Following a trend of appointing rather than electing its new members to board seats, the Town of Hempstead swore Gary Hudes and Robert Barra in as the newest members of the board on July 27.

Both Hudes and Barra had been nominated by the Republican Party to run for Ra and Zagarino's seats in the November election. As has been the case when each of the currently seated board members were appointed, the members vacating the seats chose to leave the board before their term was up, thus allowing the town board to appoint a person to fill the seat for the interim before the normal election. Although both Barra and Hudes will still have to run in November, they will now run as incumbents on the all-Republican board.

Zagarino and Ra resigned from the board to take other appointments. Zagarino, a town board member since 1987, has been appointed executive director of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency. Ra, a member of the board since 1994, has been appointed to the position of town attorney.

Hudes, who has lived in Levittown for the last 18 years, has been very active in not only his local community but the town and county as well. The owner and president of a jewelry business in Bellmore, Hudes has devoted much of his time to the business community. He served two years as vice president and five years as president of the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce and is the president of the Nassau County Council of Chambers of Commerce, in which capacity he represents over 6,000 small businesses throughout the county.

Also in the county, Hudes serves as the chairman of the Nassau County Assessment Improvement Commission, as well as the Nassau County Graffiti Task Force, and is an active board member of the Nassau County Firefighters Museum at Mitchel Field. In Levittown, Hudes is active with the PTA and is the Revitalization Coordinator for the Levittown/Island Trees Turnpike Revitalization Project. He is also a member of LIPA's Clean Energy Advisory Panel. He spearheaded the downtown revitalization project in Bellmore, which has become the prototype for the nationally recognized Project Downtown.

Barra, of Lynbrook, has been very active in government on the village, state, and federal levels and serves as chief of staff for New York State Senator Dean Skelos. He is a former deputy clerk and trustee of the Incorporated Village of Lynbrook and has served as assistant to the Commissioner of the Nassau County Board of Elections and District Director for former United States Congressman David Levy.

Barra is currently a member of the Nassau County Health Care Corporation Board of Directors and is an honorary member of the Lynbrook Fire Department Engine Company Number 3.

When asked about the criticism the board has received because of the string of appointments, Hudes replied, "I would think that the public is voting in November based upon a person's lifetime track record and I think it would be sad if people were only voting for someone based upon a few weeks of what they've done within a few weeks of service prior to an election. I feel I was asked to fill this position because of my 18 years of community service." Hudes says that his being appointed to the board should be seen as an advantage to the community rather than being looked at as an advantage for himself. "Instead of having a vacant seat, and nobody working for them, I've worked hard for 18 years and the fact that I'm being given the opportunity to start my work early, I think the residents are the ones that are benefiting by this."

According to Hudes, this appointment is also a great opportunity for him. He noted, "I see this as the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm absolutely thrilled and very excited."

Hudes has many goals for his tenure on the board. The first goal, he noted, is to continue the type of community-oriented projects that he has become known for. He would also like to ensure that people know that they can go to the town board with the small problems that they don't know how else to handle. "I think that when you are a public servant, your goal should be to be just that, to serve the public and I am hoping that people will avail themselves when they don't know where to turn, to know that myself and other members of the town board are their local representatives and we are their local problem solvers." Hudes is also interested in making sure that the suburban lifestyle that many people move to Long Island for, remains intact. A part of this would be an anti-litter campaign that Hudes would like to see established, noting that people may need to be re-educated and reminded that they are the ones who have to live in the communities that are undermined by litter.

Hudes believes that his longtime commitment to community service and his long working relationship with other members of the board will help him to reach these goals.

"For 18 years I've been doing this as a volunteer, unpaid, now I have the opportunity to initiate these projects as a member of government," noted Hudes, who believes that his position on the board is the natural next progression.