3 candidates vie for 2 Saltaire Village trustee seats
Saltaire voters will choose two trustees in Friday's village election. Credit: Morgan Campbell
Three Saltaire residents are vying for two trustee seats, and a current trustee is running unopposed for mayor in Friday’s village election.
Incumbents Alex Chefetz and Frank Wolf are facing challenger Susan Skerritt for two-year unpaid terms in the Fire Island village.
Chefetz, 59, of Manhattan, who has been a trustee on and off for more than a decade, is seeking his second consecutive term. He said Saltaire faces no glaring community issues but is advocating for the ongoing Fire Island to Montauk Point project to begin work on the west side of the island, where Saltaire is located.
Wolf, 81, the dean emeritus of Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies and a Manhattan resident, is seeking his sixth consecutive term. As a trustee, Wolf was in charge of village affairs, ranging from finance and public safety to flood mitigation and medical affairs. He said he’s focusing on issues including the FEMA flood mitigation project for Clam Pond Cove and ensuring emergency services are adequately equipped.
Skerritt, a Brooklyn resident, is seeking her first elected position. She is retired from the financial services industry and serves as a trustee at The Brooklyn Hospital Center. If elected, Skerritt, 67, would be the lone woman on the board. She said she is concerned about a proposal to change driving regulations on Fire Island, which she said is complex. She hopes to work closely with Fire Island National Seashore officials as they develop the proposal, she said.
Current trustee Hugh O’Brien, 69, faces no competition in his bid for mayor, an unpaid, two-year term. Mayor John Zaccaro Jr., who has served as mayor since 2016, is not seeking reelection. O’Brien, of Yaphank, has been on the village board on and off for nearly 30 years. As mayor, he said, he’ll focus on quality of life issues such as limiting flooding at Clam Pond Cove, finding a way for residents to be better serviced by ferries and upgrading one of the village’s older buildings, which houses the post office, a health clinic and public safety office, and is in need of renovations.
Residents registered to vote in Saltaire can vote at Village Hall from noon to 9 p.m.
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
