Long Island

LI Life

ny-LILife-elections-June 2010

With scores of teachers' jobs and student services on the line, voters passed slimmed-down budgets in all 10 districts holding revotes Tuesday in turnout that was often heavy.
Spending plans were approved in <a href="/topics/East_Rockaway%2C_NY">East Rockaway</a>, <a href="/topics/Elwood%2C_NY">Elwood</a>, <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>, <a href="/topics/Herricks%2C_NY">Herricks</a>, <a href="/topics/Levittown%2C_NY">Levittown</a>, <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, <a href="/topics/West_Babylon%2C_NY">West Babylon</a>, <a href="/topics/West_Hempstead%2C_NY">West Hempstead</a>, <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a> and <a href="/topics/Wyandanch%2C_NY">Wyandanch</a>.
Though relieved by results, veteran school administrators Tuesday night observed that next year also promises to be challenging financially with dwindling aid available to schools from state and federal sources.
"We've got two or three more tough years ahead of us," said Jack Bierwirth, the superintendent in Herricks, which passed its budget, 3,028-1,946. "But in the end people didn't want to see the level of cuts that would have been required if they'd gone to contingency budgets."
Bierwirth called yesterday's vote in his district the heaviest in 30 years. Herricks' $96.5-million spending plan will raise the tax levy 3.8 percent, compared to 4.83 percent in the original budget.
In Port Jefferson, which after last month's budget defeat eliminated a controversial program of distributing laptop computers for students' home use, voters passed a revamped budget, 845 to 511. The $37.3-million spending plan raises next year's tax levy 2.19 percent, compared to a 3.47 percent increase in the original budget. 
"I'm very gratified that the community pulled together," said school board Trustee Mark Doyle, who added that the district would start budget planning earlier next year to allow ample community input. "You never really want to take anything for granted." 
 
Fearing the alternative 
Some districts warned before Tuesday's vote of severe consequences if residents said "no" a second time, forcing them to adopt so-called austerity or contingency budgets. 
West Hempstead and Wyandanch had announced that kindergarten classes could be reduced from full-day to half-day sessions. Levittown said it also could be forced to shorten kindergarten classes and lay off more than 50 teachers and other staff on top of 14 jobs already eliminated.
Wyandanch narrowly passed its trimmed $55-million budget, 150 to 134. The budget cuts 15 teaching jobs and reduces spending slightly, while raising taxes 3.24 percent.
But the budget also adds 15 teaching aides the district says are needed to help special-education students moved back to local schools from a regional BOCES center. Many voters Tuesday supported the move.
"Wyandanch has its ups and downs," said Bernice Harris, the mother of a 15-year-old. "But they're doing the best they can."
Among Levittown residents who voted "yes" Tuesday with family considerations in mind was Luis Lugo, who works for a software company.
"Our child is enrolled now, so we think this is important," said Lugo. His 5-year-old son, who accompanied his parents to a polling site on Abbey Lane Tuesday, will attend kindergarten next year.
Levittown's $192.8-million budget, which passed 4,399 to 3,288, raises spending 5.74 percent, and the tax levy 2.63 percent.
In West Hempstead, students lined <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> Boulevard early Tuesday, chanting and waving signs in support of the proposed $52.8-million budget. Several cars parked in the middle school's lot displayed yellow "Vote Yes" signs in their windows. 
Joe Koller, 69, said he voted "yes" after opposing the first budget. "It's the lesser of two evils," Koller said. 
West Hempstead's $52.8-million budget passed, 1,773 to 698. It raises spending 0.54 percent, and taxes 4.91 percent. 
 
Albany mess doesn't help
In Albany, state lawmakers are 77 days late in approving school aid that would account for an average of 30 percent of local districts' revenue, although the range is wide. Most districts holding revotes were projecting relatively high tax increases to compensate for anticipated losses of state money. 
For example, West Babylon's $93.1-million budget, which passed 1,746 to 1,035, raises spending only 0.87 percent, but boosts taxes 4.63 percent.
With Rachel Bryson-Brockmann and Nomaan Merchant

Education

LISKUL16

LI school districts go 10 for 10 in budget revotes

liVOTE

In the waterfront village of Atlantic Beach, a former trustee is seeking to unseat a 14-year mayoral incumbent who was once a political ally. 
When Stephen R. Mahler was first elected mayor in 1996, Edward A. Radburn won a bid for trustee on the same Good Government Party line at a time when infrastructure and home rule were top priorities. 
This time, Mahler, 70, now running on the Integrity Party line, and Radburn, 60, still on the Good Government ticket, are squaring off in a race for a two-year term where the issues range from potholes and waterfront development to open government and concerns about the Lawrence school district, which serves village students. 
Radburn, a native of <a href="/topics/Ireland">Ireland</a> and retired aviation consultant who served as trustee from 1996 to 2000, said some village residents have expressed increasing unease over recent school board choices, including an attempt last month to not open the usual polling place at village hall on the barrier island for the Board of Education election. While the decision was reversed in the face of opposition and voting was held there, Radburn said ongoing issues require the mayor to advocate before the school board the interests of village parents, offering as a justification the correlation between school district performance and property values. 
"My position on education is that the status quo as it is, it's not acceptable," said Radburn, who suggested exploring the idea of local children attending Long Beach schools. Some parents have said Lawrence's board - the majority of whom send their children to private religious schools - make decisions to the detriment of the public schools, a charge the board denies. 
For his part, Mahler, a trial attorney with a practice in Queens, underscored the limits of the mayor's influence in shaping education policy given the fact that the two units of government are distinct. "I'd love to see the parents of our children satisfied with the education the kids are going to get," he said. "[But] village governments really have nothing to do with the district . . . To wave a magic wand and move the kids, it's very disingenuous." 
As evidence of his administration's accomplishments, Mahler pointed to recent efforts to fix roadways in the village of 2,000 by issuing $1.5 million in bond debt to pay for renovations along Ocean Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard. The village also plans to remodel several playgrounds, he said. 
Mahler said that as an elected official he's always weighed government spending against the burden on village homeowners, who saw a 5.8 percent tax rate increase for the $2.7-million budget for the fiscal year beginning this month. "What you really have to learn to do is to balance competing interests," he said. 
But Radburn countered that the local infrastructure has deteriorated because the government hasn't made the proper investments to maintain and beautify the village, and he cited the $4,000 currently budgeted for beautification. "This place should look like the Hamptons. It doesn't look like the Hamptons," he said. "By the time he [Mahler] fixes my street I'll be sleeping with Rip Van Winkle." 
Beyond the nuts-and-bolts repairs, Radburn said, the village needs a change in leadership and a new vision of open and fair government. He said residents, caught by surprise over a beach club's recent proposal to build a second story, marshaled resistance in time to defeat it, but they should have received greater notice. He acknowledged, however, that the village has issued proper notices to local publications in such cases. Mahler said there have been no changes to the village's marine recreational zoning and he continues to defend the village from overdevelopment. 
Voting is Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Village Hall.

Nassau

LFTHEMP13

Atlantic Beach: Former allies face off in mayor race

In Bellport two incumbent trustees are running on a slate against a pair of challengers also running as a team. 
One-term incumbent Ray Fell and four-year trustee Sherry Binnington hope to maintain their seats, sought by Alison L. Neumann, a retired insurance administrator, and Dorothy A. Terwilliger, a social worker with <a href="/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a> Town. 
The top two vote-getters will win two-year seats on the village board, which includes four trustees and a mayor. 
Fell, also the village's deputy mayor, and Binnington touted the board's efforts to keep taxes down via state and federal grants. In the past two years Bellport has received nearly $800,000 in grants, which helped pay for projects such as storm cleanup and equipment such as new highway department vehicles, the incumbents said. 
The grants are necessary because town revenues, such as golf course fees and mortgage taxes, are down, Fell said. "Revenue is down, and you have to replace the revenue and cut services," he said. "We've done a combination of both." 
Terwilliger and Neumann have criticized the incumbents for failing to listen to public comment at board meetings and spending too much time on procedural issues rather than repairing village infrastructure. 
Terwilliger, who has been on the zoning board for about six years, cited "a total disconnect between what the residents want and what the village is providing." She also criticized the village board for shepherding a law - which she called unpopular with residents - that requires permits for outdoor fundraisers. 
"In general, if you go to a village meeting and raise your hand and want to ask a question, you get frowned upon, scowled at, not treated in the way a citizen should be," she said. 
Binnington, a former teacher, said she believes the board has reached out to residents - especially young people - to foster "pride and community spirit like many of us have in the village." She cited a partnership between the village and Eastern <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> BOCES to build a boardwalk at Ho Hum Beach at <a href="/topics/Fire_Island%2C_NY">Fire Island</a>. 
Binnington also touted the board's decision to eliminate health insurance for elected officials as evidence that trustees have the taxpayers in mind. 
Neumann, a lifelong Bellport resident, said trustees must do a better job listening to community groups. "If you're not communicating, I don't care how good your financial situation is. You're not going to be able to bring in that cohesiveness." 
Voting takes place Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Bellport Community Center, 4 Bell St.

LFTBELL13

Bellport vote: Trustees tout grants; foes cite 'disconnect'

In the Village of Brightwaters, one trustee running for re-election Tuesday wants to keep the village on its current course, while another incumbent trustee and a challenger want to consider some fresh ideas, most notably gearing programs to the growing demographic of young families. 
Trustee Charles Fischer, the proponent of the status quo, is on the ballot with fellow incumbent Mary Susan Belford and challenger Frank Maffucci for a pair of two-year seats. Mayor Joseph A. McNulty is running unopposed for re-election. 
"We haven't raised taxes in 10 years, and we also have no debt. That probably makes us one of the top villages in the state," said Fischer, who has served as trustee and chief financial officer for the village for the past 10 years and as deputy mayor for the past four. 
Fischer was vice president of finance for <a href="/topics/HSBC">HSBC</a> for three years and occupied the same role at <a href="/topics/J.P._Morgan_Chase_%26_Co.">JPMorgan Chase</a> for 20 years. He left the banking industry last year and now works as a project manager for Brightwaters-based B.J.L. Electric, a commercial electrical business. He holds a bachelor of science degree in management with a minor in finance from the <a href="/topics/C._W._Post">C.W. Post</a> Campus of <a href="/topics/Long_Island_University">Long Island University</a> and an MBA from <a href="/topics/Dowling_College">Dowling College</a>. He served three years on the village planning board and six years as vice president of the <a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a> Brightwaters Little League. 
Fischer, a third-generation Brightwaters resident, said his top priorities are maintaining the village's financial stability, improving its parks and continuing to repave roads. 
Maffucci, a local business owner, is calling on the village government to become more transparent, and said the board of trustees - and its priorities - should reflect the village's changing demographics. 
"There are more young families now," he said, adding he'd like to see improvements to the village's website and upgrades to village parks, many of which he said have been unchanged for decades. 
Maffucci attended <a href="/topics/Uniondale%2C_NY">Uniondale</a> High School and owns and operates Alltech Security &amp; Communication Systems, a business based in Brightwaters that installs home and business security systems, home theaters and communication systems. 
"We need to enter this century," he said, noting he would like to create more opportunities for residents to ask questions and submit feedback by e-mail and through the village website. He said the village should better educate residents on the building permit application process, and allow residents to check their application status online. 
Maffucci was a founding member of the village's beautification society and served on the committee that developed and implemented a plan to combat erosion around village lakes after Hurricane Gloria knocked down lakeside trees. 
Belford, a drug and alcohol counselor for <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a>'s Horizons Counseling &amp; Education Center, has served on the Brightwaters board for 15 years and, as the trustee of lakes and parks, chairs the Brightwaters Improvement Group. 
After overseeing improvements to Wohseepee Park, she said, she would next focus on new playground equipment for Walker Beach and a cleanup of the sand and seaweed. 
Belford, who holds a bachelor of arts in history from <a href="/topics/Molloy_College">Molloy College</a>, is a former <a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a> High School PTA president. She said she would push for energy-efficiency initiatives and more family-oriented activities, such as a pilot reading program for preschool children scheduled for next month. A lifetime resident of the village, she said she would like to see "new people involved in the village. New ideas are great." 
Voting will be Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 48 Seneca Dr.

Politics

LFTISLI13

Brightwaters vote: status quo vs. time for change

Manorhaven had been the only village in the Town of <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a> with a contested mayoral and trustee race this month and it was proving to be an acrimonious battle. Then the incumbent mayor and his team won a court battle Thursday to remove the challengers from the ballot. 
The team led by incumbent Mayor Michael Meehan sued the challengers in court, arguing that their nomination acceptances were not properly notarized. A State Supreme Court justice in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> ruled to keep the challengers on the ballot. Meehan's team then appealed to the Appellate Division in <a href="/topics/Brooklyn_Bridge%2C_NY">Brooklyn</a> and prevailed with a ruling in their favor. 
Giovanna Giunta, who sought to unseat Meehan, will now wage a write-in effort, along with Dorit Zeevi-Farrington and Mark Lazarovic, who are angling for two available trustee seats. All terms are two years. 
"The opposition has stripped the constituency of the opportunity to have a choice," said Lazarovic, 64, a builder. 
A campaign representative for Meehan's team did not respond to requests for comment about the decision. 
Lazarovic said their team opted not to appeal further in the interest of time and because Thursday's decision by four justices was unanimous. 
"It's a little devastating," he said. "We're still hoping to win." 
The challengers plan to stand outside the polling place asking people to write in their names and to remind voters that the names need to spelled correctly. 
"We have long, complicated names," Lazarovic noted. 
Giunta, 37, a substitute&nbsp;educational assistant&nbsp;in <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a> schools and the owner of a transportation company, and Zeevi-Farrington, president of three yacht charter companies, say they've met with suspicious acts that Giunta said were a "a little coincidental." Giunta said a drill bit was inserted in a tire of one of her trucks and brake lines were cut on a vehicle in May, soon after she announced her candidacy. 
Zeevi-Farrington said campaign signs were vandalized, which opponent trustee candidate Patrick Gibson said also happened to his team's signage. 
"We generally have contested races, and they're generally spirited in Manorhaven," said, Gibson, 40, who ran for trustee four years ago and lost. 
"It's always been a contentious, nasty place in terms of elections," Lazarovic said. 
Brendan Fahey, the incumbent trustee running on Meehan's team, could not be reached. Fahey, 52, is an equipment operator in the Town of <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a>'s highway department. 
This is the first time Giunta and her teammates are running for office. They all say they were prompted to enter the race because of frustration over a lack of attention from the administration about their concerns over a cell phone tower. 
"As we got exposed to what's really happening in village hall, we just realized we can't win until we run for election and we convey to the people what's going on," Zeevi-Farrington, 49, said. 
Lazarovic said he's opposed the cell tower since it was approved by former Mayor Nicholas Capozzi in 2007. Lazarovic said he sued the village, leading to a stop-work order that prevented its completion. 
Capozzi, who had been mayor or a trustee for 12 years before he lost to Meehan in 2008, said residents had complained of no cell phone service in Manorhaven. 
While Capozzi signed the contract, he said Meehan and Fahey were on the zoning board at the time and approved it. Meehan&nbsp;said he and Fahey were alternates on the board at the time and did not vote or&nbsp;participate in any discussions&nbsp;regarding the&nbsp;tower.&nbsp; 
If re-elected, Meehan, 49, who owns a business expediting visas and passports, vows that the stop-work order "will not be lifted under any circumstance" and that he will seek to have the tower moved to a nonresidential area. 
"The notion that I've been less than responsive to the community is false," he said. 
Gibson said whoever is in charge of the village needs to understand telecommunications rules and that his slate's opponents have a misguided idea that they can simply "wave a magic wand and make the cell tower go away." 
Beyond the cell tower, Meehan said he plans to continue getting grant money to restore Morgan's Dock and revitalize the village's main street, Manorhaven Boulevard. 
He cited plans for a rain garden that will capture rain water for plants along the main street. The plants will absorb a large percentage of runoff, filtering pollutants before they reach <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a> Bay, he said. 
If elected, Lazarovic said his team will encourage residential development in an industrial area of <a href="/topics/Manhasset%2C_NY">Manhasset</a> Isle. 
He also plans to address street flooding. "The drainage here is quite awful," he said. "Some of it flows right into the bay. It's a hazard." 
The village needs more parkland, Lazarovic said, adding that he would like to see a dog run and to turn now-abandoned Morgan's Dock into a park. 
Giunta said the court actions wasted village resources. 
Meehan said his political party is paying the legal fees and that suing was necessary to show "my opposition's disregard for the law." 
Capozzi said the village's elections often feel like the "wild, wild west." In 2006 he had an opposing trustee candidate thrown off the ballot for falsifying petitions. During the 2008 race, a mayoral candidate was removed from the ballot after a State Supreme Court justice found there wasn't enough evidence he was a village resident. 
"But don't get me wrong, it's a lovely village," Capozzi said. "It's got so much potential." 
Voting will be held Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 33 Manorhaven Blvd.

LFTNHEM13

Manorhaven election: Acrimonious races, as usual

Until four years ago, local elections in Muttontown - a sleepy, bucolic village of 3,400 residents - hadn't been contested in decades. Those days are long gone.
Mayor Julianne Beckerman, an underdog in 2006 who beat two other candidates, is running for re-election against Kevin Spillane, who won a trustee seat four years ago on a ticket opposing Beckerman. And six people are running for three village trustee seats.
Beckerman, 41, says she has balanced the village's budget without raising taxes and has tried to make village hall more accessible. "I have worked almost on a daily basis to try to assist the residents of Muttontown," she said. "I have literally moved a desk into village hall and tried to be available to help my neighbors."
Spillane, 52, accuses Beckerman of disregarding her opponents, making relations with residents more "adversarial," and mishandling negotiations for the Woodcrest Club, a local golf course sold at bankruptcy auction last month. "I know what should go on in the village, and I know what shouldn't go on in the village," he said. "This power grab isn't meant to be."
 
Up for debate?
A June 2 event held by the <a href="/topics/League_of_Women_Voters">League of Women Voters</a> offered a glimpse into the campaign's rancor. The event was scheduled as a debate between Beckerman and Spillane. Only Beckerman appeared. Spillane says the league set the date and sent notices to village residents without contacting him first. He says the debate's organizer was another trustee, Mary Marks, a Beckerman supporter.
"[Beckerman] seems to think that I should be able to drop everything and debate her," he said. "Not that I don't want to debate her. But let's do it in the right way." Beckerman, meanwhile, says Spillane "has actually refused to speak when I'm in the room," a charge he denies.
The debate became a Q-and-A between Beckerman and about 50 supporters. Spillane attended another event. As of early last week, no new debate had been scheduled.
That hasn't stopped the tussling over a range of issues: campaign donations, mailings to residents and, perhaps foremost, spending. Beckerman argued the village has not raised taxes during her term and pointed out Spillane, as a village trustee, voted to approve each one of her budgets. "He's voted with me on just about every vote we've had in the last four years, and certainly every budget we have," she said. 
Spillane said he's raised questions about how the budget operates, and accused Beckerman of using $1 million of surplus funds to fill budget gaps. He acknowledged voting with Beckerman on a high majority of tallies. "But most votes are procedural," he said. "The votes that count against new laws that she's put in or tried to put in, I've always voted no or abstain for lack of information."
 
Clash over club
One such vote came in May, on the Woodcrest Club, whose members failed to agree on a contract to keep the club running in bankruptcy. Many residents opposed one potential outcome: a buyer chopping the golf club's 107 acres into 3-acre plots for houses. After protracted debate, Muttontown's board of trustees agreed to contribute $500,000 to a coalition looking to buy and preserve the club. (The coalition was outbid; the property sold for $19 million.)
Beckerman says the money could have been used only if the coalition won the auction and collected enough money to buy the property. But Spillane disagreed, abstained from the vote and said Beckerman "dropped the ball" on the process, not notifying residents or putting together a plan until weeks before the auction.
Beckerman said she had monitored the process closely since the club declared bankruptcy late in 2009, and only made a motion to offer $500,000 with a guarantee it would be returned if the coalition wasn't the high bidder.
She accused Spillane of taking a campaign donation from a company also bidding on the property. "The company did participate in a fundraiser for me, but [a company representative] did not give me any funds until after the auction was over," Spillane said. 
 
Rest of the ticket
Beckerman leads the Concerned Taxpayers ticket with two current trustees, Carl Juul-Nielsen and Pat Miller, and newcomer Salvatore Benisatto. Juul-Nielsen, 56, is the village's deputy mayor and police commissioner. If re-elected, he says he will represent Muttontown in new contract negotiations between the Old Brookville police department and the seven villages the department serves. Muttontown pays about 25 percent of the department's costs but gets only one vote out of seven on major decisions. "We are paying 25 percent of the freight," he said. "We might reorganize the contract to have a little more say."
Miller, 62, said she wants to continue handling questions from residents on issues like tree removal and geese. "I ran in the first place because [the village] was not being run correctly," Miller said. Benisatto, 60, has served on the planning board for four years and called the board of trustees "the next step." "I've always believed in giving back," he said.
Spillane's Muttontown 2010 ticket has three newcomer candidates: Philip Colletta, Christina Wergiles and James Galante. Galante, 48, joined the village planning board four years ago at Beckerman's urging but became an opponent because he felt she didn't listen to residents' concerns or other board members. "She wants to inflict her will on these people on how to live their lives," he said. "I just couldn't take it . . . I would try to relate her decisions based on the town code, and she would try to tutor me."
Colletta, 49, said he wants to restore "tranquillity" to the board of trustees and streamline hearings on requests to cut down trees. "I'm all for conservation . . . but when it impacts the safety of the residents who pay a significant amount to live in the village, I think there's something wrong with that." Wergiles, 42, said she would push to look closely at cuts to the budget and fees. "I think there's too much money being spent in the village," she said. 
Voting will take place Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 1 ''Raz'' Tafuro Way.

LFTOYST13

Muttontown election: Mayoral race gets heated

Carmine Dell Aquila's first term in office has been an eventful one: The Port Jefferson village trustee championed a controversial building ban, rallied opposition to a proposed $20-million fish farm and voted to censure a village mayor who later decided not to seek re-election.
Now Dell Aquila, a 28-year village resident and semiretired developer, is on the ballot with two challengers in Tuesday's election. His opponents are Lee Rosner, a corporate real estate broker and chairman of the village zoning board, and <a href="/topics/Jim_Burke">Jim Burke</a>, a lawyer and former village planning board chairman.
The top two vote-getters earn two-year seats on Port Jefferson's board, which has four trustees and a mayor.
Dell Aquila said he has worked to protect Port Jefferson from "unchecked development" that "puts a burden on our infrastructure, which is taxed as it is."
But other village officials, including Mayor Margot Garant, said Dell Aquila is a divisive figure. Garant said she has contacted the state Commission on Public Integrity to inquire about removing Dell Aquila from office.
Garant accused Dell Aquila of disclosing confidential village information and spending town money without authorization on concrete barriers to keep drivers off eroding roads. Dell Aquila dismissed the charges as "without evidence or merit."
Rosner accused Dell Aquila of fostering a "very negative" climate at village hall and being "more interested in looking under rocks" to defame political opponents than in handling village business. Dell Aquila said he has been vigilant about village business.
<a href="/topics/Jim_Burke">Burke</a>, who lost a trustee race in 2007, said he has tried to focus his campaign on repairing village roads and preserving the Port Jefferson power plant rather than on personality conflicts.
"Back-to-basics issues," he said. "The things that local government is really here for."
Dell Aquila said his unsuccessful push last year for a building slowdown would have allowed the waterfront village to update antiquated codes and plan for future growth. He said he still believes the 8,000-resident village needs to protect itself from reckless growth, though he would support redevelopment in the village's uptown and downtown areas if it is handled "in an equitable fashion and if it really benefits the residents of Port Jefferson."
Dell Aquila said his opponents are complicit in some of the village's poor planning decisions because of their work on the planning and zoning boards. He pointed to a medical park near the train station that "will be a traffic nightmare" when it reaches capacity.
Rosner disputed Dell Aquila's claim that he and Burke helped sell out the village to developers. He said the village needs to coexist with local businesses to protect its tax base. Rosner agreed some roads are in need of repair but added the village could fix them with the $5.5-million bond issue on the ballot. "We need to have a strong business district," he said.
Burke said the village needs to partner with the business community to fill vacancies in its uptown neighborhood.
Port Jefferson "needs better coordination between the village and the landowners," he said.
Voting is Tuesday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Port Jefferson Village Hall, 121 W. <a href="/topics/Broadway%2C_NY">Broadway</a>.

LFTBROO13

Port Jefferson election: 3 vie for 2 trustee posts

The political feuding in Sag Harbor is about even less. Ryan Horn, one of three candidates seeking two village board seats, challenged the nominating petitions of his opponents, something Horn - who has a degree in political science and who works as a community advocate in <a href="/topics/Southampton%2C_NY">Southampton</a> Town Hall - did almost without thinking, acting on well-honed political instinct and training. 
Besides, he adds, some of the petitions he challenged didn't even spell the name "Sag Harbor" correctly. 
But his complaint incurred the wrath of his two opponents. It was not, they say, the kind of thing one does to neighbors in Sag Harbor. 
"This [vote] is only open to residents," candidate Bruce Stafford said. "This is a small, quaint village. When people stop and give up two minutes of their precious time, if their pen runs out of ink and they don't cross a 't' or dot an 'i' . . . you don't take away their vote. We all know he [Horn] was born and bred here. He should know the people as well as I do." 
Horn says he was surprised at the reaction, since all he did was ask that the law be followed, a law that requires people who sign candidate petitions to sign them in the same way their voter registration forms are signed - with or without a middle initial, for example, and no using "Ellie" for "Ellen." 
Horn, 29, a legislative aide for <a href="/topics/Southampton%2C_NY">Southampton</a> Town, is a volunteer at the Sag Harbor fire department museum and said he is proud to be a fifth-generation resident of the village. He holds an MBA in public administration from <a href="/topics/Cornell_University">Cornell University</a>. 
This is his first race for elected office, and he says he wants to make village government more responsive to the needs of village residents. 
Stafford, 52, a youth league coach who is chairman of the board of trustees of the United Methodist Church, serves on the governing board of the village's volunteer fire department. 
He says housing is too costly in the village and new alternatives should be explored, and that it is important to keep taxes low. 
This is his first race for elected office. 
Robbie Stein, 62, is an incumbent on the board. Stein is a child psychologist who says he has worked on the village board to make it easier for people to create accessory apartments in their homes and to encourage the board to do more community outreach work. 
Voting is Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m. at the firehouse on Brick Kiln Road.

LFTSAG13

Sag Harbor: Petition dispute irks 2 board candidates

Village elections across Long Island

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