Rockville Centre Housing Authority appointment sparks heated debate

The reappointment of Peter Dordal to the Rockville Centre Housing Authority prompted a heated exchange between several residents, the mayor and trustees at the village board meeting on Aug. 29.

Speaking during the opportunity for public comment at the end of the board meeting, Katherine Garry, a Rockville Centre resident, accused Mayor Francis Murray of being “insincere” about when Dordal had been appointed, an accusation the mayor refuted. Garry was critical of Murray’s action at an earlier board meeting, when he asked residents of Old Mill Court to find candidates that they felt were better suited for the Housing Authority trustee position.

“You knew far more people with the qualifications that would hopefully be sympathetic to the people in the Old Mill Court area… and to throw it back on the people of Old Mill Court was quite unfair, in my opinion,” Garry said.

According to Garry, who has been working closely with some residents of Old Mill Court, the tenants felt that the Housing Authority had disrespected them and that the current board was ineffective in responding to their needs.

A meeting between the residents, Garry, and the mayor had been set after a raid by federal agents and village police on a crack-cocaine distribution ring, with gang ties, at Old Mill Court on June 1. At the meeting, which took place on July 21, the residents brought their concerns about the Housing Authority to the mayor. Among those concerns are what they consider to be the unfair evictions of residents whose relatives were arrested at the complex during the raid.

Garry added that she and the residents had come away from that meeting with the impression that Dordal had already been reappointed to his trustee position.

Earlier at the meeting on Aug. 29, Old Mill Court resident Geraldine Calhoun appealed to the board to hold off on appointing Dordal. She was asked to cut short her remarks by Village Administrator Frank Quigley who had earlier stated that he would shorten the public comment portion of that meeting to allow for testimony on Hurricane Irene damage and the village’s response.