Baldwin
HERALD Embracing alternative ed.
School official named ‘Hero’
Man arrested for robbery
Page 8
Page 8
Page 24
$1.00
OCTOBER 22 - 28, 2020
VOl. 27 NO. 43
Revitalization projects list is finalized ect costs, said Lou Bekofsky, of VHB. David Ashton, of the DepartTown of Hempstead and state ment of State, said, “It’s someofficials joined residents and thing like $166 million of project consultants via Zoom on Oct. 14 value for under $15 million of to finalize the list of projects to requested public support. That’s be submitted to the really fantastic state for approval as leverage, and it’s part of the Downone of the best town Revitalization that I’ve seen in Initiative, for which doing DRIs across Baldwin received a the state. I think $10 million grant everyone should last year. be really proud A t t h e l at e s t that there’s that meeting of the level of investment Local Planning interest in downCommittee, which town Baldwin that comprises Baldwin this process has community and solicited.” business leaders, He also remindHempstead Town ed interested parSupervisor Don ties that despite Clavin and the VHB what the LPC recEngineering conommends to the sulting team, public state, there is only feedback from a vir- daVid aSHTON $9.7 million worth tual survey and a of projects that the Department of State live question-andstate will award. a n sw e r s e s s i o n The other $300,000 were reviewed, determining the went to consultants. support for each project. The planning committee Consultants found that a final wants to be sure, Ashton said, list of 12 projects includes a total that there are enough projects of about $15 million in requested that the LPC has approved so it DRI funds, which would help support $166 million in total projContinued on page 3
By BRidgET dOwNES bdownes@liherald.com
Courtesy Assemblywoman Judy Griffin
Open for business Attending the grand opening for Safe Health Educators in Baldwin earlier this month were Troy Diaz, of the Small Business Development Center at SUNY Farmingdale, far left, Safe Health Educators office manager Melissa Coxe, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, Assemblywoman Judy Griffin, Safe Health Educators owner Richard Rattan, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice’s representative Kevin Devlin, South Nassau Mount Sinai Emergency Department Nurse Diane Rattan and Safe Health Educators Chief Operating Officer Billy Croak. Story, more photos, Page 5.
Audit finds that Bethany House violated state and federal rules By BRidgET dOwNES bdownes@liherald.com
The Nassau County Comptroller’s office released an audit report of Bethany House, a Baldwin-based nonprofit that provides shelter and services for homeless women and children, some of whom have escaped domestic violence, that found questionable and excessive payments to staff, including founder Sister Aimee Koonmen, and vio-
lations of nepotism and livingwage laws. The 42-page report, released on Oct. 8, details a pattern of financial irregularities, including a failure to maintain documentation “to support over $160,000 in stipend payments” and “questionable payments exceeding $35,000 [that] were made to board members and employees, with no apparent reason for these payments,” the report reads.
“We found that Bethany House violated the terms of their [memorandum of understanding] with Nassau County by not maintaining adequate accounting records and not complying with various federal and state regulations,” investigators wrote in the report. In five residences around Nassau County, including the location in Baldwin on Demott AveContinued on page 4
i
think everyone should be really proud that there’s that level of investment interest in downtown Baldwin that this process has solicited.