N. Hempstead Democrats drop reported threat to strip DeSena of staff

                                                                             

Incoming North Hempstead Supervisor Jenniferr DeSena

North Hempstead Democrats reportedly threatened to pull a Ben Zwirn on incoming Republican Supervisor Jennifer DeSena last night  --  but apparently wiser heads prevailed and they backed off.

DeSena, a registered Democrat who ran on the Republican and Conservative party lines, had said in a news release Wednesday that a current Town Board member notified her the Democrat-controlled board intended to amend North Hempstead's approved 2022 budget to strip the supervisor's office of most of its staff while adding "substantial costs" to the town board staff.

The seven-member board, including retiring Democratic supervisor Judi Bosworth, already had approved a budget for nine staff members in the supervisor's office.  The board assumed that Democrat Town Clerk Wayne Wink would be elected to take Bosworth's place in January.

But the red wave that rolled through Long Island in November upended those plans by electing DeSena and Republican Ragini Srivastava as Town Clerk.

However, Democrats still control over the town board.

So they  essentially threatened to "Ben Zwirn" DeSena.

Ben Zwirn was a North Hempstead Democrat who beat incumbent Republican John Kiernan in 1989. Zwirn was the first Democrat in about 70 years to win the supervisor's seat.

Ben Zwirn in 2009 from 27east.com

 But Republicans remained in control of the town board.

 So they stripped Zwirn of all but a few legally mandated staff.

 The move backfired badly.

 Republicans effectively made Zwirn a martyr, a victim of Republican   refusal to listen to their voters. As a result, two years later Zwirn not only won re-election but helped usher in Democrat control of the town and town board for the next 30 years.

  Republicans did not make the same mistake when Democrat Laura Gillen won the Hempstead Town supervisor's job in 2017 -- the first Democrat to take that post in 100 years.

Although Republicans remained in control of the town board, they did not touch the $1.3 million budgeted  for the supervisors office -- even as they retained control of important jobs , such as town attorney.

Gillen was voted out two years later.

In a news release Wednesday, DeSena, of Manhasset, called the move to strip her staff  "deceitful to taxpayers."

“I am calling for transparency and accountability from the current North Hempstead Council Members
and Supervisor when it comes to budgeting and staff allotments,” DeSena said. “The Board
adopted a 2022 Budget on October 28th , and taxpayers have a right to know why these individuals
plan to slash the Supervisor’s Budget from nine positions to four. The Board should also explain why
they plan to substantially pad the Budget of the Majority Town Board.”

She added that Bosworth "was proud to announce that her Budget was adopted before Election Day,
properly signaling that politics has no place in our government’s Budget...For the Board to plan changes after the election to the Supervisor’s Budget and that of the Majority Town
Board Members is wrong and the taxpayers deserve better.”

Before the meeting, Desena was told that the board would not make good on its threat.

DeSena still spoke to the board at their Zoom meeting last night. Interestingly, DeSena was the only speaker to have a very bad connection, making it difficult to understand what she was saying.

But she persisted.

"I hope I can soon be able to bring on staff," she said. "I was told something that I've now been told was a mistake...I look forward to working together."

As she noted earlier, "there is no Republican or Democratic way to plow snow."