Gillen Outlines Her Priorities As Hempstead Town Supervisor

Hempstead Town Supervisor-Elect Laura Gillen spoke with Patch on Wednesday about her goals for when she assumes office in January.

Gillen, a Democrat, defeated Anthony Santino last Tuesday to take his seat as the leader of America's largest town. It was a stunning upset, as Republicans have controlled the Town of Hempstead for 100 years.

According to Gillen, one of her first goals in office will be to make the Town of Hempstead government more transparent and accessible to residents.

"I want to make sure that residents have faith their taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely," she said. "We're going to vet all of our contracts." Gillen went on to say that she wants to install an Inspector General in the town — an idea championed by Republican Councilmembers Erin King Sweeney and Bruce Blakeman — to oversee the town's contracting process and make sure that the town is behaving ethically and fairly. "Residents can have confidence that contracts are being awarded fairly," said Gillen.

Another major goal for the incoming supervisor is to improve the town's finances. "There's no surplus in the Town of Hempstead — that's false. There's a big deficit," Gillen said. "We need to get a multi-year financial plan in place to make sure we're heading in the right direction and so we can see our bond rating upgraded."

Gillen's third goal after taking office is to root out the cronyism and nepotism that she says runs rampant in the Town of Hempstead, and which she believes she was elected to get rid of.

The goals Gillen pus forward are lofty ones, and she still faces possible opposition from a board that's almost entirely Republican (Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby is the only other Democrat). However, Gillen said she doesn't think the partisan divide will be an issue. She said it was bipartisan support from voters that got her elected, and that she has already reached out to some of the Republican board members about her agenda.

"My job as supervisor is to do what's best for residents, which is the same as what every councilman has," she said.

Photo: Laura Gillen's campaign