The Munsey Park Board of Trustees passed a local law last week placing term limits on the village’s mayor, in what officials described as an effort to create political turnover in a village that has had just three mayors since the mid-1980s.
The law, which passed in a 4-1 board vote, states a mayor can hold office for no longer than three consecutive two-year terms, but may run for the office for up to another six years after spending a full term out of office.
“There are term limits in every higher office in the United States, and I think they’re there because it’s a good idea to get fresh people and fresh ideas in,” said Village of Munsey Park Mayor Frank DeMento, who noted that the legislation was an important issue upon which he based his campaign that unseated 17-year incumbent Harry Nicolaides in March.
The lone opposition to the law came from Trustee Susan Auriemma, who said she contacted the Nassau County Village Officials Association as well as other neighboring villages and found no other village in Nassau has mayoral term limits in place. She described the legislation as “unnecessary.”
Trustee Sean Haggerty, who had been elected along with DeMento and Trustee Patrick Hance in the March 19 election that unseated Nicolaides and longtime trustees Al Jaronczyk and Sheila Brennan, said the legislation was meant to re-engage residents who had lost interest in village politics during the previous mayoral administrations.
“The last election cycle, there were 25 people here to vote, and the one before that there were 20 people to vote, and what happens is that people get very comfortable and you get lulled into ‘Eh, what can you do?’” Haggerty said. “We had 710 people come out to vote and a lot of the people wanted some legislation that, in the future, had a forced rotation of leadership, and that’s what the people asked for and that’s what we’re going to deliver to them.”
But for an administration that had only taken office in mid-March, resident and former board member Vin Syracuse said legislation of this kind was premature.
“I think the challenge for you guys is to get people interested in serving on the board, get people to serve on committees and in the various capacities,” Syracuse said. “And I think until you demonstrate that, I think it’s a mistake to legislate a term limit.”
Syracuse, who served the village as a trustee and deputy mayor from 1994 through 2006, said even though Nicolaides and his predecessor Arthur Schultheiss held the position for years, their administrations never prevented anyone who wanted to participate in village government from doing so.
“I think you fellas proved in this year’s election that when somebody is here too long, the way you defeat that person is through the ballot box,” Syracuse said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to preclude anybody from running, but in the years I was on the board, I never saw anyone who came to the board wanting to participate in one way or another who was turned away. I think if you choose not to run for re-election or someone else chooses to do that, that’s fine. But to incorporate that into legislation, I think that’s overkill and totally unnecessary.”
Resident Richard Susie disputed Syracuse’s claim, saying Nicolaides’ 17 years in office made Munsey Park residents complacent with the village’s electoral process and eventually apathetic in trying to unseat him or continue voting in large numbers on election day.
Aside from a potential lack of candidates running for office during each election cycle, residents were also concerned the law would drive out of office a mayor who had become well-liked by villagers by the end of his third consecutive term.
Resident Richard Rooney asked the board whether the law included a provision preventing a sitting mayor, having completed his third consecutive two-year term and not running for office, being elected on a write-in vote, but village Counsel James Bradley said the law would likely require amendment if and when that scenario unfolded.
“Even if there is a write-in, that person is disqualified from holding the office,” Bradley said. “I’m not sure what to do if, for some reason, there should be a write-in for a sitting mayor after the six years has passed, even though he or she was not actually running, and I’d like not to think about that.”
Trustee Matthew Seidner, who announced he will be stepping down from the board because he no longer works in Manhattan and plans to move from Munsey Park, said he wanted to hear from residents the benefits and harm that could stem from mayoral term limits and potential similar legislation in the future. But based on conversations Seidner said he’s had with other board members about the future of his trustee position, “apparently there’s plenty of people ready to take my spot.”
“I appreciate the arguments, but I’m trying to figure out what harm can come of it, not because I’ve made up my mind but because I want to understand, from someone who’s been here so long, what could happen,” Seidner said. “Because the way I look at it, [the law] potentially lights a fire under people to say, ‘Well, you know what, maybe we should start thinking about a changeover. Maybe somebody should step in and fill a board position in anticipation of potentially running for mayor someday.’”
The village passed another local law allowing residents to place a permanent or portable generator that emits noise no louder than 80 decibels in the rear yard of a property and that is screened from the street by evergreen shrubs with a minimum height of six inches above the generator’s highest point.
The village set a public hearing for next month’s July 10 meeting on a proposal to amend permit fees and other regulations for film companies who wish to use the village as a location.
