Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray was not out of a job for long. Hours after she presided over her last town meeting Dec. 8, she was offered a position later that night as general counsel for government affairs at Nassau Community College. Murray, an attorney, served the town for 12 years, since 2003. A loyal GOP vote-getter, she was tapped by Nassau chairman Joseph Mondello to run for district attorney without any law enforcement experience against Democratic Acting DA Madeline Singas in the November elections. Murray lost handily for the first time in her political career. The intramural juggling was part of Mondello’s determined master plan to gain the DA seat, which has been held by Democrats for a decade now. Murray was understandably unable to deliver the goods at such long-shot odds.
The college trustees voted 6-2, with one abstention, to give Murray the job, although the subject was not even on the agenda of their December meeting. The spot became open when Chuck Cutolo announced he was retiring in January. Murray, who earned $160,000 last year, will be paid Cutolo’s salary of $151,000. The two trustees voting “no” felt that perhaps the position should not be filled at all and Cutolo’s responsibilities delegated to other employees. Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs criticized the trustees for offering the job to Murray without a public search.
—Joe Krupinski
