Thank you to all of the voters of the Town of North Hempstead. Thank you for believing in my message and for helping us to deliver the closest race in the recent history in our town.

I look forward to serving you in the future.

Lee Tu
 

Welcome

LEE TU: CANDIDATE FOR
TOWN SUPERVISOR

I bring to this campaign broad experience as a private-sector and municipal auditor, coupled with educational training as an accountant, skills which are essential in North Hempstead town's next supervisor.

As senior audit manager at Cornick, Garber & Sandler, LLP in Manhattan, I perform financial audits of private, public and not-for-profit entities. In addition, I have counseled publicly-traded companies on Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance issues.

I gained invaluable governmental experience as an auditor in New York City's Department of Real Estate Services. In that role, I performed compliance and contract audits for an agency with one of the nation's largest municipal real estate portfolios. Moreover, my colleagues and I saved city taxpayers millions of dollars because of our thorough audits. One of the reasons I've found success as an auditor is because of the B.S. degree in accounting in finance that I received from New York University's Stern School of Business.

My administration would take pro-active steps to limit the general fund property tax increases, excessive spending, and lax management that have too often been a staple of North Hempstead town government since I moved to Albertson in 1993.

Property taxes are one of the biggest issues on voters' minds, I've found. And while the town's general fund property tax is less than the school or county tax, the double-digit percentage increases (35% in the last six years) we've seen in North Hempstead's general fund tax levy in recent years are unacceptable. Town government needs a top to bottom reassessment of the services it provides.

Key components of my platform:

  • Overhaul and reform the town's mismanaged building department; there's no reason the number of employee arrests and indictments should rival the number of permits issued on any given day.

  • Enact a ‘Property Owner's Bill of Rights' aimed at ensuring that the residents' rights are respected whenever they interact with the Building Department.  Too often, applications can sit for months, even years, without any meaningful action. 

  • Increase and enhance the number of town-sponsored concerts, firework displays and other quality of life initiatives; these programs can be allocated more money after my administration identifies and eliminates the excesses which have been built into the town's general fund budget since 1992.

  • Protect local governments, such as villages, water and park districts, and volunteer fire departments, government entities which have proven cost-effective and ensure local control of municipal affairs.

  • Work with our residents on important local issues such as creating additional parking and easing traffic in Port Washington, building a suitable sewer system in Great Neck, making sure street sweeping is not only announced but done throughout the year from New Hyde Park to Roslyn, as well as revitalizing our downtowns in areas such as Carle Place.  My goal is to work with residents, civic associations and other concerned groups and make them a part of the decision making process.
My interest in government and community affairs dates back to my days at Francis Lewis High School in Queens, where I was selected to serve on the New York City Mayor's Youth Advisory Council. While at NYU, I was chosen to be a part of the prestigious Dwight Eisenhower Fellowship program in Washington, D.C.

On November 3rd, I ask that you the residents of this town cast your vote for me and choose a new beginning. I believe that town government is about serving the community and not about the same old party politics. Only together we can preserve our quality of life and make the town that we love a better place!