________ Franklin square/elmont _______
HERALD Concerns rise over mail fraud
Honoring l.I.’s top lawyers
PFY celebrates 30 years
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Vol. 25 No. 22
MAY 25 - 31, 2023
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Elmont says goodbye to ‘Doc’ Annual summit focuses on Dougherty, founder of mentoring program By ANA BoRRUTo aborruto@liherald.com
Courtesy Town of Hempstead
Squashing litterbugs Dozens of Locustwood Gotham Civic Association members, Elmont Memorial High School students and Town of Hempstead elected officials took on the trash on Hempstead Turnpike outside UBS Arena in Elmont as part of their cleanup initiative. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Men of Elmont is gearing up for its seventh annual summit on June 1 to wrap up the year — and the program’s mentors said it’s going to be a special one as they bid a fond farewell to its founder, Elmont Memorial High School Principal Kevin Dougherty. When Dougherty created the mentoring program in 2016, the founders decided they would hold a summit to close out the academic year, according to Jon Johnson, an adviser for Men of Elmont. Each year, the program has a
different theme, and the 2023 summit will be centered on Dougherty and brotherhood, with the theme “MOE4Life,” Johnson said. The beloved Men of Elmont founder and principal — affectionately known as “Doc” — announced last month that he is leaving the school district after eight years. “It’s important, when you lose someone with such prominence, you really have to say thank you,” Johnson said. “It is the right thing to do because without him, we wouldn’t have had this program.” Dougherty brought the program to the high school with the Continued on page 2
D’Esposito wants George Santos booted out of Congress By ANA BoRRUTo aborruto@liherald.com
It has been a busy week on the House floor, especially for U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito. He not only passed his Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, but spoke out in support of a resolution to expel his fellow Long Island Republican representative, George Santos. The resolution was reportedly first introduced by a Democratic House member from California, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia. Santos was indicted this month, accused of 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and mak-
ing materially false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives. Last week, D’Esposito took to the podium to urge the bipartisan House Ethics Committee to take swift action in getting rid Santos, who he called a “pathological liar.” The House ultimately voted to refer the resolution to the House Ethics Committee instead of voting on the resolution itself. “I was the first member of Congress to say that he should resign, but unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that in order for a member to be expelled, you need two thirds of the vote of Congress,” D’Esposito said.
“They don’t have the numbers, so that’s the problem. “I don’t think that George should serve another day in Congress. The quickest way to rid this institution of this stain is to refer this issue to the House Ethics Committee.” With 18 months to go until the general election, seven candidates have already put their hats in the ring looking to take over Santos’ district. Former Democratic Hempstead town supervisor Laura Gillen and Olympian Sarah Hughes seek to face D’Esposito for his seat in the fourth congressional district. Gillen lost to D’Esposito in November’s election, but recent-
ly said in her official announcement she is running again “because public service can be a noble calling that makes people’s lives better.” However, “too many in Washington care about political gamesmanship, sound bites and photo opportunities than actually making real progress for our families.” Gillen previously told the
Herald one of the reasons she decided to run was because of the Republican position on the n at i o n a l d e b t c r i s i s. T h e GOP insist President Biden reduce spending before they will agree to raise the debt ceiling. D’Esposito recently helped House Republicans pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, Continued on page 4