Malverne doctor to run for village trustee seat

Malverne physician Dr. John Hassett Jr. announced on Monday that he is in the running in the upcoming village elections for a trustee seat as the candidate of the Malverne Tea Party.

Hassett, a married father of one child with another on the way, said he would be an independent voice on the village board, which he called a one-party panel that has been “less than desirably responsive” to residents and their needs.

“The two parties that currently comprise the board have blended into one political entity through a system of cross-endorsements,” Hassett said in a statement announcing his run. “This has resulted in a single political agenda with no opposing views.”

Believing he would make a difference as a member of the board, Hassett decided to throw his hat in the ring not long after forming the Malverne Tea Party last May.  Elections for two village trustees — Michael Bailey and Deputy Mayor James Callahan III — Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald and Justice James Dougherty will be held in March.

Among his priorities is improving transparency in the way village business is conducted. In keeping with comments he made at the board’s Feb. 2 meeting, Hassett said he wants to get the board’s work sessions “out in the light of day, rather than in the back room.”

He also wants to weed out wasteful spending, he said, particularly by eliminating a village policy to pay lifetime health insurance benefits to retired employees and elected officials who are credited with five years of service.

“Health insurance costs are out of control in the first place, but rewarding employees with this lifetime benefit after just five years of service is an outrage that must be addressed,” Hassett said, noting that each family medical plan costs village taxpayers some $18,000 on top of salary and other benefits.

Other wasteful spending Hassett would tackle if elected  includes “sky-high salaries that appear totally out of touch with reality,” he said.

In order to do that, he would have to rework the system that results in such salaries. “Maybe there’s not much we can do about it, but maybe there is,” he said. “But we have to at least find out how and where we lost control over the pay of employees, such as our police chief, who outdraws New York City’s police commissioner and makes more money than the majority of America’s governors.”

Hassett added that the chief, John Aresta — whose 2010 salary was $196,530 — “does a fine and much-needed job and shouldn’t be blamed for a broken system over which he had no control.”

In addition to being a “fiscal watchdog,” Hassett said he would serve the village, if elected, by initiating “a new era of good will toward village volunteers [who] freely give of their time and energies to make Malverne a better place … to live and work.”

Hassett has been serving as a physician for the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps, whose executive board includes both of his parents, for nearly two decades. He also serves as Malverne’s police surgeon and is a member of the Nassau County Medical Reserve Corps. Hassett is also a member of the Knights of Columbus St. Mary’s/Maris Stella Council, and a Knight Protector with the Knights Templar.

He attended Dever Memorial Junior High School and Valley Stream Central High School, and is a graduate of Hofstra University and New York Medical College. He is board certified in pulmonology, critical care, internal medicine and sleep medicine. He lives in Malverne with his wife, Margaret, and their daughter, Abigail.