________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
Agreement near on bulkheads
Island Park bids farewell to Fischer
Dobin celebrates 111th birthday
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Vol. 33 No. 35
AUGUST 25 - 31, 2022
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Gillen set to face off against D’Esposito By KYle ChIN kchin@liherald.com
Brendan Carpenter/Herald
MelISSA SPleeN hAS brought education and community volunteerism to Long Beach’s Martin Luther King Jr. Center during her time as the executive director.
Re-energizing the MLK Center Spleen is educator, organizer and mentor By BReNDAN CARPeNTeR bcarpenter@liherald.com
The search criteria to become the executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Long Beach stressed that the right person had to be an educator as well as someone who served as a community volunteer. Melissa Spleen fit the bill. Spleen applied for the program director position online last September. She was quickly promoted as the inter-
im director while the previous director, Mack Graham, was transitioning out of the role. Upon the end of Graham’s tenure, Spleen was named the new executive director. Graham remains as a volunteer with the center. Spleen, 32, grew up in Hempstead and attended Hempstead High School. She attended The City College of New York, where she studied math and adolescent education, before transferring to SUNY Old Westbury where
she earned her bachelor’s degree in 2013. She began teaching that same year, and now teaches algebra and geometry at Hempstead High School. She also has her master’s degree in special education from CUNY Hunter. As a college student, she worked with the Jewish Child Care Association’s foster home services as a tutor for children at different foster Continued on page 11
Laura Gillen is a step closer to claiming the open U.S. House seat left vacant by Kathleen Rice. The former Hempstead town supervisor was projected to win the Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, with nearly 67 percent of the vote in early returns. “Tonight, voters spoke loud and clear that they want a representative who will fight tooth and nail against GOP politicians in Washington,” Gillen said in a statement following the win. She also decried Re publicans “who want to pass a national a b o r t i o n b a n lAURA without excep- GIlleN tions to rape, woN the incest, or even if Democratic the woman’s life primary for is in danger.” “Health care the 4th d e c i s i o n s — Congressional including basic District. birth control — are between a woman and her doctor, not by Washington politicians trying to score political points with their extremist base.” The 52-year-old Rockville Centre resident had been a favorite to win, endorsed by Rice as well as a number of major Democratic Party figures, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
and House Democratic Caucus chair Hakeem Jeffries. She now faces Hempstead town councilman Anthony D’Esposito in the Nov. 8 general election. He ran unopposed on the Republican ticket. Gillen has stated that repealing restrictions to state and local tax deductions passed in 2017 is one of her immediate priorities. She also voiced support for universal background checks on gun purchases to help curb crime and violence, while calling for expanded voting rights. Early results showed Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages in second with 16 percent of votes. Solages advocated for an aggressive foreign policy, tax incentives for small businesses, and expanding protections for women. Keith Corbett had 14 percent of the vote. The Malverne mayor called for expansions to reproductive and voting rights while touting his experience in village planning and infrastructure. Finally, physician Muzib Huq from Elmont captured a little more than 1 percent of the vote. He had campaigned on improving the American health care system, championing racial and religious tolerance, and investing in anemic local and national infrastructure. While the fourth district is forecasted to safely lean Democrat by some, other pollsters — like McLaughlin & Associates — say D’Esposito had the best chance of claiming the seat if Gillen was his opponent.