Meet The Candidate: Juleigh Chin For District 9 Nassau County Legislator

What office are you seeking? County Legislator

If you are running in a district, you can specify the district here.

Nassau County Legislator District 9

Party affiliation:

Democrat

Education:

Penn State University 1990-1994

What is your occupation?

Program Manager- North Shore University Hospital

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

I have been married for 30 years to my college sweetheart. I have 2 sons, both Eagle Scouts, who both graduated from Herricks HS. My older son graduated from SUNY Binghamton and now lives and works in Florida. My younger son went to
St. Thomas Aquinas College for 4 years and just started nursing school at VEEB this semester.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

I have been an elected School Board Trustee for the Herricks Board of Education since 2013. I was Deputy Town Clerk for the Town of North Hempstead from 2019-2021 and then worked in
the Departments of Community Service and Services for the Aging in 2022-2023.

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running for election and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

I'm running for Nassau County Legislator because I believe public service should be about people, not politics. For more than 20 years, I've served our community in different roles, from working in the Mineola School District to serving, first as President of the PTA for multiple years, and then on the Herricks Board of Education. I have been a Scout leader, a church deacon, and I've served the residents in the Town of North Hempstead and the community through my roles in the Town and at Northwell Health. These are not just experience; they are a record of my dedication to Nassau County. Through these various roles, I've seen firsthand how government decisions affect our families, students, seniors, and taxpayers.
I want to bring that experience to the County Legislature to make Nassau more affordable, fix our broken property assessment system, protect our environment, support first responders and small businesses, and ensure our seniors and veterans can age in place with dignity.

At my core, I believe leadership starts with listening and is proven through action. I believe every resident deserves to be heard and represented, regardless of their political party or
background.

Public service has always been about people for me. I'm running because I believe Nassau County deserves leadership that listens, puts people first, and turns our community's concerns into action.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing constituents is:

The rising cost of living, including high property taxes, rising costs of living, and the burden of Nassau County's broken property assessment system, which leaves too many families
struggling to afford to stay in their homes.

What needs to be done to address water quality issues on LI?

When we look at the challenges facing Long Island, protecting our water quality hits incredibly close to home. Every single drop of our drinking water comes right from the natural underground aquifer directly beneath our feet. Right now, our groundwater is being threatened from all directions by nitrogen pollution from old septic systems, toxic industrial waste like the Grumman plume, harmful chemicals in everyday items, and saltwater creeping into our supply.
We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to these threats, and we need to stop reacting to contamination only after it shows up in our taps.

We need aggressive, common-sense solutions right here at the county level to keep our water safe.

• I will work to expand funding so homeowners can easily upgrade old septic systems without a massive financial burden.
• I will support bans on toxic products and help our local retailers switch to safer alternatives.
• We also need total transparency and stronger oversight on groundwater testing so residents are never kept in the dark about their health.
• Finally, we must partner with our schools to teach water conservation and use green designs like rain gardens and smart pavements on our roads to stop dirty runoff from
  soaking into the ground. Protecting our water is about being a good neighbor and keeping Nassau County safe for our
  future generations.

What do you think can be done to help improve our infrastructure, highways, etc.?

To improve our highways and infrastructure, we must stop chasing problems with temporary fixes and instead implement a comprehensive Master Infrastructure Plan driven by a major engineering study. Trying to put band-aids on individual problem areas does not fix the entire system; it simply delays an increasingly expensive crisis. We need a holistic strategy that addresses both visible surface damage and hidden structural threats.

A realistic, effective plan must focus on three core areas:

● Underground Study: We must look underneath our roads to map our vulnerability to water damage and soil erosion. A few years ago, warning about sinkholes might have sounded like a conspiracy theory. Today, it is a documented reality. The
ongoing strain on our aging infrastructure has made catastrophic failures a genuine hazard, as we experienced firsthand right here in our district in the Lake Success area last year. By identifying subsurface vulnerabilities, we can stop sinkholes and fix the drainage issues that cause recurring potholes and flooding.

● Inter-Municipal Collaboration: Transportation networks do not care about municipal boundaries, yet our current repair systems are heavily siloed. Drivers frequently experience a smooth road turning into a crumbling disaster the moment they cross a town line. Municipalities must work hand-in-hand to coordinate paving schedules, utility work, and drainage upgrades, especially where local roads intersect.

● Long-Term Solutions Over Band-Aids: Repeatedly patching the same potholes every spring is a massive drain on taxpayer dollars. A unified master plan allows us to move toward proactive asset management, rebuilding foundations before they fail. Furthermore, presenting a coordinated multi-municipal plan makes our region significantly more competitive for state and federal infrastructure grants, protecting local taxpayers from bearing the full financial burden.

Our infrastructure is the foundation of our public safety and economy. It is time to stop managing its decline and start investing in its future with a permanent, coordinated plan.

How would you plan to help local business owners, who are struggling because of high rents, inflation, and labor shortages?

To help our local business owners in Nassau County who are struggling with high rents, inflation, and labor shortages, I believe we must return to being good neighbors. We need to go
back to shopping local, paying fair wages and fair prices for goods, and employing our own neighbors for jobs, whether in a store or in a trade. If we keep helping our neighbors and
keeping money inside our communities, rather than sending it outside for cheaper costs and cheaper labor, we would all benefit.

To turn this philosophy into a practical plan, I suggest a few realistic steps that align with this neighbor-helping-neighbor mindset:

• Create Cooperative Purchasing Groups: Independent stores and tradespeople can band together to buy inventory, supplies, or insurance as a collective unit. This gives small businesses the bulk-buying discounts usually reserved for major corporations, helping them handle inflation without raising prices on consumers.
• Build Local Job Pipelines: We can address the labor shortage by connecting our local schools and community colleges directly with neighborhood businesses and trade contractors. Training our young people locally in apprenticeships keeps a stable, dedicated workforce right here in Nassau County.
• Encourage Shared Commercial Spaces: To combat suffocating commercial rents, we can support creative, shared-space arrangements where multiple compatible
  businesses split the overhead and rent of a single storefront, making it affordable to operate.
• Launch a Keep it in Nassau Campaign: We must actively remind residents that money spent at a neighborhood shop stays here to fund our school programs, parks, and youth sports, whereas spending money online or at major chains leaves our community forever.

By restoring a culture of mutual loyalty between businesses, workers, and consumers, we can build a strong economy where everyone in Nassau County rises together.

How are federal issues impacting local government?

This is my favorite question. Thank you for asking!

The dysfunction, economic policy failures, and deep political divisions at the federal level are having a direct, damaging impact on our local communities. As a local leader, I see firsthand that our residents are being forced to pay the price for what is happening, or failing to happen, in Washington. The top-down impact of federal issues on our local government is clear in three major areas:

• The Brunt of Soaring Prices: Because of economic policies and leadership decisions on a national and international level, our residents are feeling the daily squeeze of inflation. From the gas pump to the grocery store, the cost of living has skyrocketed. Local governments cannot control global supply chains or federal monetary policy, but we are the ones who have to help our neighbors navigate the financial strain caused by this lack of effective federal leadership.
• A Regression in Social and Institutional Development: Over the past several years, we have seen a noticeable step backward in our public discourse and institutional standards. Instead of continuing to make strides in social development and adopting respectful ways of communicating, national rhetoric has regressed into callous and ignorant speech patterns. Furthermore, where health education and public administration once prioritized advancement, we now see qualified expertise being replaced by inexperienced individuals in patronage positions, weakening the core institutions our communities rely on.
• The Poison of Political Polarization: The intense political divide in our country stems directly from the top down, and it has quashed the beneficial balance of across-the-aisle cooperation. Today, even the most fundamental local duties like fixing a road or addressing our broken property assessment system have become hyper-political and deeply divided. We should be able to sit down, have real conversations, and work together in tandem to solve practical problems. Instead, federal polarization has bled into municipal government, making routine problem-solving a partisan battleground.

Local government works best when it is focused on practical solutions and mutual respect. To protect our communities, we must reject the division coming out of Washington and return to an environment where we can work across the aisle to deliver the real results our neighbors deserve.

What is your stance on how ICE enforcement has impacted local communities?

When we look at how federal issues impact our communities, the question of immigration enforcement is a prime example of how Washington's failures bleed downward to poison local
governance. Just like our roads, our economy, and our property assessment systems, the federal government has taken a highly complex issue and turned it into a hyper-political partisan weapon. My stance is that the current approach to immigration enforcement is deeply flawed and tearing apart the social fabric of our neighborhoods.

Local government needs to do its job, and the federal government needs to do theirs. Routine public safety should not be caught in a partisan battleground. Our local Nassau County resources, tax dollars, and police department personnel should never be used to do the job of a federal agency like ICE. When we divert local police from community policing to handle federal civil immigration enforcement, we are actively draining resources away from our own
neighborhoods.

Furthermore, I am vehemently against the inhumane brutality and aggressive, unchecked tactics that have been taking place under the guise of federal enforcement. Tearing families apart, spreading terror through our local enclaves, and operating with a complete disregard for basic dignity and due process is a regression of our society. We cannot solve a broken international and federal system by turning our own local communities into a war zone of fear and political division. It is time for Washington to take responsibility, stop passing the buck, and fix the system from the top so that we can get back to the vital work of restoring a culture of safety, mutual loyalty, and neighborly respect in our own backyards.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

The major difference in this race comes down to a fundamental choice between active representation and passive compliance. While my opponent is content to stay quiet and has never once spoken from the dais to champion our community in his 3 years at the Legislature, my priority is giving our residents a powerful, uncompromised voice. I am not running to simply occupy a seat or make convenient excuses for why our problems can't be fixed just because a party line dictates it. Our district deserves an independent leader who will actually speak up, challenge the status quo, and work thoughtfully across the aisle for what is truly best for Nassau County.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

During my campaign, I have been focused on several issues, but here are three major priorities that have been neglected for far too long by the current administration.

My top priority is fixing Nassau County's broken property assessment system. I know this is not a simple matter and there are no easy fixes, but it is a massive issue that demands
immediate, serious attention. Allowing this system to remain broken year after year is a complete disgrace, and it hurts every single homeowner across our county who is tired of the
unfair, broken system.

I am also hyper-focused on providing relief from the soaring costs of inflation. Our families are feeling the daily squeeze of skyrocketing prices, which is why the minority caucus proposed a very practical tax holiday on gasoline to lower costs at the pump. This is not a novel or radical idea; a gas tax holiday was successfully implemented under the current administration just a few years ago. Yet the majority caucus refused to even allow the proposal to be discussed, simply because it came from across the aisle. Turning real financial relief into a partisan political stunt hurts all of Nassau County, regardless of party line.

Finally, I am committed to restoring our community spaces, starting with Christopher Morley Park. My opponent has frequently called this park the "crown jewel" of Nassau County, but the reality on the ground tells a completely different story. Under this current administration, our crown jewel has been allowed to turn to dust, and it now houses a dilapidated pile of rotted wood where a beautiful public county pool used to be.

I am running to fix these broken systems, deliver actual relief to our taxpayers, and ensure our public assets are treated with the respect our community deserves.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

To see why I am fully prepared to handle this job, you only have to look at my lifelong record of active, heart-led service right here in our community. I have spent my entire adult life serving the public and delivering real results, and I have never been someone who just sits on the sidelines.

My leadership experience is grounded in over two decades of managing complex budgets, leading major public institutions, and advocating for our families. I served on the Board of Education for thirteen years as both a trustee and a past president for four of those years. I was also a PTA President for four years and a Council Vice President for two years.

Throughout all those years of leadership, I didn't just fill a seat; I successfully balanced multi-million-dollar budgets while protecting our residents from soaring taxes, all while delivering a quality education for our children.

Beyond my institutional leadership, I excel as a practical project and program manager who knows how to get things done. I have worked directly in government, in community outreach and providing vital services for our aging population. I know how to organize large-scale events, streamline operations, and connect people directly to the resources they need. Whether it was through my service in my church, sitting on numerous nonprofit boards, or giving my time and energy to countless local initiatives, my door has always been open. I have helped everyone who has ever asked for my assistance, without exception or discrimination.

On a personal level, I have poured that same dedication into my family, raising two children who both achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Everything I do, I do with my whole heart and with a deep sense of mutual loyalty to my neighbors. I have spent decades listening to our community, balancing budgets, and managing the exact kinds of complex systems that Nassau County needs fixed today. I don't offer excuses or stay silent; I offer a proven track record of rolling up my sleeves and working for a better solution.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

The final thing I want voters to know is who I am as a person and why I chose a path of public service. Someone recently made a comment that sitting on a school board is just a feeder
system or a stepping stone for political candidates. To me, that is a completely upside-down view of public service. Running for a school board just to achieve a higher political office would
be the slowest return on investment imaginable. It is an entirely unpaid position, it is largely thankless, and it requires a massive time commitment, one that I proudly have given for over thirteen years and counting.

I never set out to run for public office as a career move. I set out to practice true servant leadership. My perspective was shaped from an early age by my immigrant parents, who taught me the value of hard work and showed me the importance of giving everything you have back to the community that welcomes you. For me, helping my neighbors isn't a political strategy; it is what energizes me. It is simply the way I am wired and the way I am built.

Our local government does not need more career politicians who are looking for their next promotion, voting along strict party lines, or staying completely silent from the dais when our community needs an advocate. We need leaders who see their neighbors as a family to protect, not an audience to manage. I am running for this office with the exact same
wholehearted commitment that I gave to the school board, the PTA, my church, and my own family. I am ready to do the hard, practical work of fixing our broken assessment system, restoring our local parks, and putting an end to the partisan stunts so that we can build a stronger, more supportive Nassau County together.

What is the best advice anyone has ever given you and why?

There are 3 things you need to be happy:

1) To have someone to love

2) To have something to do

3) To have something to look forward to.

I love my community. I work hard for my community. I look forward to the opportunity of serving my community in a greater capacity when I am elected Nassau County Legislator.