as programs at Clark Botanic Garden.
Edward Scott
Do you support the condemnation of the Roslyn Country Club? If so, what services could you offer town residents at that site and at what cost?
I do not support the taking of private land via a condemnation proceeding. I support finding a private sector solution for this property. The Roslyn Country Club has been privately owned for over sixty years and while I believe that the current owner has run the property into the ground due to lack of funds, I don’t feel that the only solution is a government option, where we, all over the town, will see our tax bills increased for the benefit of a few residents, which will cause a rift in our community.
If the government is to be involved I would put forth the option of a special district, where only those homes would pay the taxes for their pool, and they would be the only ones, as in the past, who can utilize it. This type of special district has been done in several other places in the town, most notably Great Neck. Whatever the final outcome, I firmly believe that prior to any government purchasing the land it should be subject to a binding referendum for all of North Hempstead.
How do you define the position of a councilperson and how will you make yourself accessible to residents?
I believe that the role of councilperson is simply to represent the people of my council district interests on the governing board of the town. What that exactly breaks down to is that I will be your advocate and voice to make sure that our issues are heard and that town government will no longer be able to trample on our communities.
I pledge to the people of my district that I will be available either through extended hours at my office or through frequent mobile town halls that I will be instituting. I also will be reaching out to local community groups and civic associations. An elected official’s primary job is to understand the needs of his constituency and when I am elected no resident will have to chase me down for me to undertake their cause.
What is the most pressing issue facing the town?
The most pressing issue facing the town is the debt that we are drowning in, while the current administration touts their high bond rating these are the same agencies that rated all the subprime mortgages as A+. My opponent has voted many times to increase the debt load placed on our children and us. We in our own households can live on credit cards for a short time but eventually the bill will come due. We are quickly approaching that time for North Hempstead government, and must stop the destructive cycle of acquiring more debt that we will never be able to repay. This must stop before we will be in so much red ink that we will no longer be able to provide the vital service of government. Currently we have the dubious distinction of being the number one debtor town in all of New York State. When will it be enough? Under our administration, we will stem the tide and reverse these destructive policies.
