The race for the Town of North Hempstead council seat in the 3rd district is a face-off between four-term incumbent Republican Angelo Ferrara and Democratic challenger Sidhartha Nathan, a political newcomer who is currently on a leave of absence from his job as a public information officer with the town.
Nathan said he recognizes the advantage Ferrara has as an incumbent, but believes that as an Indian-American in a district with a growing Indian-American population he could have an advantage.
“It’s a tough race but I’m going to meet as many people as I can,” Nathan said. “The way to go about this is to knock people’s doors.”
Ferrara described Nathan “a very nice young guy,” but dismissed Nathan’s belief that he would have an advantage with the Indian-American vote in the district.
Ferrara said he pulled 70 percent of the vote against Matthew George, an Indian-American candidate in 2009. And Ferrara said he has the support of the North Hempstead Indian Republican organization.
Ferrara said he sees this as an unusual election since he’ll be running on a ticket with fellow Republican town Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio as candidate for town supervisor and Democrat Leslie Gross as incumbent town clerk.
“As a fusion ticket, this is something unique,” he said. “All of us are in concert, wanting to do the right thing for the public.”
Nathan said nothing in politics surprises him, but he said he is confident of the Democratic ticket he’s on with Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth who is running for town supervisor. Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink is also on the ticket as a candidate for town clerk.
Nathan has worked with Ferrara and said the race isn’t about Ferrara.
“Angelo’s a great guy. It’s just about new ideas,” Nathan said.
Ferrara, 68, got his start in politics with no party affiliation as president of the Greater Herricks Civic Association.
“I was attacking both parties, anybody who didn’t do right,” he said.
He was first elected at large in 1997, encouraged to run by late Republican state Sen. Michael Tully. He lost a run for town supervisor in 2001, but ran again in 2003 and has remained in office since.
Ferrara said she sees his role as “cutting through the red tape and getting things done.
“I really don’t like the politics of it. I like the opportunity to do things that are right,” Ferrara said.
He takes credit for the town putting an 18-month suspension on penalties being imposed by the town Building Department on work that had not been approved.
“We’re trying to make the town more user friendly. My purpose is to help people stay alive,” he said.
He was an advocate for Dominick Grosso when Grosso was in danger of losing his Herricks Road delicatessen over a zoning issue a few years ago.
Ferrara worked on a compromise with the town Building Department last year that enabled Grosso to maintain the business – a move strongly supported by New Hyde Park and Garden City Park residents
“It took us a couple of years, but we got this thing through. Dominick’s Deli serves a high purpose. This is a way for elderly residents without cars in the neighborhood to get what they need,” Ferrara said.
Ferrara, who identifies himself as a fiscal conservative, adamantly opposed a plan by Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman and council Democrats to purchase the Roslyn Country Club property to create a new town park.
Ferrara runs his own commercial printing business and is part owner of an auto body shop in Suffolk County.
Ferrara serves on the board of the Sass Foundation for Cancer Research, the Dante Foundation of Nassau County, Inc., and is a former board member of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of Long Island. He is also a member of the Order of the Sons of Italy in America Cellini Lodge, the Mineola Lions Club, and the County Seat Kiwanis Club
Nathan, 27, is running for office for the first time. He has worked as a public information officer for the town since 2008 and is currently on a leave of absence for what he described as “personal reasons.”
He said he entered the race to be a force for change in town government.
“To me it’s about the community having the confidence that their local government has the energy and fresh ideas to put money back in their pockets. That’s something I know I can do for this community,” he said. Nathan said he’d like to see the town create a “searchable, citizen-friendly” budget online that residents could manipulate through different graphs.
“Municipal budgets are extremely difficult to decipher. We need to make it citizen-friendly and accessible,” he said.
He said the town has been a doing a “very good job” in managing finances, but said residents should be able to readily understand how much of their taxes are paid to the town.
Nathan said the town Building Department – mired in scandal when Kaiman first took office – has undergone an “incredible transformation.” He said backlogs on approving permits have been remedied and now he thinks the town should take it to a more “active level.”
“I think we need to have mobile office hours,” Nathan said.
He said he doesn’t envision mobile Building Department stations being “full service,” but rather setting up mobile locations to make it easier for residents to interact with building department staff and have questions answered.
Originally from Connecticut, Nathan attended Hofstra University, where he first engaged actively in politics for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. His efforts included organizing five bus loads of students to go to Pennsylvania to canvas, and do phone banking.
“I studied political science and rhetoric. I started Hofstra for Obama and was involved in the campaign,” Nathan said
After working for the town for nearly six years, he moved to Garden City Park recently.
The third district comprises Garden City Park, Mineola, Williston Park, and parts of New Hyde Park.
“I moved to the community because I work here I’ve been wanting to move to this town for a while,” he said.
Nathan recently joined Garden City Park Civic Association and is a board member of the Town of North Hempstead Community Development Agency.
