Calls Grow For Long Island Sanitation Commissioner To Resign

OCEANSIDE, NY — Calls are mounting for the newest commissioner of the Oceanside Sanitary District No. 7 to step down after a series of racist posts on his Facebook page.

As first reported by the Oceanside/Island Park Herald, Sanitation Commissioner Ryan Hemsley has been facing calls to resign after the group Oceanside Against Racism shared the posts, which were made on Hemsley's page between 2014 and 2017. According to the Herald, the posts included racial slurs and jokes about the Ku Klux Klan, the Holocaust, homosexuality and people with disabilities.

Sanitary District 7 is one of five special sanitation districts within the Town of Hempstead. Though it falls within the borders of the town, it is independently run by its own Board of Commissioners. It exclusively serves the Oceanside community.

Since the Herald first published a story on Oct. 15, the calls from the public and from public officials for Hemsley to step down have grown. The Sanitation District is also investigating the incident.

At a meeting of the Board of Sanitation Commissioners on Nov. 5, Chairman Austin Graff said that the department was conducting the investigation, and that it wouldn't cost its residents any money. He also stressed that he and other members of the board believe Hemsley should step down from his position, and that he wasn't aware of the posts earlier.

"I saw Ryan's message on Facebook today, that I reviewed his Facebook page. No I did not. I did not review it, I did not see it.," Graff said. "If I saw it, I would never have nominated him. I would never have stood next to him at the Town of Hempstead. I never would have supported him in his election. Where are the people who were supporting him in this election? They should be saying, 'Resign!'"

You can watch the contentious Nov. 5 meeting here.

Hemsley was elected to his position in September. At the Nov. 5 meeting, the Board of Commissioners of the district said it did not have the power to remove him. Hemsley was not at the meeting due to "harassment and threats," he wrote on Facebook.

Hemlsey denied making the posts, and told the Herald that they were made by other people and posted on his Facebook page without his permission.

“I am disgusted by the offensive and hate filled social media posts that are alleged to have been posted or shared by the Sanitary District No. 7 Commissioner in question,” said Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald X. Clavin. “Racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-disability speech does not belong in our society, and elected officials who spew such venomous remarks, writings, images and posts have no place in public service. I am calling on the individual in question to resign his position on the Sanitary District Board immediately.”

“As the mother of a son who has developmental delays and physical disabilities, a proud member of the Jewish community, an elected official and an ordinary neighbor, I am sickened by the hate-filled posts that have come to my attention,” said Assemblywoman Melissa "Missy" Miller. “As an elected official, I am reviewing all legislative options to curtail this type of hateful and disgraceful activity by elected officials.”

Their call was echoed by Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, who said that Hemsley should "immediately resign," as well as by Nassau County Legislators Denise Ford and Howard Kopel.

"These posts are unbecoming of an elected official, and a public servant," Ford said.

"I am shocked by the offensive posts made by the Sanitation Commissioner and saddened that he thought hate speech like this was socially acceptable," said Kopel.

Clavin and Miller will assist the sanitation district in its investigation if asked, and would lend resources to appointing a special investigator. Calvin and Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D'Esposito, who represents Oceanside, said they would work with the sanitary district to have the town ratify any board appointments that may be needed to fill a vacancy should Hemsley resign.

In a Facebook post, Hemsley accepted responsibility for some of the posts, but said many of them, which were sent in a packet to the board, were not his fault. He said he donated his $515 in paychecks from the district for last week to the Long Island Coalition Against Bullying.

"I take responsibility for some of the posts that were made in public groups and inappropriate comments with friends, however other things that came from this anonymous packet were doctored, posts I was tagged in or don’t even include my names," he wrote. "Not once was any meme directed at anyone specific to offend them directly. I admit that my language on Facebook hasn’t been the best and I apologize for that.

"This board has tried to destroy many families in the community and now it’s happening to me," he added. "Posts from years ago don’t define who I am today."