Don Clavin's calculated money moves – and surprise retirement

Former Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald X. Clavin – who abruptly resigned as supervisor earlier this month – abruptly resigned Thursday from a mysterious town job he was given to hold him over as he ran for county court judge. Details of the unorthodox arrangement to give a leg up to Republican John Ferretti as his replacement are still unfolding, and the questions are increasing.

Newsday previously has reported that the town dragged its feet for weeks to disclose Clavin’s title and salary after he resigned. The town then revealed his workplace, a defunct building in Roosevelt that has been boarded up since 2020. Clavin, the town acknowledged Wednesday, was given a town job that paid $179,375 a year with benefits -- the same as he earned as supervisor.

All this backtracking by Clavin and the Nassau GOP gets even more interesting if you look at the former supervisor’s campaign spending.

Before he decided to make the switch and run for a seat on the bench, for which he’s been cross-endorsed, Clavin had an active town re-election campaign account.

On April 22, Clavin’s town supervisor campaign transferred an eye-popping $640,000 from its bank account to the Town of Hempstead Republican Committee. That same day, Clavin’s campaign refunded $2,650 in political contributions.

His campaign also reported about $12,500 in donations from Hempstead Communications Director Brian Devine, Hempstead Senior Enrichment Commissioner Lisa Murphy, and his one-time chief of staff, Jack Libert, among others.

In several campaign filings for April, Clavin claimed about $15,500 in reimbursements for meals, gas, office supplies, a cell phone and dues for the Nassau County Bar Association and fees to the Office of Court Administration to keep his law license current. His campaign also made more than $5,000 in donations to local charities and nonprofits.

Clavin gave $5,000 to Nassau DA Anne Donnelly’s campaign, his brother-in-law works as an assistant to Donnelly, and in March, made two transfers for $10,000 to the Nassau County GOP.

Just before Clavin publicly announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, the campaign held two fundraisers – in February and March – that cost a combined $35,000, but it’s unclear how much was raised.

The Point broke the news in April that Clavin would decline his party’s nomination for another term. Then, on Aug. 5, Clavin stepped down as supervisor, a GOP tradition in Nassau that lets the party in power appoint a successor who can run as an "incumbent."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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