2012-02-02

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Dominic DeCampi - the little man in the family
by Laura Schofer
Dominic DeCampi of Freeport, born on
New Year's Day, is The Leader's first baby
of the year. Dominic may have arrived a
week early but he still was a nice little bun-dle
- eight pounds, six ounces. "He was a lit-tle
big," said his mom, Jessica, "They
expected him to be over nine pounds [if he
had been born a week later]. Now that would
have been a lot!"
Dominic is Jessica's second child. She
also has a nine-year-old daughter named
Celeste who adores her little brother as long
as "he isn't screaming. When Dominic is
awake, I hold him. He likes that," explained
Jessica.
In addition to the attention little
Dominic gets from his mother and sister,
there is a very proud grandpa - Gilbert
DeCampi who refers to his grandson as DJ
- short for Dominic John. "We live with
my Dad and he's just such a proud grand-pa,"
said Jessica.
Indeed. When the Leader called to speak
with Jessica, it was Mr. DeCampi who
answered the telephone. He chuckled with
delight when The Leader congratulated him
on the birth of his grandson.
Dominic was born January 1 at 3:33 p.m.
Could these turn out to be Dominic's lucky
numbers?
"Maybe," said Jessica. "Maybe his lucky
number is one or maybe three or maybe 13.
My Dad likes to play Lotto so I think he will
play these numbers," she joked.
Congratulations to the DeCampi family
and Happy Birthday, little Dominic. A
assortment of gifts awaits the DeCampi
family including a $25 gift certificate
from Piccolo Pizza; one dozen long-stemmed
roses from Merrick Flower
Shoppe; a $25 gift certificate from
Merrick Bagel Cafe; a $25 gift certificate
from Vincente Jewelers and a one-year
gift subscription from The Leader.
Reverse discrimination lawsuit filed against village
by Laura Schofer
Freeport Police Lieutenant Chris
Barrella filed a lawsuit against the
Village of Freeport and its mayor,
Andrew Hardwick last week in the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of
New York, charging that Mayor
Hardwick has discriminated against Mr.
Barella based upon his race. Mr. Barella
is a white, non-Hispanic man.
According to a press release from
Lieutenant Barrella's attorneys, Fugazy
& Rooney LLP, received by The Leader,
Lieutenant Barrella should have been
promoted to chief of police but was over-looked
because Mayor Hardwick wanted
to promote a black or Hispanic individ-ual.
Mayor Hardwick is African
American. The lawsuit alleges that
Mayor Hardwick chose a less qualified
individual for the position based upon
race.
The lawsuit stated that Lieutenant
Barrella scored number one on the Chief
of Police civil service exam, has been a
police officer in the Village of Freeport
for more than 20 years, holds a bache-lor's
degree, a master's degree in public
administration, and a juris doctor (law
degree).
Additionally, the lawsuit stated
Lieutenant Barrella has command-level
emergency management training, has
scored number one on every civil service
promotional exarn he has taken, and has
been recognized many times during his
career for his solid police work. He has
also received special training from the
FBI's National Academy.
The lawsuit alleges that the mayor's
choice for chief of police scored lower on
the civil service exam, had less tenure
than Lieutenant Barrella and doesn't
have a college degree. The lawsuit stated
that the mayor appointed his candidate on
the basis of his race while discriminating
against Lieutenant Barrella.
"Reverse discrimination is as perni-cious
as any other kind of discrimina-tion.
Lieutenant Barrella was the most
qualified candidate for the police chief
position, scoring number one on the
civil service exam on top of his impres-sive
academic and professional accom-plishments.
Mayor Hardwick never
even considered Lieutenant Barrella for
the position because Lieutenant
Barrella isn't black or Hispanic—the
mayor never even interviewed him,"
says Amanda Fugazy, Lieutenant
Barrella's attorney.
"Instead, Mayor Hardwick went to
extraordinary lengths to ensure that his
Hispanic candidate was appointed to the
position of chief despite the fact that he is
not nearly as qualified as Lieutenant
Barrella. Mayor Hardwick appointed the
police chief on the basis of race. Mayor
Hardwick has demonstrated a practice of
favoritism towards blacks and Hispanics
and discriminates against non-Hispanic
whites. This is racism, a violation of the
law, and it cannot be tolerated."
When asked for comment, a
spokesperson for the village replied that
the village does not comment on pending
litigations.
However on Facebook, a comment
was posted allegedly by Mayor
Hardwick stating that he hires "the best
people based on the experience and
qualifications regardless of race, gen-der,
creed or sexual orientation." The
village did not respond prior to press
time on whether this statement was
indeed made by the mayor or someone
posing as Mayor Hardwick.
NAMES MAKE THE NEWS: Read about your neighbors! 73 local peoples names were in your community newspaper this past week Maybe yours is in this week! See inside.
Master of the
viola da gamba
page 3
Baldwin strangler
sentenced
page 5
Viewpoint:
sewage privatization
paged
Hale Smith
remembered
page 10