Political Party Doesn’t Matter—Our Town Does
After attending the recent candidate debates hosted by the League of Women Voters, I realized that the current “hot button” issues today are the same as they were when I moved here 21 years ago; parking, the building department, the revitalization of Main Street, traffic, infrastructure and other quality of life concerns.
I believe that the solutions to these problems can come only when elected officials put aside their party affiliations to work towards the best interests of the community.
Our Town Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio has done just that. This is no easy accomplishment considering she is a member of the minority party on the town board. She is smart and not afraid to challenge a proposal if she believes that it would have a negative impact on our community.
Dina has spearheaded improvements with regard to commuter parking (a new commuter app, addition of parking spaces to the LIRR lots), proposed and completed legislation that increased the maximum time on metered parking in many retail areas, added a designated merchant/owner parking lot in town and has collaborated with various departments to improve traffic flow on lower Main Street.
She has secured funding to assist with the beautification efforts of Main Street as well as funding for local business owners to offset the cost of improvements to the façade of their buildings and storefronts.
Councilwoman De Giorgio is an active volunteer in many of our local civic organizations such as Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington, the Parent Resource Center, PYA and St. Peter of Alcantara Church.
Councilwoman De Giorgio maintains a law practice here in Port Washington. Her husband’s family operates a business here as well. This demonstrates Dina’s commitment to Port Washington. She knows what it means to not only be a resident here, but also what it takes to sustain a successful business here.
Over the years, hundreds of people (many of them local residents) have been employed by these family-operated companies, and these companies have contributed to the tax base that supports our local community services.
I hope that voters will look beyond party lines and vote for the candidate who has consistently represented the best interests of our residents and business owners of Port Washington. I urge you to join me in voting for Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio this Nov. 3.
—Mary Cavallaro
Vote For Beys
I was an active volunteer in the Port Washington School District for nearly 15 years. I ended my parent volunteer days on a high note as copresident of Port Washington Parents’ Council, where it was my privilege to work with Emily Beys as my copresident.
Emily is seeking her first political office as a TONH Council Member, and some people have suggested her lack of experience in government as a reason to vote against her. I so disagree; there are many parallels between leading parent groups such as Parents’ Council and serving on Town Council, and I think Emily has the requisite experience to serve our community well.
As copresidents of Parents’ Council, Emily and I addressed many issues affecting the 3,500 families (approximately 5,000 voters) in the school district. This required us to research and understand the issues (educational, legal and financial), solicit community input, bring together our member groups to reach consensus, and advocate Parents’ Council positions to parents, school district management and the Board of Education. Emily and I worked together very well. She is a hard worker who sees the big picture, stays on task and gets the job done. Emily is a team player, yet she is not afraid to take an opposing position. Ultimately, she remains true to her beliefs, remains calm under pressure and works tirelessly to arrive at workable solutions. With Emily, there are no hidden agendas, ever. With her, it’s simply a desire to help others and give back to her community.
We need people like Emily to represent Port Washington’s diverse needs and interests. Please join me in voting for Emily Beys for Town of North Hempstead Council Member on Nov. 3.
—Linda Reyes Weil
Candidates Support Quiet Skies
I write to tell you of the excellent support quietskies.net is receiving from Supervisor Judi Bosworth
and Council Member Dina De Giorgio for our work to mitigate helicopter and aircraft noise over
the Town of North Hempstead.
Our supervisor, with the support of the town council, has formed the Technical Advisory and Outreach Committees for the Town. These committees are tasked to inform our town leaders of the activities of the ongoing Part 150 noise and mitigation studies run by the PANYNJ with participation of the FAA, quietskies.net and other stakeholders.
Likewise, thanks to Supervisor Bosworth and other elected officials, we represent the TONH and surrounding areas on the Technical Advisory Committees for both the JFK and lGA Part 150 studies because of our unique geographic location between the two airports.
Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio, in addition to supporting the supervisors initiatives on aircraft noise, has always been there for our group to help and support noise mitigation efforts at the local and federal level.
We are lucky to have these supportive and tireless elected officials working for us in the Town of North Hempstead.
—Len Schaier
President, Quietskies.net
Support Beys
Please join me in supporting Emily Beys for Town Council on Nov. 3.
I have known Emily since our sons were in kindergarten. She is forthright, organized and hard working. Emily has been PTA president, HSA president, Parent Council president and a member of the Compact Committees for each school attended by her children. She has given her time and her effort to the Port Washington community for years. Now she wants to work for the 6th District in the same way. Emily has demonstrated the skill set necessary to be town councilperson in every one of these previous positions. She has worked with budgets, with fact-finding, with solutions to school problems, and with the interaction of the parents and students with the schools’ administrations. These skills are political skills.
Emily and her husband started a company that they built from the ground up. I believe she knows exactly what it’s like economically for the families in our district because she and her husband started from scratch to build their business. I am sure they remember what it was like at the beginning. Their success demonstrates their work ethic and determination. Emily will use her business acumen and her political skills to help our district thrive and grow.
I am proud of Emily and every volunteer who works in our school district. We are lucky to have these volunteers and the work that they do is essential to the students and parents and the schools themselves. Some people try to discount these volunteer jobs as insignificant or nonpolitical, but they are wrong. Emily took on each of these volunteer posts and did whatever was needed, every hour that was necessary. I know she will wholeheartedly dedicate herself to the Town Council.
Please join me at the polls on Nov. 3 to support Emily Beys.
—Bridgette Hirsch
