Sanitation Leader Sparks Law To Remove Special District Officials

OCEANSIDE, NY — Oceanside's representatives in state government are putting forward a bill that would allow citizens to recall people elected to serve on in special districts. It is being put forward because of the recent scandal involving an Oceanside sanitation commissioner.

Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assemblywoman Judy Griffin are sponsoring the bill, which would update the public officers law to allow recalls of people elected to serve in special districts. Under current state law, there is no method to remove people from from office in special districts unless the state supreme court rules they showed malfeasance in office, according to Newsday.

The law was put forward in direct response to Oceanside Sanitation Commissioner Ryan Hemsley. Earlier this year, Facebook posts purportedly made by Hemsley surfaced that contained racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic comments and jokes. Hemsley admitted to making some of the posts, but denied others. He has refused calls to resign from his post.

"It is clear that Oceanside Sanitation Commissioner Ryan Hemsley needs to go and the public deserves a way to address situations when an official has lost their trust," Kaminsky wrote on Facebook. "Assemblywoman Judy Griffin and I have introduced legislation that allows the public to recall a special district official."

Under Kaminsky and Griffin's bill, residents would be able to request recall petitions from their local or the state board of elections. Residents would need to get the signatures of 10 percent of the voters in the district, or 5,000 people, whichever is less. The petitions then have to be certified by the governing board of the special district.

Once the petitions are certified, the governing board has to hold a special election 70-80 days later.