I am voting for Raymond Plakstis Jr. for commissioner of the Great Neck Park District.
His personality, his skills, and his sense of purpose make him the ideal choice for the job.
Ray has just been elected chief of the Alerts, for the second time, by his fellow volunteer firemen. Our volunteer fire companies keep a low profile, but this belies the fact that their work requires significant training, as well as selfless dedication to the well-being of our community.
Since 2005, Ray has been one of a handful of people noticing the park district budget was ballooning, and he keeps a copy of the New York State Comptroller’s 1999 audit report of the park district, which faulted the district for its failure to keep an inventory of what it buys. The state audit recommended purchases be recorded in a ledger, but so far this has been ignored. When Ray is elected commissioner, the Great Neck Park District will finally inventory how it spends our tax dollars.
When speaking about the park district, Ray asks: How many people does it take to manage the finances of the Great Neck Park District? Maybe three, he says, but certainly not the nine who were being paid to do finance work this past summer. At the moment there are seven employees and contract workers crunching numbers in a six-village park district. Our park district is a small place with a great big finance department.
Raymond Plaksti Jr. is the only candidate whose interest in the park district derives from a panoramic view of its strengths and weaknesses. He will be a commissioner we can count on to appreciate the beauty of our parks and our park district’s place in local history while also appreciating that the spending spree has gone on too long.
Lisa Levine
Great Neck
