Accomplishments

A Grassroots Effort

A Brief History

The Hometown Pride Party was founded by a group of active community leaders in 1987 to give our Village a choice and a voice. The horrible condition of our largest asset, the roads, was a major community issue and the primary focus of our 1987 campaign. 

The 1987 Hometown Pride Party (HTP) ticket defeated their opponents in a 2 to 1 landslide, and more than 3,000 residents had their voices heard. When HTP's Hunt administration took office, it was shocked and disappointed to discover the condition in which Malverne had been left by the former administration. Here is a sampling of some of the challenges the HTP team inherited: 
  • Malverne exhausted 99.9% of its Constitutional taxing limit for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1987. Exhausting 90% or more of tax or debt limit is viewed as a negative factor by credit rating agencies and was indicative of serious fiscal stress. 
  • Short term operating debt was nearly $2 million, and $200,000 in bills from 1986-1987 fiscal year were left unpaid because funds had run out. The Hunt administration had to wait for the next tax year in June 1987 to generate sufficient revenues to pay these bills. 
  • No master plan for resurfacing the roads was ever undertaken by the Village Board.

Our Accomplishments

As the old saying goes, “a new broom sweeps clean,” and so, when the residents had a choice and elected the Hometown Pride Party to office in 1987, we made the following strides, whose effects can still be seen in our Village today: 
  • We resurfaced all 26 miles of roads for a total of $7 million through careful planning and numerous public input sessions. The roads were completed in 1991 and were assigned a probable usefulness of 15 years. 
  • After years of neglect, Village buildings, including the Village Hall, Police Headquarters, the Library, and DPW facilities, were renovated on the exterior and interior. Dilapidated sanitation equipment, fire trucks, and police cars were repaired and, in some instances, new equipment was purchased. 
  • Employing fiscal responsibility through the installation of computer systems for accounting and department oversight, we eliminated the $200,000 deficit we had inherited and produced a budget surplus. 
  • Residents were brought into Malverne government through open meetings and free inspection of records. The Hometown Pride Party was the first administration to air meetings on television and even established a $45,000 scholarship fund from Cablevision to award annual communications scholarships to deserving Malverne students. Suggestion boxes were also placed around the Village to encourage input from residents. 
  • We established the Village Beautification Committee, and Malverne was designated a Tree City USA, which enabled us to receive private grant money needed to replace dead trees and to improve the overall appearance of the village. We were also instrumental in the renovation of the Malverne and Westwood railroad stations. Harris Field was refurbished, parks improved, signs at public buildings and street lights were installed throughout the Village. 
  • Through the hard work of the Hometown Pride Party, the Village received nearly $1 million in public and private grants monies, which were used to fund projects such as the Gazebo at Reiss Park, landscaping around the village, the refurbishment of the Senior Citizens Colwell room, and the improvement of downtown parking areas. 
  • The Hometown Pride Party implemented a two-day sanitation pick-up in conjunction with the institution of an ambitious recycling program designed to reduce costs and to curb the critical national problem of solid waste removal and disposal. 
  • Community events, including the Holiday Lighting, the Turkey Trot, Halloween Parade, Spring Parade, Arbor Day, Flag Day, and the Country Fair, were spearheaded by leaders of the Hometown Pride Party. Residents came together, volunteered and participated in local government to make Malverne a better place for our children. 

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