Great Neck’s Veronica Lurvey is the current councilwoman and Democratic candidate for the Town of North Hempstead Fourth District seat.
The former corporate lawyer is running for her first term after being appointed in January by Supervisor Judi Bosworth to represent the Fourth District after former Councilwoman Anna Kaplan won a New York State Senate seat.
“I am a daughter of immigrants who came to this country and worked many years to be able to send me to college,” Lurvey said.
Lurvey earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Chicago and graduated on the dean’s list of the Georgetown University Law Center. Lurvey served as counsel at Skadden, Arps, Meagher, Flom, LLP.
“I grew up in a community that provided me with a strong moral and ethical foundation,” Lurvey said. “I am proud to raise my own family with the same values and resources in the local community that has supported me.”
She chose to raise her family in the Great Neck community, where she lives with her husband and their two teenage sons.
Most recently, she was co-founder and co-president of North Shore Action, which guided community action groups in activities encouraging civic engagement.
Lurvey has also served as vice president of Temple Israel of Great Neck and was a member of the Village of Kensington Zoning Board of Appeals.
“In regards to the Brookfield Properties proposal, it is not in my view appropriate for that location,” Lurvey said. “When I look at development, I look at the impact on the tax base, benefit to the community and the impact of the infrastructure.”
Lurvey said she would work to ensure fiscal responsibility and maintain the town’s AAA bond rating, which is the highest a municipality can get from Moody’s Investors Service.
“In order to keep taxes low as possible, the town board under the leadership of Supervisor Bosworth has focused on running efficiently, keeping the cost of borrowing low and doing some good planning,” Lurvey said.
Lurvey’s experience as a corporate attorney has led her to acquire the skills to negotiate complex infrastructure transactions often involving dozens of parties.
Over the last nine months, Lurvey has made it her mission to meet with many different groups to hear their issues and concerns.
“Fiscally, that is how you address diversity. We have to do our best to understand every group’s needs, not just listen to one particular group,” Lurvey said.
Lurvey has been involved in community activism and would like to continue to provide the level of services that are required to maintain the quality of life for residents.
“Projects such as the Project Independence for seniors, our service for veterans with mobile health clinics and maintaining our parks in the district are services that we must continue,” Lurvey said.
Lurvey’s campaign motto is, “community values, experience and leadership.”
“When people think lawyer to politician it has a negative connotation but it doesn’t have to,” Lurvey said. “I am coming to this from years of being an activist and wanting to do more for the community.”
Farrah Salazar is a contributing writer at Anton Media Group.
