Mayor's Weekly Column

Happy Holidays! A Message from Mayor Wayne J. Hall, Sr

Click here for Spanish Version

My family and I would like to extend our best wishes throughout the Holiday Season to you and your family.  Christmas has passed and the New Year is upon us.  In the past year the Village of Hempstead, along with many communities throughout our nation, has experienced a time of incredible challenges.  Large-scale unemployment, the downsizing of numerous businesses, a war in Iraq, and another in Afghanistan, that has caused the loss of over four thousand young soldiers and the injuring of thousands more. 

Many in our own village have been directly impacted by those challenges.  We have struggled to feed our families, to provide housing and shelter, and to ensure that our children have the tools and resources they need to succeed in school.

In the midst of these challenges, the citizens and agencies of the Village of Hempstead have pulled together.  Our police have strengthened their efforts at working in concert with the community to create safer streets and neighborhoods.  We have worked to increase more affordable housing in the Village and have made it a priority to respond to issues of housing and sanitation violations, responding rapidly to calls regarding a loss of heat and hot water and of poor garbage pickup. 

We are working to expedite the application process for new businesses in order to allow them to get up and running as quickly as possible, and by so doing to provide more new jobs to the community.

Education and youth are a priority, as are the needs of our senior citizens, and we are seeking more ways and better resources to help both young and old thrive.
Our Latino community has grown significantly over the last decade and this has added greatly to the Village's richness and culture.  We have seen more Latino-owned businesses spring up and the growth of Latino-centered houses of worship and agencies dedicated to addressing issues of importance to the Latino community.

In the past year there has been an added emphasis on immigration and on the challenges confronting undocumented immigrants and their children and families.  Because many in the Village come from South and Central America, as well as from the Caribbean islands, we know that many of the issues affecting our nation's immigrant community, affect our residents acutely as well. 

We are aware of the difficulties the undocumented face in finding employment or getting healthcare for their families.  Likewise, we are aware of the concerns of businesses who hire the undocumented, or who would like to hire more workers but need to ensure that they are here legally. 

Clearly, in order for our Village and nation to thrive a viable solution to the immigration problem must be developed that satisfies the needs of the many hardworking undocumented immigrants seeking a path to the American dream, while addressing the concerns of employers and others who desire to ensure that no laws are broken when hiring new workers. 

The Dream Act -- legislation that recently failed in the Senate and that aims to give citizenship to those children brought to America without documentation -- is one of the first steps that need to happen in immigration reform and my office hopes to do all that we can to help our residents in their pursuit of the American dream.

As President Obama stated on December 18th when it was announced that the Dream Act had failed in the Senate, "Our nation is enriched by their (immigrants) talents and would benefit from the success of their efforts. The DREAM Act is important to our economic competitiveness, military readiness, and law enforcement efforts."

As the New Year approaches there are signs that our nation's economy is slowly stabilizing, that job growth will rise, the housing collapse has stabilized and that incomes and opportunities will begin to grow.

For all of these reasons and many more I and my family remain optimistic about the coming year and the promises it holds for our community.  I am optimistic about the opportunities and resources available to our community.  I am optimistic about my own plans for the growth and revitalization of the Village.  I am energized because of the dynamic nature of our community, and because of the richness and strength of its ethnic and cultural diversity.

As the child of immigrants I know full well the energy, drive, and ambition of immigrants and of people who thirst for the opportunities provided by the American Dream. 

As Mayor, I have seen the depth of the contributions made to the Village of Hempstead by both native born Americans, naturalized citizens and the undocumented from all regions of the world, including Central and South America, the Caribbean, and parts of the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

I am buoyed by the spirit, strength and resilience of village residents and by our strong commitment to friends and family, our belief in the ethic of hard work and perseverance, and our desire to create a better world and community for our children and families and those who come after them.

Our Village stands ready and willing to do our part in the strengthening of Nassau County's economy, the economy of the State of New York and of the United States of America.

Happy Holidays and All the Best in the New Year from my family to yours.  Wishing you health, happiness, peace, prosperity and compassion in the coming year.

Mayor Wayne J. Hall, Sr.
Village of Hempstead