Both Manhasset Park District Commissioner David Paterson and his challenger in the Dec. 8 park district election, former Commissioner Jesus “Jay” Hernandez, say change is needed in the district.
Paterson, who is completing his first three-year term in office, said he is seeking to continue his efforts to bring “transparency and change” to the district.
“[I want to] make sure more people knew what was going on,” he said. “In the end, I work for them.”
Paterson, a Plandome Heights resident who was elected as write-in candidate in 2012, said the park district has become much more transparent since he took office.
The park district now has “a more advanced website” which allows residents to stay up to date with the minutes of park district meetings as well as changes to meeting dates, he said.
The district, he said, also created an incident report form for residents to fill out if they a complaint about the park district.
These incident report forms, Paterson said, are reviewed by all three park district commissioners.
Paterson said that relations between the park district and residents have also improved while he has been in office.
Hernandez, who lost a race against Commissioner Kenneth Weigand last year by 10 votes, said he would help improve relations between the Town of North Hempstead and the Park District.
The park district and the town are in a “constant fight,” Hernandez said.
“I think I can do a better job of working with the town,” he said. “[The town] needs to know what [the park district is] doing.”
Hernandez, who came to the United States from Cuba when a was a boy, said the current commissioners feel that they are independent of the town and don’t need to get permission from the town to perform their duties.
“They should be working with the [town] not fighting [them],” he said, “[I want to] work with the [town] to get things done [within] the community. [The town] is part of the community.”
Current commissioners, Hernandez said, make decisions during private executive sessions instead of at public meetings, which does not allow for anyone to know what has been decided.
These decisions should be discussed in an open meeting, to keep both residents and the town informed, Hernandez said.
Modernizing Manhasset’s parking situation is also important to him, Hernandez said.
Hernandez said some of the current systems in place, including using hang tags, bumper stickers and windshield stickers for cars have been around for 20-30 years and need to be updated.
To accomplish this, Hernandez said he wants to work with the town.
“[I] don’t care who gets the credit [I] just [want to] get it done,” he said. “All I want to do is to serve Manhasset.”
Hernandez said he would also bring both fiscal and fiduciary responsibility to the commissioner’s position if elected.
“You need to take care of someone else’s money more than you take care of your own money,” he said.
Hernadez was appointed interim commissioner by the town for nine months last year to complete the term of former commissioner John Reagan who moved out of the district.
In the three years he has been commissioner, Paterson said the park district has improved parking in Manhasset.
The fees for both commuter parking and meters for shopper parking have not increased, he said.
Six weeks ago, Paterson said, he and Commissioner Mark Sauvigne resubmitted three proposals to the Town of North Hempstead related to parking.
The proposals, which were first submitted in late 2013, include allowing the park district to enforce the one-hour parking restrictions on Plandome Road, and the reconfiguration of parking lots located between Manhasset Avenue and Memorial Place and behind Mary Jane Davies Park.
To enforce the parking restrictions and make the changes to the Mary Jane Davies lot, Sauvigne said the park district needs an intermunicipal agreement with the town.
The park district solely needs town approval to make the changes in the lot between Manhasset Avenue and Memorial Place because they own the lot, Sauvigne said.
Paterson said the park district has not heard back from the town and he doesn’t expect “any concrete progress until [early 2016.]”
Touting his track record and experience, Paterson said he feels like he has more experience than Hernandez.
“Things are going swimmingly [in the park district],” Paterson said. “I’d like to continue what I’m doing.”
The park district has three commissioners who each serve a three-year term. Each year, one commissioner’s position is up for election.
On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the Port Washington-Manhasset League of Women Voters is scheduled to hold a Candidate’s Night in the community room of the Manhasset Library at 7 p.m. with Paterson and Hernandez.,
Judy Jacobson, voter service chairperson for the Port Washington-Manhasset League of Women Voters, said the event will not be a debate, but rather a chance for the public to hear the plans and values of Paterson and Hernandez.
“[The] public should know who they are voting [for],” she said.
Paterson and Hernandez will have three minutes to make an introductory statement at the event before they will field questions from the public, Jacobson said.
Voters can cast their ballots on Dec. 8 at the Manhasset-Lakeville Company No. 1 Firehouse, 35 Bayview Ave., Manhasset between 12 p.m. and 9 p.m.
