Pearl Jacobs of Uniondale told the board she and neighbors have been receiving frequent mailers with Supervisor John Ferretti pictured and asked how much taxpayer money had been spent on the mailings.

Jacobs said she had collected about 30 mailers and brought the issue to the meeting: “Why am I receiving all these mailers? ... How much money has been allocated thus far for all these mailers up to this point?” The transcript shows no figure was provided in response during the public-comment exchange.

Later in the meeting Supervisor John Ferretti said, in remarks that addressed taxes and the budget, that “the budget that I presented last Thursday has an 18% tax cut in the general fund, which will result in a $5,000,000 tax cut to every single resident of the town of Hempstead.” The transcript records the claim as stated; the excerpt does not provide supporting budget detail or documentation.

Why it matters: Residents raised transparency concerns about mailings that appear to be campaign material and asked for an accounting of public funds used for them. The transcript excerpt records the question but not an answer; supervisory remarks about the budget were asserted on the record.