Hempstead Town Supervisor, Board Clash Over Raises

Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen said she planned to exercise her power to remove an item from the agenda for next week's Town Board meeting that would give $500,000 in raises to what she called "politically connected" employees.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Gillen tore up the resolution. Gillen claimed that the deal was negotiated between the union representing town workers and the board without her. She said it was an illegally negotiated contract.

“This improperly negotiated agreement rips off taxpayers,” Newsday reported Gillen saying. “This is part of an agreement to tie my hands and undercut my authority.”

Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney, who put forward the measure, lashed back at Gillen in an official statement.

"When it comes to Town Board deliberation on important labor issues, it is unfortunate that the Hempstead Supervisor has chosen to resort to political theatrics instead of forthright and transparent interaction with her colleagues on the Town Board," King Sweeney said. "By removing an item from the Town Board calendar ... the supervisor has gone well beyond her authority under the law. Further, she has demonstrated a lack of leadership and honesty on an issue that deserves to be heard by the public. The labor issue in question is legal in all respects and was lawfully placed on the Town Board calendar for consideration of all members of the Town Board."

Gillen said the move echoed one of the last actions taken by former Town Supervisor Anthony Santino who, at his last meeting as supervisor, put forward measures that doled out more than $2 million in raises and payouts to town employees.

It's not the first time that Gillen, the first Democratic supervisor in the Town of Hempstead in more than 100 years, and the mainly Republican board have clashed. Earlier this year, Gillen surprised the other board members by filing a lawsuit against them and Santino to overturn a no-fire clause in the contracts that were approved at Santino's last meeting.

Photo courtesy Town of Hempstead