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Freeporter to head county Youth Services By ReiNe BetHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Office of the Nassau County Executive
lADoNNA tAYloR DisCusseD her duties as executive director of Nassau County Youth Services with County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Lifelong Freeport resident Ladonna Taylor has stepped up to a challenging and purposeful new role. She has become the executive director of Nassau County Youth Services, with oversight of the 46 agencies that have contracts with the county to provide support for children and families. Taylor was appointed to the position by County Executive Bruce Blakeman on Feb. 2, and confirmed by the Nassau County Legislature on Feb. 28. Taylor, who declined to give
her age, brings impressive experience to her new job: 27 years with the county’s Department of Social Services, including seven years as a social welfare examiner and 20 years as a case worker for children and their families. Youth Services is a division of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services. “Any not-for-profit in Nassau that deals with children that has an approved RFP [request for proposal] from us — we provide them with funding,” Taylor explained. Three of those programs are Walkabout for Continued on page 16
Freeport police get 11 new cars, with the latest high tech By ReiNe BetHANY rbethany@liherald.com
The Freeport police will have eight new police cars to patrol the village streets, plus three other needed vehicles, at a cost just north of $513,000 through state money attained by State Sen. John Brooks and State Assemblywoman Judy Griffin. M ayo r Ro b e r t Ke n n e dy thanked the legislators at a March 11 news conference outside the Freeport Police Department headquarters along with Deputy Mayor Ronald Ellerbe, Trustee Jorge Martinez, Trustee Evette Sanchez, and three members of the Freeport Police
Department, Assistant Police Chief Carl Hetzel, Officer Steven Margiotta, and Officer Michelle Haslam. “The police have a critical role in our society,” Brooks said “We have to make sure they can do their job. … This is a village that provides outstanding public safety. They’ve taken advantage of technology at every turn. And we have to give them the funds to keep doing it that way.” “I’m proud to stand here today knowing that our New York State Assembly funded Freeport with important police equipment,” said Griffin. “It is so important to continue that throughout our state, and
throughout my district—to fund the police with training and with resources.” The new vehicles include eight Chevrolet Tahoes to be used as patrol cars, a Chevrolet Spark for the parking meter personnel, a pickup truck to transport heavy equipment, and a Dodge Durango for village detectives. The pickup truck, Kennedy said, was “for the transportation and inspection of the weight scales that we use with the Department of Transportation, which we use on a regular basis. We’re required to go up to Albany and have these scales inspected every so many months, so we
need that vehicle to bring those big scales back up to Albany.” High-capacity scales are used for commercial vehicle inspections that Freeport officers conduct at random times and locations. Overweight vehicles pose a great risk to motorists and pedestrians. Kennedy noted that the new patrol cars are police pursuit
rated, and would be equipped with video cameras, computers to interface with the village’s License Plate Reader program, radios, protective partitions between front and back seats, lights, and sirens. They have high-performance, fuel-efficient, six-cylinder engines. The village is especially grateContinued on page 8