Politics & Government

Meet the Candidates: Dr. Hassett's Prescription for a Better Malverne

This doc and Malverne Tea Party founder is challenging two incumbents for a village trustee seat.

In only 20 days, residents in the village of Malverne will go to the polls to elect several positions in their local government.

While Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald and Village Justice James Dougherty are both running unopposed for re-election, there will be a race for the two trustee seats that are up for grabs.

Incumbents James Callahan III and Michael Bailey are both seeking another term, but they will have some competition.

Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Dr. John Hassett Jr., 41*, has emerged as the candidate for the Malverne Tea Party. Hassett, a board certified physician, is a lifelong resident of Malverne. He serves as the surgeon to the Malverne Police and has been the physician for the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps(MVAC) for the past 17 years. He's also the president of the Sons of the American Legion Post 44, where his father serves as Commander and his mother runs the Ladies Auxiliary.

In May 2010, Hassett formed the Malverne Tea Party to bring together local people who want "smaller, less intrusive government," he said.

Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Having read the U.S. Constitution and most of The Federalist Papers, he says he has a firm grasp on the type of government the founders of this country sought to create.

"What they envisioned was much smaller than what we have today," he says.

Speaking about village governments in general, he said "a lot of times you have got waste and redundancy," and by eliminating some of the fat you can lower taxes.

"There's less of a burden to carry," he added.

For example, he noted that the parking lot next to Village Hall is always full, and asked whether Malverne, only a square-mile in size, needs all of these employees?

And should they be making what he calls "sky high salaries?"

“Maybe there’s not much we can do about it, and maybe there is," he stated in a press release. "But we have to at least find out how and where we lost control over the pay of employees such as our police chief, who outdraws New York City’s police commissioner and makes more money than the majority of America’s governors."

He added that the Chief does a fine and much needed job, and shouldn’t be blamed for a broken system over which he had no control.    

Hassett also asked if it's necessary for one village official to be driving a brand new 2010 Dodge Charger paid for with residents' tax dollars.

One of his main goals, if elected, would be to decrease government spending including eliminating a village policy to pay lifetime health insurance benefits to elected officials who are credited with a mere five years of service.

“Health insurance costs are out of control in the first place, but rewarding employees with this lifetime benefit after just five years of service is an outrage that must be addressed,” Hassett said.  He pointed out that each family medical plan currently costs the village taxpayers in excess of $18,000 on top of salary and other fringe benefits.

His other objective is to increase government transparency. He thinks the village government is not as open as it should be.

"What happened to the four police cars* that  were excessed last year?" he asks "I want to know.:

He pointed out that work sessions conducted by the village board, for example, are conducted behind closed doors. Hassett has actually been paying to find out what happens at these meetings, mainly what resolutions have been passed, by submitting FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, which come with fees, to get his hands on the minutes.

At a recent village board meeting, he suggested that the board make these work sessions open to the public, but was told officials "decided against the suggestion."

"They'll have to listen harder if I'm on the board," he says.

He believes that if residents could sit in on these meetings or view them on Malverne TV, communication would improve. He said situations like the one that occurred a few months ago, when over summonses they received related to roadwork on their streets, could be avoided.

He also thinks that this change would keep officials more accountable and enable residents to monitor their government.

"Are they doing things right or wrong?" he asks. "Maybe they are," he says, but he'd like residents to be more informed in order to make these judgments.

Hassett never aspired to enter politics, but it's questions like these that motivated him to enter this year's village elections.

He had put out a call to the members of the Malverne Tea Party at their meeting in January looking for a candidate to enter the race, but when no one stepped up, his search led him to look in the mirror.

A father of a 16-month-old daughter, Abigail, and another child on the way, Hassett said his wife, Margaret, was not thrilled when he first mentioned the idea to her. "What wife would be," he added.

"It was a choice between spending more time with my kids now or trying to make the village better for them when they grow up, so it could be more like the village I grew up in," he said.

With the Feb. 15 deadline to enter the race approaching, he made his decision and hit the streets, collecting 167 signatures from residents.

Most people, he says, were surprised to see anyone challenging the current administration, although some were eager to share their thoughts on ways Malverne's government could be improved as he went door-to-door.

He told them he's not looking to completely overall the village government. "I want to preserve all of the good," he says, "but trim out some of the bad."

Up next, Patch will profile Malverne Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald who is running unopposed for re-election. Stay tuned for more candidate profiles and election coverage.

* Indicates a correction was made.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here