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Longtime Hempstead Town Attorney Joseph Ra, the Franklin Square Republican leader, reportedly told GOP town board members earlier this month that he was leaving after he used up his accrued time. Now insiders say he quietly departed Thursday after 36 years with the town. As expected, insiders say Ra has landed at the Nassau Elections Board, starting today,  for a salary of about $133,000.  Ra had been at odds with Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin since Clavin defeated former Democratic Supervisor Laura Gillen last fall. Clavin has said he wanted his own choice  for town attorney, though insiders say he also was skeptical of Ra's amiable relationship with Gillen.  Gillen had said during a pre-election candidate's forum that she had worked with the Republican town attorney. "We all get along fine," she said. Ra, too, said in an interview that he had worked  cordially with Gillen. ""I got along with her very well," he said. "We ...

Five village mayors on the Great Neck peninsula have complained that Nassau County Executive Laura Curran's reassessment significantly overvalued homes in their communities in 2019 and 2020. The mayors asked county lawmakers in a letter-- read into the record Monday -- to support a proposed five-year phase-in of the new values to give residents time to challenge their assessments. "Analysis of the villages of Kensington, Thomaston, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Kings Point sales as compared to Nassau County assessed values in the 20/21 (issued Jan. 2019) and 2021/2022 (issued Jan. 2020) tax rolls reveals a systemic overassessment," the letter begins. "Sales data from 2017, 2018, and 2019 for these villages were compared to the NC assessed values for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. The results of the analysis found that anywhere from 75 percent to 90 percent of the new values were HIGHER than the actual sales price. In some instances, the difference was over ...