With polls opening on Tuesday and all 15 candidates on the ballot running unopposed, the only chance for a change in any Manhasset’s village board of trustees will be with a write-in candidate on election day.
In Munsey Park Deputy Mayor, John Lippmann and Trustee Jennifer Noone are both seeking re-election for their two-year terms on the Board of Trustees.
Noone and Lippmann ran on the Residents for a Better Munsey Party ticket in 2014 and defeated Trustee Susan Auriemma, and trustee candidate Eileen Cuneo who ran on the Village Party line.
Lippman, a five-year resident of Munsey Park, has served on the village’s building advisory committee as well as the Manhasset School District’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee for Finance.
Lippmann, works in commercial real estate finance and as an adjunct professor at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, said he would bring a bright financial mind and a friendly and understanding demeanor to the board of trustees when he ran for election to the Board of Trustees in 2014.
Lippman said he has worked with other trustees, the mayor and other municipalities to improve governmental transparency and quality of life for residents of Munsey Park.
He said he initiated traffic safety plans and eliminate traffic congestion around Munsey Park Elementary School.
Munsey Park issued a $2.75 million bond that went towards road improvements with a two-to-13 year maturity.
He said he along with board of trustee members are working on a financial plan that will decrease the debt service associated with the current outstanding bonds.
Noone was elected to her first term as trustee in 2014 after receiving the highest number of votes among the four candidates vying for two spots on the board with Lippmann receiving the second highest.
Noone, who was appointed to the board in September 2013 to finish the remainder of former Trustee Matthew Seidner’s term, joined the village’s architectural review board in the spring of 2012.
Efforts to reach Noone were unavailing.
Munsey Park board of trustees serve two years and are unpaid
Residents can cast their ballot at Village Hall at 1777 Northern Blvd.
In Flower Hill, trustees Randall Rosenbaum, Karen Reichenbach and Gary Lewandowski are running for re-election as well as Mayor Elaine Phillips and Village Justice Dennis Reisman. All positions are unpaid.
Reisman is running for the first time after being appointed Village Justice by Phillips after Justice Bruce Byrne moved out of the village and resigned his position.
Prior to his appointment, Reisman had served as acting justice for five years, filling in for Byrne when he was not available.
“I was honored to accept the appointment,” Reisman said. “In order to continue in that position, I am now required to run for election.”
Reisman, who also serves as Flower Hills’ village justice, said he has been in legal practice for more than 38 years and has extensive litigation experience. He also served for 20 years as an arbitrator in the Nassau County District Court, adjudicating civil actions.
“As the Acting Justice of the Village, I have presided over hundreds of traffic violations and village code violations giving me the experience to serve as the regular justice of the Village of Flower Hill,” Reisman said.
He said village justices deal primarily violations of traffic laws and ordinance.
“In dispensing justice, I have always tried to be just and fair yet courteous and compassionate with all the individuals who have come before the court charged with violations,” Reisman said. “I will continue in the same vein.”
Phillips is seeking a third term as mayor and said she plans on updating the village website and get more online, to help residents fill out forms.
“This is a big step for government,” she said. “We think we a new website and it’ll make things easier for permits.”
During her administration Phillips said there haven’t been any tax increases due to strong fiscal management by her and the other trustees.
“I’m as good as the team around me,” Phillips said. “I believe we’ve done a great job.”
She also said one of problem areas in the village is the traffic along Port Washington Boulevard. She said she wants to use traffic cones on Port Washington Boulevard to help reduce congestion.
“Traffic gets backed up into middle lane,” Phillips said, referring to the left hand turn on Middle Neck Road. “It’s an accident waiting to happen.”
Reichenbach, who is running for re-election as two-year term trustee in the Village of Flower Hill, said she has represented the residents of the village fairly and with integrity and will continue to do so if re-elected.
“I have faithfully carried out my duties to the village for two terms,” Reichenbach said. “Experience in village governance is important to maintain momentum. Right now, we have a great group of trustees anchored by an excellent mayor. We all make every effort to represent our residents in an honest and straightforward manner. Each of us brings different skills to the board, which results in a good balance of knowledge and experience. The Village of Flower Hill is in good hands.”
Reichenbach has headed the Tree Committee, working with the Board of Trustees, Mayor and Village Administration to achieve Tree City USA status with the National Arbor Day Foundation. She is also the village’s representative on the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee.
If re-elected she said she intends to continue to monitor the villages finances and make sure the expenditures are necessary to maintain the quality of life in the village.
She said one of the biggest problems in the community has to do with the safety of drinking water.
“The Mayor and I serve on a committee sponsored by Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington that has been very effective in serving the Port Washington and Manhasset peninsula’s water issues,” Reichenbach said. “Gov. Cuomo has just funded a study of our aquifer. The committee also successfully stopped Queens from opening wells that were closed for many years, which would have had a negative impact on our drinking water.”
All board positions are unpaid according to village administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer.
Voting will take place at Village Hall at 1 Bonnie Heights Road from noon to 9 p.m.
In the Village of Plandome, Deputy Mayor Ray Herbert and Trustee Andrew Bartels, both running on the Citizens Party Line, are also running unopposed.
Bartels and Herbert were both re-elected in 2014 receiving 33 and 35 votes respectively.
Bartels was appointed to the board in 2011 to finish the term of late Trustee Peter Kenny and was re-elected to a full two-year term in 2012.
Herbert, the village’s deputy mayor, was first elected in 2002.
Efforts to reach Herbert and Bartels were unavailing.
Voting will take place at Village Hall at 65 South Drive.
In the Village of Plandome Heights, the seats for Mayor Kenneth Riscica and trustees Silva Ferman, Alvin Solomon and Lynne Aloia are coming to an end and will all run unopposed.
Plandome Manor trustees Tony DeSousa and Patricia O’Neill are also running in an unchallenged election.
Efforts to reach DeSousa and O’Neil were unavailing.
Residents can cast their ballot at Village Hall at 55 Manhasset Ave.
