New North Hempstead public works commissioner Kristin Seleski is making town history

Kristin Seleski has gone from overseeing the construction of commercial buildings in Manhattan to supervising sewer and road improvement projects in North Hempstead, a new role where she's making history.

Last week North Hempstead town board members appointed Seleski, 38, of Port Washington, to commissioner of the public works department — making her the first woman to permanently hold the role.

She’ll collect an annual salary of $167,000.

“Being a civil engineer, that’s not new territory for me,” Seleski said Monday about working in a male-dominated field. “It’s always exciting to be the first woman in anything and hopefully not the last.”

Seleski now oversees road maintenance, storm response, sewer expansion projects and other construction in the town, officials said. The public works department has highway, engineering, street lighting, sidewalk and fleet management divisions.

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said in an interview Monday that Seleski’s experience made her the right candidate for the role.

Seleski has worked as a field engineer and project manager for construction management firms in Maryland and New York for the past 15 years.

Most recently, she worked at Manhattan firm Richter+Ratner, where she oversaw the construction of commercial buildings and schools. She has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

“Being able to survive in the private sector, in a very demanding industry, she would be able to be the leader that we need,” DeSena said of Seleski's appointment.

Seleski said her family has a long history of living in Port Washington, and she shares a home in the hamlet with her husband, Ted, that the couple bought three years ago. After commuting to Manhattan, she wanted a job closer to home.

“The idea that I could get involved in projects that were in my community and communities around me, was really exciting,” she also noted. 

Seleski said her priorities include moving forward projects like the North Hempstead Beach Park renovation and the reconstruction of the Michael J. Tully Park parking lot, which is riddled with potholes and bumps.

She said transitioning from the private to the public sector will present some challenges but she’ll use her management experience to help fill in the gaps.

Seleski will be the first permanent commissioner of the department since Paul DiMaria resigned in October 2019. Victor Thomas, the town’s architect, served in an acting capacity until he resigned from the temporary position last February. 

In the past, town officials had named a female town employee to act temporarily as public works commissioner, but she never ended up taking on the role, according to a North Hempstead spokesman. 

Seleski's hiring drew pushback from three Democrats on the town board, who said they weren’t given a chance to vet her as a candidate. All three voted no to the hiring resolution, while DeSena, a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans, and the three Republicans on the board approved the hiring measure.

“All of us should have the opportunity to at least say we don’t want to be involved in the hiring of commissioners,” Democratic Councilman Robert Troiano said before voting no.

Democratic Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte, who also voted no, said Monday that she had met the new public works commissioner and looks forward to working with her.

Town board members also voted along party lines last week to hire Elan Blitstein as deputy commissioner of public works at an annual salary of $95,000. 

Seleski said Monday she hopes to make her position apolitical and “get jobs done that everybody is excited about.”