Stepping outside the office

The temperature was in the mid-90s on August 12th, but that didn’t stop state senator Todd Kaminsky from opening his line of communication. He met with Baldwin shoppers at Ideal Food Basket on Merrick Road and encouraged them to stop by his mobile office for any concerns that pertain to them.

“People are busy with their lives,” Kaminsky said. “They’re going to work, they’re picking their kids up, they’re doing a lot of things and if you ask them, they will tell you what their issues are.”

Keeping this in mind, Kaminsky visits local stores every week throughout his district and sets up a mobile office in an effort to converse with community members. He views accessibility as key factor towards getting a better understanding of each community.

“In various towns, they are issues that you don’t know how acute they are until you get there and you get a sense of the pulse,” Kaminsky said. “When three or four people that arrive separately tell you the same thing, you know there’s an issue going on.”

His mobile office included pamphlets and flyers that accommodate different people with different needs. This included information on local school drives, benefit guide for veterans, heroin prevention seminars, and details on college tuition.

“We don’t promise people that we’ll solve problems, but we promise people we’ll devote 100 percent effort towards doing that,” he said.