Atlantic Beach: Former allies face off in mayor race

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 Ireland 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.