Town of Hempstead waives shelter adoption fees for summer

“Summer of Love” begins amid angry protesters

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The Town of Hempstead is officially waiving all adoption fees during the dog days of summer — June 2 through September 2 — in order to promote higher adoption rates at the shelter.

At the June 19 Town of Hempstead board meeting, Town Supervisor Laura Gillen kicked off the “Summer of Love” by giving out several citations to shelter volunteers Mike Maloney, Leslie Braunstein, Bill Nussbaum and Crissy DeAngelo.

“Their clear dedication and commitment to the welfare of our furry friends is truly commendable and worthy of our Town’s highest praise,” Gillen said. Dozens of purple-shirt wearing volunteers in the chamber erupted into applause over Gillen’s remarks.

Some residents did not feel the love at the meeting, filing into the chamber during her speech with signs. The protesters said they were concerned about how the Town of Hempstead runs its animal shelter, but gave no specific examples. They did, however, give some personal examples of why they felt slighted by the supervisor.

In between Gillen’s speech and the protester’s remarks during the regular public comment section, the board voted unanimously on most of their administrative calendar items.

One of the resolutions that passed was to establish standard working days for six elected officials, including Gillen, Town Clerk Sylvia A. Cabana, Receiver of Taxes Donald X. Clavin and three council members.

“In order to get pension benefits, the state comptroller requires the town board members, the receiver of taxes and the town clerk to keep a three month calendar within their first year of their new term,” explained Jo Ra, the Town Attorney.