UPDATE: Video of the League of Women Voters candidates forum held on October 17, 2019. The portion of the forum that involves Town of North Hempstead candidates (including Green Party candidate Cassandra Lems) begins at about 2 hours 15 minutes.
Link to Cassandra Lems October 23rd interview by "The Island Now"
UPDATE:
Cassandra Lems, Green Party candidate for Councilperson, Town of North Hempstead Council District 2, will be speaking at two upcoming Candidates' Forums: The first is scheduled for Thursday, October 17, 2019, 6:30PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Road, Manhasset, NY 11030. Another Candidates' Night, hosted by the Albertson Square Civic Association, is scheduled for Tuesday, October 22nd, 7:30PM at the Albertson Fire House, 100 I U Willets Road, Albertson, NY 11507.
At a June 2, 2019, meeting of the Green Party of Nassau County, Cassandra Lems received the official endorsement of the Party in her campaign for Town of North Hempstead Councilperson from the 2nd district. The second district includes the North Shore communities of Albertson, East Hills, East Williston, Glenwood Landing, Greenvale, Herricks, Manhasset Hills, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn Heights and Searingtown.
A resident of the 2nd district for over 20 years, Cassandra has most recently run for Nassau County Executive on the Green Party line. She has also been the Green Party candidate for New York State Senate, 7th SD and County Legislator for LD 10. She is a member of the Green Party of New York State Committee, currently serving on its Web Committee, and is the Program Chair of the Nassau County Green Party.
The Town Board of North Hempstead is currently composed of six council members and the supervisor, most of whom belong to the same political party. Ms. Lems hopes to add diversity to the council in the current election cycle, at the same time putting forth to the voters of her district a progressive Green Party agenda. Issues she will be highlighting include proper siting of recreational marijuana businesses, tackling issues of noise pollution from landscaping businesses and airplanes, supporting freedom of speech in the Town by reversing earlier Town anti-BDS legislation, improving the Town Building Department and protecting residents from improper siting of 5G transmitters.
Cassandra’s campaign is seeking volunteers to work on her campaign in the coming months. Help is needed with such activities as literature distribution, calls and canvassing. Volunteers are urged to contact her at c_lems@yahoo.com, tel: 516-248-3059. Financial donations can be sent to: “Friends of Cassandra Lems,” 44 Center Drive, New Hyde Park, NY 11040. Donations to political campaigns are not tax-deductible, but greatly appreciated! VOTE NOVEMBER 5th, 2019!
Greens and friends are urged to attend these events and support our candidate! Cassandra is the only official Green Party candidate running for office in Nassau County this election cycle. If you would like to help her campaign in any way, or if you have any questions about her campaign, Cassandra can be contacted at 516-248-3059 or at c_lems@yahoo.com. Financial donations to the campaign can be made to: "Friends of Cassandra Lems," 44 Center Drive, New Hyde Park, NY 11040. Donations are not tax-deductible.
#DemandMore #GPNC #NorthHempstead #Green #GreenParty #Candidate
September 29, 2017
As Green Party candidate for County Executive, I question whether either Democrat Laura Curran or Republican Jack Martins will be able to end corrupt hiring and contracting practices in Nassau County, since both candidates are taking money from individuals and companies that deal with Nassau County. Both parties will always have a problem with pay-to-play if they continue to accept such monies. And voters will always—with justification -- mistrust the motives of their governmental representatives.
The political patronage system causes a lot of waste in government. People who are not qualified for certain jobs are appointed because they contributed money or time or service to political campaigns. One example of this from my own experience is that the president of a local Young Republicans club somehow ended up in charge of the emergency management program with which I volunteer, not because he was particularly qualified but because of his politics. This use of patronage is far too common in Nassau County politics. This is not an efficient or ethical way to staff government positions.
If elected, I will work to eliminate political patronage hiring practices. Currently, the Democrat and Republican incumbents and their political bosses determine who is appointed to many government positions. Jobs are handed out as rewards for political support. Once I am in office, government employees will instead be hired based on their skills and experience, and not according to the political party they belong to or the amount of money they contributed to the county executive or legislators.
The Green Party is not a political machine in the way the Democrats and the Republicans are; we are a grass roots organization, and we do not have political bosses who run the party and decide which candidates will appear on the Green Party line.
Pay-to-play will not end until candidates of all parties stop accepting contributions from individuals and corporations who do business with the government, or who hope to do business with the government. The Green Party is in favor of full public financing of political campaigns. Green Party candidates do not accept any campaign funds from special interests or corporations. Meanwhile, pay-to-play can and will end only when we stop electing candidates from the same old “big” political parties to office.
Nassau County must overhaul the procedure for vetting county contractors. I will institute a system wherein proposals are evaluated on their merits, and we will not accept bids from contractors who make large contributions to political campaigns.
Until Nassau County and other New York governmental entities enact full public financing of campaigns, there will always be problems with corruption based on pay-to-play. Money corrupts politics, and the public knows that all too well. Needed reforms include limits on candidate expenditures, a halt to private contributions once a candidate qualifies for public funding, and free and equal access to the media for all ballot-qualified parties. As County Executive I will work toward securing these reforms. In the meantime I will do all I can to also make County contracts and hiring practices as transparent and ethical as possible. In this regard, I support the establishment of an independent County Inspector General to investigate contracts.
