Return Kate Murray. . .

. . .To Levittown!

Kevin Gorman Announces Bid To Unseat Kate Murray In Hempstead Town; Challenges Supervisor To "Do The Right Thing"

Kevin who? You heard right. Kevin Gorman.

We can almost hear Kate now. "Misogynist. Woman hater. Pay no attention to the man behind the voting booth curtain."

Ah, yes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And, by the way, we love a good massage (misogh?) as much as the next guy.

But what of the candidacy of Gary Carlton? Gary, we hardly knew ye!

Oh well, so much for nostalgia. The Democrats now have their candidate for Town of Hempstead Supervisor, and the race to take back Town Hall is on.

It will come as no surprise that The Community Alliance throws its full support behind the campaign of Kevin Gorman (if that isn't the death knell, we don't know what is).

After all, short of the nomination of Charles Manson, we'd probably be inclined to support ANYBODY BUT MURRAY. [Okay, we wouldn't endorse, say, David Berkowitz (a/k/a Son of Sam), and maybe not Benito Mussolini (then again, he did make the trains run on time), but short of that. . .]

If you live in the unincorporated areas of the Town of Hempstead, you know from whence we speak. Forgotten, second-class citizens, consumed by burdensome taxes imposed by the town's special taxing districts; huddled under the oversized signage of vacant storefronts on a Main Street which had its last best year in 1962; unable to afford to remain in our own homes; our children disgusted and moving off Long Island; blighted, beleagured, beaten up at every turn by a local government long on maintaining its own stranglehold on town hall, but way too short on ideas, ideals, and action beyond its muted, myopic words.

If you live within the incorporated areas of Hempstead Town (as in, "it takes a village") -- lucky you -- where you can be thankful that local authorities are truly local, and at least somewhat proactive (a dirty word in Hempstead Town), ignore at your own peril the plight of your neighbors who are not nearly as fortunate. That blight is but blocks away!

So here's a bit about Kevin Gorman -- musician, columnist, Psychiatrist (why is it that the Dems can't for the life of them get a decent website up and running) -- and his challenge to Kate Murray.

As for "doing the right thing," well, Kate, the time to do right by the residents of Hempstead Town passed you by without notice long ago. The "right thing" requires "the right stuff."

Few would deny that Kate Murray has the right stuff, or something hidden under that red blazer that looks like the right stuff. We certainly will concede that Kate is intelligent, endearing, and, of course, photogenic.

Given the lack of effective leadership at the helm at Hempstead Town Hall -- something that residents in places like Elmont, West Hempstead, and Uniondale -- to name a few of the communities marginalized by Murray -- know all too well, it is evident that the sitting Supervisor simply doesn't have what it takes to summon "the right stuff" to the fore, let alone to "do right" by the residents of Hempstead Town.

Anyway, after 100+ years of one party rule, its time.
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Kevin Gorman

An almost constant fighter for moderate Democrats since the days of Hugh Carey, Kevin Gorman of Wantagh, NY has announced he is running for Kate Murray’s job as Hempstead Supervisor—and unlike past candidates to oppose Joe Mondello’s machine, Mr. Gorman will not go quietly.

“The Town Board is obsessing about grass height being unseemly at 8 inches rather than 10 inches, yet they do not enforce or respond to residents at any height.” Mr. Gorman opened at his news conference in Mineola. “We have a century old system of special districts, designed originally to employ year round residents, while more than half the home owners were seasonal owners from the city. Now we are employing still entrenched Republicans at the expense of ourselves. The Town of Hempstead is no longer a playground for the rich. It is where we live and we are taxing ourselves and our children off our beautiful Island.”

Mr. Gorman also noted that the Town is so entrenched in the politics of sustaining one party that it allows abuse of residents by Town plumbers, builders and contractors who have made their way onto Town inspection boards by “playing the game.”

“The motivation for public service is not, nor should it be the lining one’s pockets with taxpayer dollars”. If a member of a town board or special district board will not work without compensation, they are not true public servants. Taxes must be brought down and if someone does not go through the myriad of Town Government with a fine tooth comb, generations of Long Islanders will be lost to less expensive parts of the country.”

“I watch now as my grown nieces and nephews fight to return to the NY metro area and I pray that they will succeed. But we have to help ourselves by voting for change. Kate Murray, I challenge you to do the right thing, and get these cloaked taxing fiefdoms--- boards filled with party loyalists seeking medical insurance, and contractors policing themselves as Town inspectors--- replaced by qualified personnel who are truly prepared to serve the public ---not continue to pick the pockets of taxpayers.”

Gorman said “My experience will enable me to keep an eye on the town’s finances while also ensuring that the residents of Hempstead receive the level of services to which they are entitled – and for which they pay too much in taxes”.

Gorman asks that voters to send a message: elect him Town Supervisor in order “to stop the outrageous waste going on in the halls of Hempstead Government. The 800,000 residents of Nassau’s largest Township are being left behind by the more progressive models of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay. And it is our young adults and elderly who suffer.

Gorman also condemned the lack of housing code enforcement and zoning boards that are
turning our home towns into another commercial hodgepodge not unlike the outer boroughs of NYC”. Further, he criticized the current town administration for collecting millions of dollars for special taxing districts and then claiming that Town of Hempstead taxes are stable—letting the special districts raise their taxes unabated for decades. These districts are the Town of Hempstead and duplication of service providers is no longer perceived as being treated as “special” but rather just plain “abused and overtaxed”.

When it comes to special taxing districts, Kate Murray is like an ostrich,--- sticking her head in the sand and hoping no one will notice—her, or the problem.

Mr. Gorman would also support a ban on all tax payer financed town mailings 90 days before an election to provide a level playing field for all candidates.

Kevin Gorman grew up in Wantagh, one of seven children born to George and Grace Gorman. He graduated from MacArthur H.S. in Levittown and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Fordham University. He later attended the National School for Finance and Management. Gorman spent 20 years in the banking industry, rising to the position of Assistant Vice President. He was Branch Manager for Dollar Dry Dock Savings in Rockville Centre for 12 years before it’s merger with Chase. He owned his own business in Levittown in the 1990’s and is now Executive Director of Labor & Facilities for Nassau Downs for the last 5 years. He is a resident taxpayer of the Wantagh home in which he was raised.

Gorman has an extensive history of community involvement that began with his election to his local Parish Council at the age of 18—serving two terms as chairman. He was Secretary for the Seaford Bicentennial Committee and is a former Chairman of the largest community blood drive on Long Island, receiving for his work, the Long Island Blood Service’s first Life Saver Award.

He is a Past Grand Knight of his Knights of Columbus Council and a founding member of Division 7 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, as well as a member of the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce and the Levittown Community Council. For his service to CYO and today’s youth, he received the Leo Laughlin Award. He founded and currently heads the Squire Lacrosse Club, the Squire Basketball Club, and the Wantagh Babe Ruth League (that later became the South Shore Indians Baseball Club of which he is the President).
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Past Grand Knight, eh? Well, that does it for us. GORMAN IS YOUR MAN. Let's send Kate Murray back to Levittown's Knoll Lane on November 6th!