Hempstead Supervisor-elect Laura Gillen sets Hofstra swearing-in

Hempstead Supervisor-elect Laura Gillen will be sworn in Jan. 1 at Hofstra University, becoming the town’s first Democratic supervisor in more than a century.

Gillen and Town Clerk Sylvia Cabana, also a Democrat, will take the oath of office in a separate inauguration, one day ahead of the town’s induction ceremony for three incumbent town board members.

Gillen said she wanted to hold the event at Hofstra’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse to open her inauguration to the public at no taxpayer expense.

“We’re returning our government to the taxpayers,” Gillen said. “This will be a ceremony by and for the people, but not at the people’s expense.” The Hofstra inauguration will be paid for by the Gillen campaign and transition team.

The 10 a.m. event is to be presided over by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Scheduled to swear Gillen into office are Nassau County Executive-elect Laura Curran, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) and North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, all Democrats.

Cuomo also is scheduled to attend Curran’s swearing-in ceremony at noon the same day at Nassau County’s Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola.

Gillen said she thought it was important to hold her inauguration early so she could get to work immediately on Jan. 2. She plans to attend the town board induction ceremony that day.

“They clearly wanted to do their own thing, and I’ll be there to support them,” Gillen said of the incumbents.

The town board swearing-in of Republicans Anthony D’Esposito and Dennis Dunne and Democratic Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby is to be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 2 in the Town Hall Nathan L.H. Bennett Pavilion. Board members had raised concerns attendance might have to be limited in the space where town board meetings are normally held, in order to accommodate council members’ family and friends. Any overflow crowd will be able to watch the ceremony on hallway monitors or an online video stream on the town’s website.

Board members have canceled their Jan. 2 meeting. Gillen will meet with the board for the first time Jan. 9.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.