TEAM MURRAY: THE SAME OLD SAME OLD

A Democratic Voice

By Steve Anchin

A couple of days ago I came across an old 2002 Town of Hempstead brochure entitled “The Town of Hempstead … Your ‘One-Stop Shop’ for Passport Services.”  What caught my eye was the letter it contained from then Town Clerk Kate Murray and Supervisor Richard Guardino, Jr.:

“The Town of Hempstead has the highest Wall Street credit rating of any town

or county on Long Island, and we have frozen taxes for the third straight year.  Our strong financial standing allows us to offer programs such as passport services.”

Sound familiar?  Talk about the same old fluff and nonsense.

Here’s the reality.  Throughout the past eight years of the current Town of Hempstead Town Clerk’s tenure nothing new has happened.  It’s as if wi-fi, smartphones or iPads never were invented.  Take a look at the current Town Clerk’s website.  You can’t even renew your dog license online!  The best they’ve been able to do is have you print applications at home and then drive over to Town Hall to process and make payments.  (Cash or check only, by the way.  Did you know credit cards are over 50 years old?)  At least the Clerk’s office is still busy processing passport applications for the State Department.

Here we are, nearly a decade later with yet another Republican Town Clerk and another Republican Supervisor, and all we have to show for our taxes are an endless stream of postcards from the Town with feel-good photos, empty rhetoric and self-congratulatory claims.  Even if these propaganda pieces were sent by e-mail, they still would be worth less than the paper you could print them out on yourself.

The do nothing “Team Murray” Town government appears to be nothing more than an employment agency for friends and family, with some basic talent delivering spin.  We all know our local taxes have continued to go up and up during the past decade.  And yet, they still make claims of “freezing taxes.”  Really?  Who do they think they’re fooling?

Here’s my promise to every citizen of the Town of Hempstead: as the new Town Clerk things will change.  Like any competitive business I am going to apply modern technology to cut costs and assist Town residents — and make the Town Clerk’s office fast and efficient.

The Town of Hempstead will enter the 21^st Century

• Starting with secure user-friendly Internet access to Town applications, licensing and records, this will be implemented wherever possible.

• I will explore launching an automated online reminder system, and mobile phone apps to remind business owners and individuals when they need to renew their licenses to operate in the Town of Hempstead and potentially be able to do so on-the-go.

• I will streamline the bloated bureaucracy of the Town Clerk’s Office into efficient modern government, using the best 21st Century technology to serve the people’s needs.

I Will Help Households Save Money - in uncertain economic times money-saving resources, ideas, and solutions are crucial to the well-being of a family’s household finances.  The Town Clerk must be part of the solution.

• I will create a Town Clerk’s “Energy Information Hub“ to help all Town residents – from seniors to young families –get the information they need to reduce their home energy costs by 25 percent or more and by providing renewable energy information online, by phone, and in person.

• I will cut wasteful spending.  On Day One I will commence a forensic audit of the Hempstead Town Clerk’s office.  We will cut out waste and make every tax dollar count!

The present Town Clerk has held that position for eight years and seems to think it’s a for-life appointment; it’s time for new leadership, new solutions, and contemporary, professional management of the office of Town Clerk’s Office.  As Town Clerk I will make the Town Clerk’s office a cost-effective, up-to-date, tax-saving arm of our local government, fulfilling its responsibilities and serving the needs of all the people.  Simply put, the future is not about “Team Murray” or any self-involved political machine.  It’s about “Team Hempstead” — it’s time the people of the Town of Hempstead came first.