Long-Time West Hempstead Resident Running For School Board

Another West Hempstead resident has announced his candidacy for the school board, adding to the growing list of candidates running in the May 15 election.

Dennis Walsh, a 37-year resident, has thrown himself in the running, vying for the empty seat that Vincent Trocchia is current occupying. (The seat initially belonged to Anthony Brita, but , the school board to fill the vacancy until the election is held in May to decide who will serve out the remainder of the term.)

Walsh, 62, grew up in Queens Village but moved to West Hempstead with his wife in 1977. For the past three years, the retired New York City police officer has been regularly attending school board meetings.

“I started to get involved when they wanted to raises taxes by 12 percent a few years ago,” he told Patch. “This year, when [Superintendent John] Hogan announced there will be no cuts to anything, I said, ‘No, it has to stop.’”

It was after - when Hogan said the current draft of the proposed budget for 2012-2013 maintains all programs and staff - that Walsh decided to run for the school board.

“Everyone in the world is cutting back,” he said. ”Yet the board has raised taxes 20 percent over the last five years.”

The latest budget draft carries a 3.06 percent tax levy increase and a 1.3 increase over the voter approved budget for 2011-12, but stays under the allowable tax cap under the new law.

If elected, Walsh said he would make it his mission to “try to hold down the finances” and direct more of the spending to education. (In a , he urged residents to contact the district asking it to lower the expenditures in the current budget draft before the board adopts a final proposal on April 17.) He said it’s especially important for the seniors in the community, as well as young families, to keep taxes down.

“I have a few seniors on my block … they were promised by the government a 2 percent tax cap,” he said, adding, “They don’t understand the intricacies of pensions” and other costs that school districts are allowed to exempt from the tax cap.

Walsh says he understands that roughly 80 percent of the district’s expenditures, including employee benefits, are out of the board’s control but he would make an effort to reign in other cost-drivers by evaluating their effectiveness.

“Is this program needed? Are we getting this dollar amount out of it? Do we need this person or not? What are we getting out of them?” would be among the inquiries he would ask if he sat on the board.

For instance, he questioned whether six security guards are truly needed in the high school, or if this number could be reduced.

“In the city schools, security is a function of the police,” he said, suggesting that the district see if Nassau County Police could provide this service.

While he doesn’t want to see sports and extracurricular activities completely eliminated, he does think that in these difficult economic times they should take perhaps a 10 percent cut.

“Is the priority education or sports and extracurriculars?” he asked. “I know it’s all related but is it sustainable?”

Being retired from the New York City Police after 34 years on the force, Walsh said he has the time to devote to the school board. Another advantage he says he has is that he can confide in his wife, Catherine, a retired assistant principal who worked in Brooklyn, for insight about education matters.

"We talk about a lot of things and she would give me guidance where needed,” he said. “She knows the rules about special education … and would guide me with navigating the budget, what’s mandated and what’s not.”

At the end of the day, Walsh says the school budget needs to be “a delicate balance” and that board members need to evaluate the “cost-effectiveness” of everything.

“If you keep raising taxes people may not come here,” he said. “A lot of people don't understand the finances involved in the budget. All they are seeing is a 3.06 percent increase vs. what Gov. Cuomo promised.”

Board Trustees Carol Rilling and James Mariano are also up for election this year. a father of two West Hempstead students, will be challenging Mariano for his seat. Another dad, announced earlier this year that he too is considering a run for the board.

What do you think about the school board candidates so far? Tell us in the comments section below. 

Check back for more developments about the West Hempstead school board election, which will take place on May 15, the same day as the budget vote.