Serving Port Washington, Manorhaven, Flower Hill, Baxter Estates, Port Washington North, Sands Point
$1.50
Friday, December 1, 2023
Vol. 9, No. 48
PortWashingtonTimes Washington GUIDE TO THE HOLIDAYS
LIRR ADDS GRAND CENTRAL STOPS
SANTOS FACES 3RD HOUSE EXPULSION VOTE
PAGES 21-32
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
McCarthy touts community work in P.D. bid
B A L L O O N S O V E R D A LY
Running against Police Commissioner Brian Staley in Dec. 12 election BY C A M E RY N O A K ES Sean McCarthy, a retired Nassau County Police chief with more than 30 years in law enforcement, is vying for the position of Port Washington’s police commissioner, advocating for community engagement and the positive methods in which police can aid mental healthrelated calls. The Port Washington Police Department’s Board of Commissioners is comprised of three commissioners. The individuals currently serving these roles are Brian G. Staley Sr., Angela Lawlor Mullins and JB Meyer. McCarthy is challenging Staley, Port’s first Black police commissioner, who was elected in 2020 and is finishing his first term. Efforts to contact Staley were unavailing. McCarthy, 61, is a nearly 25-year Port Washington resident who grew up locally in Plandome. He is a former chief of the Nassau County Police Department who retired in July 2018 after working for the department for more than 33 years and rising through the ranks. “Working for the Police Department was just a tremendous set of experiences and I got to work with these fantastic people in these amazing areas,” McCarthy said.
He joined the Nassau County Police Department in 1985, starting as a patrol officer and an advanced emergency medical technician in the Third and SixthbPrecincts. In 2003, McCarthy began working at the police headquarters in the Chief of Support Office serving as the departmental safety officer. McCarthy then made sargeant in 2004, becoming the admin supervisor for the Support Division. “So I always say it took me 19 years to be an overnight success,” McCarthy said. In this position, McCarthy said he would oversee facilities, employees, IT, records management and court paperwork – which he called the “behind-thescenes stuff.” From there McCarthy moved to the Personnel and Accounting Bureau where he began working on the finances of the department. He worked as the payroll and HR supervisor, later moving to deputy commanding officer of the bureau when he became a lieutenant in 2006. While working in the Personnel and Accounting Bureau, McCarthy said he would help in drafting the department’s budget and later present it to the Nassau County Legislature for approval. Continued on Page 43
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PORT WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Students dressed as turkeys march in the Balloons Over Daly Parade.
Idol, Gibbons challenge Meyer in Port water race BY C A M E RY N O A K ES The Port Washington Water District’s election for one of its water commissioners is a competitive race, with incumbent Peter Meyer and challengers Charles “Chuck” Idol and Mark Gibbons vying for his seat in the Dec. 12 election. Meyer has been one of the three water commissioners for the district since 2000, serving as the board’s secretary. The other commissioner are Chairman David R. Brackett and
Treasurer Mindy Germain. Efforts to contact Meyer were unavailing. Idol, a business and technology consultant, is a longtime resident of the North Shore who moved to Port in 2017. He has worked in the hightech field for multiple banks and the federal government for about 30 years. He said he was inspired to run for this position due to his prior efforts to ban Pentachlorophenol, a toxic chemical that was present on
the poles erected during Superstorm Sandy and prior in Port Washington and around Long Island. He said he has received environmental awards for his leadership in fighting to ban the chemical from the town to the House of Representatives, with his advocacy beginning in 2012. Idol said chemicals, including pentachlorophenol, are affecting the cost of water due to the needed infrastructure and technology to remove it from the water system. Continued on Page 42