Getting To Know Herb Morrow

I recently sat down with Herb Morrow who is a candidate for Huntington Town Board.  My purpose was to get to know him and get a general sense of what he is all about.  We talked for several hours and covered everything from his background, to his values, to what his hopes are for our Town.  I found Herb to be easy to talk to, forth coming in his answers, intelligent, and a genuinely nice person.  He seems to “get it” in terms of the concerns of Huntingtonians.   He has common sense which was refreshing to find in a political candidate.

Herb grew up on Long Island in Carle Place, he met his wife Beth, and they now live in Huntington Bay.  He smiled as he recalled when they were purchasing their home. “We really weren’t sure we could afford the house at the time, but it was just the two of us, so we figured we would tighten our belts and make it work.  We drove up to Huntington Bay in an old Chevy Chevette”.

He proudly talked about his two children.  His daughter Kristin is a Political Science Major who is currently interning for a Republican congresswoman.  She was selected to do an intern with Peter King, but really wanted to work for a woman.  Her long search for a Republican congresswoman took her to South Dakota.  His son Brendon is a freshman at Hofstra University, majoring in film and communications.  “He is our house Democrat”, Herb said laughing.  “But he did promise to vote for me”.  He discussed how both his children are interested in politics. He is proud that they are aware of the issues and  have developed their own opinions.  “My wife’s family are all Democrats and my family are Republicans.  My children witnessed some lively debates around the dinner table”, he said smiling.  “This allowed them to grow up understanding that there are different points of view to every issue”.

I asked Herb why he decided to run for Huntington Town Board.  “When I look around the Town, it worries me. I felt like it was my obligation to step up.  I want to see this Town I love head into the right direction.  I don’t see this as a career move.  I will serve during my time and address the issues as efficiently and quickly as I can”.  Herb supports Term limits for Town positions that set policy, which would exclude Town Clerk, Receiver of Taxes and the Highway Superintendent.

We discussed his feelings about high density housing, “No matter what the special interest groups say, we are out of space.”  He explained that he is not opposed to keeping an open mind to individual projects, but does not see downzoning as a solution for Huntington.  I asked about his views of Avalon Bay, and he said “I would have tried to do what Oyster Bay did.” (Herb is in part referring to this quote from Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto: “There are times when it becomes self evident that a proposed change of zoning is so widely unacceptable that you don’t listen to it, you don’t hear it, it never sees the light of day”).  He continued, “I would have voted no the first time, I would have voted no the second time.  Not only is Avalon Bay not good for Huntington Station, it is going to be precedent setting for more high density building throughout our Town.  It was absurd that the Town Board invited them to come back after they were turned down the first time.  He continued on, explaining that there are more logical ways of getting people into affordable housing without over burdening the infrastructure.  Programs that offer down payments assistance would be among the types of things he would support.

I asked,  if elected what are your plans.  He said he intends to sit down with employees from every Town departments to  get educated on all topics.  “I have a feeling that there are a lot of employees in the Town that have great ideas and I want to hear from these people.  I am specifically looking for ways to be more efficient and money saving ideas”.

“Every department, and agency needs to be reviewed” .  By the end of the first 90 days in office he intends to become an expert on all the Town departments and the interdepartmental agencies.

Herb is a self made business man who worked his way up the ranks.  His passions in business are maintaining high employee morale and having efficient operations.  His background is in Staffing and Recruiting.  He intends to utilize this background to help bring much needed jobs to Huntingtonians.  He explained that he we have some of the nations largest recruiting companies right in our backyard and he sees forming public/private partnerships as an effective way of boosting the local economy and helping people find work.

I asked him what  he see as the big problems plaguing Huntington Station.  He thought for a moment and said, “I don’t think people realize how beautiful parts of Hutntington Station are”.  He continued, “Although the problems are complex, in general, Huntington Station has been the constant target of bad projects, bad press, neglect by the Town and Police, and disingenuous code enforcement efforts.”   He intends to appoint the residents of Huntington Station to serve on the boards of the agencies that make decisions for the area.  “As things are now, the local residents are closed out from serving on these boards”, he explained .

I found it refreshing that in addition to being a successful businessman, he has a passion for philosophy and even considered a path in Social Work earlier on in his career.  These qualities along with being a self made executive specializing in efficient operations, and having a background as Huntington Bay Mayor makes him a very qualified candidate.