3 vie for trustee seats in Brightwaters

Maintaining healthy village finances and fixing battered roads are among issues being debated by the three candidates for two seats in next week's Brightwaters board of trustees election.

Diane Urso of the Common Good party is facing Denise Gibson and incumbent John Riordan both of the Citizens Party -- which has dominated village politics for more than three decades -- for two at-large seats.

Mayor Joseph A. McNulty is running unopposed.

Riordan, a taxation accountant who has served on the village's planning and zoning appeals boards and was named to the board in February when a trustee retired, said he would seek to develop a long-term plan for road maintenance.

"I recognize the requests of residents [and] I intend to devote time to assess the quality of roads," said Riordan, 55, who moved to the village in 1987 with his wife and two children. He also said village government should be more transparent.

"We should try to make some of the projects [such as road maintenance] that we discuss more clear," he said.

Urso, 43, is a fitness instructor and former Manhattan therapist who has lived in Brightwaters for five years. The mother of two was president of the Fifth Avenue Elementary Parent Faculty Association for two years and serves on the Bay Shore superintendent's parent advisory council.

She said the village's roads are a mess, and she would seek grants for infrastructure improvements, to keep taxes low.

"I'm not somebody to sit around and say it would be great if someone else did it -- I'm willing to step up and do the work," she said.

Gibson, whose father, Greg, was Brightwaters mayor in the 1980s, said volunteering at community organizations spurred her interest in public service.

"This seemed like a natural progression -- to make sure that Brightwaters stays the wonderful village that it is and hopefully bring it even better into the future," said Gibson, 45, a lifelong resident who works in sales and marketing.

Gibson said she's most concerned about keeping taxes low. She also said she'd push for the village to get a bike-sharing program, similar to one launched recently in Long Beach.

Voting is set for Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 40 Seneca Dr.