I want to thank Island360 for the opportunity to respond to Councilwoman Dalimonte’s letter and to speak directly to our North Hempstead neighbors.

While I know that addressing her letter might, unfortunately, perpetuate the issue, I believe it’s time we get to the truth of the matter: it’s a blatant effort to have a personal agenda take precedence over the everyday business of the town.

My challenge as your supervisor is to keep the collective goals of our town foremost for our team and to prevent that work from being undermined by any one person.

Ironically, her objectives are on full display in her letter. In true politicized fashion, she “headlines” a call for an end to “partisan bickering” and then proceeds to write a laundry list of complaints that is nothing less than partisan bickering.

Sadly, it exemplifies what has become a recurring problem at the town – how we address the ongoing displeasure and complaints of one elected official.

It’s a pattern of disruptive behavior that has spanned 27 months and is now culminating in her unwillingness to cooperate with me or the new majority on the town board.

To that end, what she calls “scolding” we call discourse and due diligence. The board did indeed pass her oyster garden resolution unanimously, but she takes issue with our expressing reservations.

Is the councilwoman publicly suggesting that her partners in government pass her initiatives without debate and abdicate their role as stewards?

Perhaps her past experience as part of a majority somehow convinced her that colleagues should not offer viewpoints and simply rubber stamp each other’s initiatives.

The letter also specifically mentions a lengthy list of “26 issues.”

Speaking frankly, her list goes well beyond that, and I know full well that no amount of explanation will appease her. I have tried repeatedly to assure her, that despite her suspicions, the day-to-day activity of our town government does not center on drawing some type of response from her.

Nor must I or other elected officials report our activities or plans to her. I regret that the back-and-forth, sometimes noisy exchange of good government has the councilwoman so unnerved, but that’s how we know it’s alive and well. It’s no place for hurt feelings or imagined insults.

At my first inaugural, I stated that my goal was to remove the politics from Town Hall. Councilwoman Dalimonte’s letter is precisely the type of partisan squabbling I was referring to, as it quickly leads us to dysfunction and inefficient government for our taxpayers.

I assure you I will not participate in this weekly soap opera, but given her letter, I felt I owed it to the taxpayers to address it here, once.

Intentionally manufacturing division is a tactic better left to our counterparts in Albany and Washington and I don’t want it infecting our Town Hall.

We can do without the bitterness.  I continue to respect Councilwoman Dalimonte’s dedication to her district, but I will not let the work of government be held hostage by one person.

I will actively debate legislation, vote for resolutions that merit my support, and continue my good-faith effort to rebuild North Hempstead government.

Respectfully,

Jennifer S. DeSena,

Supervisor