Jay Hernandez Up For Re-election

When Jay Hernandez was approached last February about the possibility of filling a recently vacated commissioner position for the Manhasset Park District, he was intrigued about the opportunity to learn about the MPD from the inside. As a resident of Manhasset and rail commuter for over 20 years, he had seen the MPD in action, yet knew little about the MPD.
Currently managing his family-
owned real estate business, Hernandez, who holds an MBA in banking and finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University, has worked in the financial markets for over 30 years, starting out in operations units handling paperwork and then moving on to structuring financial transactions, contract negotiations and business originations, while managing staff as few as two and as many as two hundred. This background, along with Hernandez’s extensive experience in dealing with regulators and other government entities, led the commissioners to ask Hernandez to take on the role of treasurer.
As an active and engaged member of the community, Hernandez has coached the soccer, basketball, and volleyball teams of his now college-age twin daughters. He is a long-standing member of the Strathmore Vanderbilt Civic Association and a board member of the Strathmore Vanderbilt Country Club, having held every position from Treasurer to President. He and his wife, Vivianne, have been active fundraisers and donors for many worthy causes in the community.
In his eight months as a Commissioner for the MPD, Hernandez has aimed for transparency, by implementing a procedure, where in addition to hearing the annual comment on the financials from the auditors, the commissioners now supervise the monthly bank reconciliations. Reflecting on this change, which provides additional oversight, Hernandez said, “The treasurer, to me, has a fiduciary responsibility to the tax payer, not only to minimize the tax burden but also to maximize revenue and how that revenue is spent. As commissioner, I will make sure that every dollar spent carries its maximum value.”
Some of Hernandez’s plans for the next three years include finding ways to increase commuter parking and modernizing the MPD, including the methods of collecting parking fees used in the shopper parking lots. He would explore a possible upgrade from the coin-only meters to muni-meters. These new meters would allow shoppers to use, in addition to cash, their credit cards or smartphones, thus saving the occasional desperate scramble for quarters. Hernandez also plans to make sure that the relationship between the Town of North Hempstead and the MPD improves and continues to do so.