So Say New York League of Conservation Voters & Sierra Club
Democrat Jon Kaiman earned Environmental Seals of Approval as he seeks election to return as Supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead. Both The New York League of Conservation Voters and The Sierra Club endorsed Democrat Jon Kaiman for Town of North Hempstead Supervisor in the election to be held Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
The New York League of Conservation Voters is the only non-partisan, statewide environmental organization in New York that fights for clean water, clean air, renewable energy, and open space through political action.
The Sierra Club, America’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, and its constituent Chapters and Groups including its volunteer-led Atlantic Chapter representing 50,000 members across New York State, work to elect political leaders who will take action to protect the planet – who will work to ensure that the present and future generations have clean air, clean water, safe and healthy neighborhoods and access to wild lands and open spaces.
“My focus in every government leadership position I have held, including my role as Deputy County Executive, in my role in the New York Rising Sandy Relief program, and during my previous service as Town of North Hempstead Supervisor, is to pursue environmental policies to reduce greenhouse gases; protect our drinking water; clean and restore our bays and wetlands; reduce, reuse and recycle our waste; develop renewable energy sources; and educate the public on why and how we will work towards a cleaner, more sustainable planet,” stated Kaiman.
“As the former Town Supervisor of North Hempstead, Jon Kaiman enacted numerous strong environmental policies, including the establishment of a town-wide school recycling initiative, his “Stop Throwing Out Pollutants” program, and his efforts to clean up Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor,” stated Julie Tighe, President, New York League of Conservation Voters. “We also commend his work protecting the shorelines across Long Island and Queens in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which was critical to preventing future flooding damage. Jon Kaiman is a proven environmental leader on Long Island and that is why NYLCV is proud to endorse his candidacy for North Hempstead Town Supervisor.”
Our endorsement is based on your demonstrated commitment to environmental protection and our expectation that, going forward, you will continue to work diligently to preserve and enhance Long Island’s precious environmental resources,” wrote Sierra Club Long Island Group Political Chair Albert Fredericks in the group’s letter informing Democrat Jon Kaiman of its endorsement.
As North Hempstead Town Supervisor (2004-2013) Democrat Kaiman initiated an aggressive environmental agenda while ensuring the town’s fiscal stability, including:
- The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Award-winning North Hempstead School Recycling Partnership Program taught 40,000 future leaders how to properly dispose of recyclable waste.
- The first municipality in New York to institute a Pharmaceutical Take Back Program, an EPA award-winning initiative, which led to diverting hundreds of tons of unused and unwanted pharmaceuticals entering our waterways or getting into the wrong hands.
- The first municipality on Long Island to institute a residential Composting Cooperative and a Recycle the Rain rain barrel program.
- Developed a “Virtual Recycle Store” where, from A-Z, you could search for almost any item that you would like to dispose of and The Town of North Hempstead supplied the proper means of disposal, recycling information or a donation suggestion.
- North Hempstead received the Diamond Award for Energy from The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) for serving as the lead agency for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Sustainability Plan for Long Island.
- Merged two local sewer districts to create one tertiary plant that cost less to the taxpayers while significantly reducing nitrogen flow into Manhasset Bay.
- Reseeded Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor with oysters in order to create natural filters to help clean it up and improve the water quality.
- Restored Long Island Sound wetlands along town bays.
- Created and implemented Clean Sweep and Green Team programs cleaning streets, and picking up litter and debris from throughout the town on an ongoing basis.
- Envisioning, funding, designing and building the Platinum LEED Certified Yes We Can Community Center in New Cassel, Westbury which including geo thermal wells, a solar wall and solar parking panels, an electric vehicle charging station, gray water, natural light in every room on every floor of the building, recycling construction materials, and the addition of a bus stop to enhanced public transportation.
As Deputy Suffolk County Executive, Kaiman initiated and helped implement environmental policy programs such as:
- The County Electric Vehicles program including being a featured speaker on municipal transformation to electric vehicle fleets at the annual New York Association Counties Conference in 2019.
- A county school recycling program based on Kaiman’s North Hempstead program.
- A state-of-the-art wind energy training facility in Brentwood in partnership with the National Offshore Wind Training Center board that will train offshore wind industry.
For more information, visit https://www.jonkaiman.com or contact info@jonkaiman.com.
Read The White Paper