Westhampton Beach School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Westhampton Beach Senior High School.

THE BUDGET

The district is proposing a budget of $48,967,737 for the 2010-2011 year, an increase of 2.48 percent over the current budget of $47,784,991. The tax levy would decrease 0.43 percent from the current $24,876,123 to $24,768,156 in 2010-11.

School taxes paid on the average single-family house assessed at $600,000 would increase 1.44 percent, from the current $3,121.20 to $3,166.20 in 2010-11.

In addition to the budget, there are propositions authorizing the establishment of a capital reserve fund of no more than $1,600,000 using money from the Employee Benefit Accrued Liability Reserve Fund, and the expenditure of that money for the construction of an all-purpose synthetic turf athletic field, resurfacing the track surrounding the athletic field and - if funds permit - additional parking space at the high school. A separate proposal would authorize the district to raise $2,001,449 for the Westhampton Free Library.

District website:

www.whbschools.org

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbent Bryan Dean and challengers Suzanne M. Mensch and William F. Dalton are running to fill two seats with five-year terms. Dean and Mensch are running as a team. Clint Greenbaum is not seeking re-election.

William F. Dalton

BACKGROUND: Dalton, 52, the business manager for an air-conditioning and plumbing company, has an economics degree from Pace University. He and his wife, Patricia, have three children, two of whom went through the district's school system. The third currently attends district schools.

ISSUES: Dalton said term limits should be established for board members, and added that his background and experience in the private world would be useful in helping the district move toward being run more like a business with a reduction of excessive financial waste.

Bryan Dean

BACKGROUND: Dean, 47, owner of a butcher shop in Westhampton Beach, was a former part-time police officer in Westhampton Beach Village and in Southampton Town. He and his wife, Kathlene, have three children, all of whom attend district schools. Dean attended SUNY Delhi. He notes his experience of 13 years on the school board, including time as board president and vice president.

ISSUES: Dean says that, like Mensch, he believes that maintaining the programs the district has now is the most important issue, as things are running well in Westhampton Beach and "our academics are outstanding."

Suzanne M. Mensch

BACKGROUND: Mensch, 35, an attorney, graduated from Yale University and has a law degree from Cornell Law School. She and her husband, Gregory J. Mensch, have four children who attend district schools.

ISSUES: Maintaining the district's outstanding academic and extracurricular programs in these difficult economic times is most important, Mensch said, as is keeping communications open with residents and with districts that send high school students to Westhampton Beach.