4 seek seats of East Hills village board

Four candidates are vying for two four-year seats on the Village of East Hills board of trustees in the election on March 20.

Incumbents Clara Pomerantz and Emanuel "Manny" Zuckerman are running on the East Hills Unity Party line, Matthew Weiss is on the East Hills Advocacy Group line and Mitchell Winn is on the Committee for Mitchell J. Winn line.

Zuckerman, 64, who is also deputy mayor, has been a trustee since 2000. Before that, he was security commissioner for six years and planning board commissioner for two years.

He was commercial sales director for two years at Janovic Inc., a division of Berkshire Hathaway, and owned a local paint and decorating corporation.

Zuckerman said he brings experience, a business background and a commitment to financial prudence. "We are fiscally responsible. We kept our expenses in line and we've spent wisely," Zuckerman said.

He wants to increase offerings for seniors and kids and is working to get generators for Village Hall and the Village Theater to use during power outages.

Pomerantz, 51, has been a trustee since August 2010 and oversees the Kids in the Park, Senior Activities and Park Rules committees. She is also responsible for the village's environmental conservation efforts and is head teacher of the 2-year-old toddlers program at Temple Sinai of Roslyn.

She said she wants to bring together the community, create a database of neighbors who might need help and those who can offer help, and fund programs with grants and other creative methods to "keep our taxes at a zero-percent increase."

Winn and Weiss say they are running because all five trustees are Unity Team members and they want more diversity.

Winn, 52, an attorney, wants the village to be more accessible to residents and for village employees to be more polite in their dealings with residents.

He wants to hold down expenses and said he would bring independent oversight. "It makes me nervous that there is no independent person watching over things," Winn said.

Winn serves on the municipal law, ethics and commercial litigation committees for the Nassau County Bar Association and is president of the nonprofit East Williston Summer Recreation Corp., which provides athletic and educational programming.

Weiss, 50, a community activist and attorney who unsuccessfully ran for mayor last year, said he is committed to opening up village government, improving the village website and setting up a monthly e-newsletter for residents to announce events, meetings and job openings. He also said he will be an impartial voice on the board.

If elected, Weiss said he will offer a resolution to cut salaries of elected officials by half. "If I can't, I will donate 50 percent of my salary back to the village for worthwhile village programs," he said.

Voting is from noon to 9 p.m. at the Village Theater.