After I attended the LWV Candidate Forum on Thursday, Oct. 17, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. ending, I introduced myself to Mr. Chiang for a one on one chat.
I have concluded David Chiang does not fully appreciate the multifaceted role of town councilman. Instead, he views all issues through a financial-numbers and analysis prism which is not surprising since he was a double major in finance and business according to his own bio and then spent 18 years in the finance industry.
Mr. Chiang’s message repeatedly stated in his opening and closing statements, responses to questions at the forum, and in his distributed public profile is, I have ‘a unique set of financial skills’ to go over budgets, fees, collections, and root out waste to bring efficiencies to town government.
He repeated this even though he was frequently informed by incumbents that our Town of North Hempstead has been awarded the highest grades for its current financial status. We have AAA bond rating and a ‘stress’ (early warning signal from State Comptroller’s Office) rating of 1.7 compared to 70 and 80 for Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
In my opinion, what was most revealing about his ‘auditor’ mentality is when he proudly promised ‘to go over every budget line with a fine-tooth comb’. That’s an accountant’s role not for a Town Councilman.
When I told Mr. Chiang that I lived in an unincorporated area which hasn’t a mayor or village hall so we depend upon our councilperson to be our link to a variety of services like snow plowing, repairing potholes, trimming or removing tree limbs, pedestrian safety in our Allenwood community, he retreated to his ‘comfort’ zone by saying his background in bringing companies to market would enable him to analyze which suppliers or departments were performing our needed services most efficiently.
He then said he would push the villages to merge suppliers so ‘we can save money’. When I mentioned each village sees itself as a sovereignty in most areas, Mr. Chiang actually responded, ‘really?’
Veronica Lurvey innately knew from her appointment to Town Council this past January that the ‘numbers’ to focus on were the residents, homeowners, businesses she serves in her widely diversified Town District 4.
In just nine months, Veronica has been in homes listening and meeting residents. She appeared at an Allenwood Park Civic Association meeting at Great Neck House to learn about issues of concern from the almost 200 attendees.
She has met with the park district superintendent with his staff to learn about all our fine parks. Ms. Lurvey has reached out to synagogues, churches, chambers of commerce, American Legion, and has a longstanding relationship with the Chinese community.
Veronica Lurvey understands that representing constituents, everyday people, facing the challenges and the joys of living in our great Town of North Hempstead, takes effort, dedication, listening and following through so that we feel ‘heard’ and she can take pride in having done a good job.
I urge you to elect Veronica Lurvey to Town Council Person in District 4.
Steven Walk
Great Neck
