Voters on Tuesday will elect a new Manhasset-Lakeville Water and Fire District commissioner and determine whether to re-elect a Manhasset Park District commissioner from a pool of three candidates.
Munsey Park resident Mark Sauvigne, a bond trader and current Manhasset Park District commissioner, will square off against former Nassau County Legislator Lisanne Altmann, a Great Neck resident who works as an account executive with PSEG Long Island, to fill the Manhasset-Lakeville commissioner position currently held by Andrew DeMartin, who is stepping down.
Park district Commissioner Jay Hernandez, who lives in the unincorporated Strathmore-Vanderbilt community and was appointed to the position by the Town of North Hempstead in March following the resignation of former Commissioner Jay Regan, is running for a full three-year term against Munsey Park resident Ken Weigand and Matthew Flacone, of Bayview.
Both the Manhasset-Lakeville and Manhasset Park District commissioner terms are for three years.
Manhasset-Lakeville
In preparation for her campaign for Manhasset-Lakeville Water and Fire District commissioner, Altmann said she began attending the water district’s bi-weekly meetings and toured the district to get a better understanding of its equipment and operations.
She was a member of the first Nassau County Legislature in 1995 and served six terms, until 2007. Previously, she was an assistant to former U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens).
“It is clear to me that whoever represents citizens on this board should have some background and experience in issues related to the preservation of our natural resources and also a working knowledge of public safety issues and budgeting,” Altmann said.
Sauvigne, a bond trader on Wall Street for the last 28 years, said in mid October that he considers himself a fiscal conservative, but would support district spending to replace equipment.
He added that the fire district would also benefit from constant recruiting and he would explore tuition-assistance programs at the county and state levels for volunteers.
“There is no reason someone can’t do a summer internship at the fire or water district and not be able to get college credit for that,” Sauvigne said. “Is this not as important as doing an internship on Wall Street?”
Sauvigne said he was approached to run for a commissioner’s position last year, but “wasn’t sure the timing was right.”
It was only after the water district erected a 190-foot communications antenna atop its elevated water tower within the Village of Munsey Park – a project that cost more than $200,000 – and the two sides later became embroiled in litigation over the replacement of the water tower that Sauvigne said he was inspired to seek the position this year.
“It sounds to me as if they need a voice of reason to get involved,” he said.
Altmann said that based on her understanding of the project, attained through attending Manhasset-Lakeville meetings, the district came to the decision that best balanced its financial needs with those of its infrastructure and residents living in the area.
But she added that communication between the water district and the Village of Munsey Park could have been more frequent.
“If you take a look at Long Island, we have so much aging infrastructure and so much government,” she said. “There has to be a point where municipalities have to communicate with each other and come up with the most mutually beneficial solutions to these issues, and it’s better if you don’t have to do that in court.”
“Whether [Munsey Park] has the legal right to stop this,” she said, “we’re waiting to find out what the answer’s going to be on that.”
DeMartin said the litigation did not play in a role in his decision to not seek re-election. He said he decided against seeking a third term in June.
“I enjoy situations like that. Controversy and hard government are not things I shy away from in any way shape or form. I like that type of situation,” DeMartin said. “As far as I’m concerned though, [the Munsey Park tank] has been put to rest. We prevailed legally and we’ll go forward with the elevated tank.”
“The second elevated tank is an exclamation point on my career,” he added. “It kind of brings my time with the district full circle for me.”
DeMartin has served as a Manhasset-Lakeville commissioner since being appointed by the Town of North Hempstead in 2008. He told Blank Slate Media in October that “there are other avenues in my life that I want to explore.”
Altmann said DeMartin asked her last year if she would consider running for the position if he were to step down from the board.
“I think it’s important that there be a balance on the board so that the interests of the Great Neck portion of the district be adequately represented,” Altmann said.
Sauvigne said he is running on a platform in which “accountability and transparency equals trust.”
If elected, he said he would increase transparency by listing minutes of public commissioner meetings on the district’s website and push back meetings from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. so more residents would be able to attend.
He’d also seek to prioritize spending by designating potential capital projects as “needs,” “wants” or “desires.”
“I am not running for this office for the compensation or benefits but rather to make a difference,” he said. “I believe it is time for a change. We could use a breath of fresh air in the district.”
Altmann said she would also advocate for increased transparency between Manhasset-Lakeville and the villages it serves.
She said she plans on reaching out to each of the village mayors in the next few weeks to discuss the issues she thinks face the district.
“To me, the more public participation, the better,” Altmann said. “That’s just how I operate.”
Altmann last week accused Sauvigne of avoiding a debate with her that would have been conducted by the Port Washington-Manhasset chapter of the League of Women Voters.
In an e-mail to Blank Slate Media last Monday, Altmann said she received notice from the League of Women Voters that Sauvigne has not replied to phone messages or e-mails from the league to schedule a debate.
League of Women Voters rules require both candidates in a two-candidate race to be present for a debate to take place.
At least two candidates must be present for a debate in a three-candidate race.
“There’s a lot at stake in these smaller elections – millions of dollars of taxpayer money and important issues like water quality and support for our volunteer firefighters,” Altmann said. “The fact that he can’t be bothered to show up and speak to these issues is really appalling.”
In an attached e-mail sent by Altmann, Judy Jacobson, the voter service director of the League of Women Voters’ Port Washington-Manhasset chapter, said she has “done everything possible to contact Mark Sauvigne” and left her contact information.
“I am very sorry to say that there will not be a debate,” Jacobson said.
In an e-mail Wednesday, Sauvigne said he was notified by Manhasset-Lakeville on Nov. 19 that Jacobsen was trying to contact him and e-mailed Commissioner Donald O’Brien to forward his contact information to her.
He called Altmann’s accusations he was avoiding a debate “unfair and untrue,” but said debates in special district elections rarely give voters a sense of the issues or the candidates’ platforms.
“I have always been willing to discuss any issue and answer any question,” Sauvigne said. “While my opponent has chosen to spend her time attending a spattering of water district meetings, I have been busy talking directly to the residents of the district, meeting with the Munsey Park trustees and speaking to our county and state officials in an effort to resolve the real problems facing the district, including finding a home for the district’s ambulance unit and laying the foundation for a much needed sense of inter-municipal cooperation in the district.”
Manhasset Park District
The three candidates seeking the Manhasset Park District commissioner’s position each identified a dearth of parking within the community as the primary issue facing the district in the next few years.
But in recent interviews with the Manhasset Times, incumbent Commissioner Jay Hernandez, Falcone and Weigand varied in how they would more adequately divide parking spaces among commuters, local businesses and non-residents.
“I think we need to find a way to move around those spaces or reassign parking spaces to take advantage of them as needed,” Hernandez said. “No one in our town wants to put up a parking garage, so for me it’s a matter of studying and identifying where we need the parking spaces.”
Hernandez, a 22-year Manhasset resident who was a salesman and negotiator for various international banks for more than 30 years, is seeking his first three-year term to the park district.
He is a also a member of the Strathmore Vanderbilt Country Club and is in charge of its forward planning initiatives and in the past has coached his daughters’ basketball, soccer and volleyball teams.
“I have been [with the park district] for seven months now, and I can see the value that I can add, so I thought I would run for the office myself to continue to implement things I think need to be done,” he said.
Falcone, a 40-year Manhasset resident, is the commander of the American Legion Post 304, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the early 1960s. Currently retired, he spent his career as a superintendent of various electrical contracting companies based in the New York City area.
He is also past president of the Keystone Club of New York, the Bayview Civic Association, the Futurian Society of New York and a past grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, and serves as an usher at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church.
“I know how to get the best out of people, even those who don’t know what talents they have. I can tell right away how a person is. I’ve been doing this all my life,” Falcone said.
Falcone said he would like to open a discussion about the community’s parking problems before Manhasset residents and allow them to provide their possible solutions.
Additionally, he said he’d like to see the installation and maintenance of beautification efforts throughout the area, and would use his abilities as a negotiator to reach solutions and compromises in disputes.
“I don’t know all the details, whatever their problems are, but with my personality, I’ll get things done,” Falcone said. “I don’t know the intricacies the way [the commissioners] do, but I know what the problems are. I can get [solutions] going, that’s what I know.”
Weigand is a lifelong Manhasset resident who now manages facilities contracts for Canon Solutions America, an extension of Canon, Inc.
“I’m used to dealing with conflicts, issues and getting them resolved,” he said. “The daily work that I do will give me the ability to handle the issues and complaints and concerns with residents within the community.”
He also said the park district should monitor illegal parking he said he sees along Plandome Road and increase its non-commuter weekend parking rates as an additional revenue source.
“There’s only so much that we can do and focus on, but I’m open to exploring new opportunities for purchasing new parking lots within the community,” he said.
Weigand said the park district should explore a strip of parking spaces located directly behind Mary Jane Davies park that are operated by the Town of North Hempstead and often go unused.
Weigand also said he would support the demolition of the park district’s headquarters at 62 Manhasset Ave. for the creation of more parking spaces there, an initiative the current commissioners have considered before.
“I think we’re taking up a tremendous amount of space for a facility that’s outdated and if we’re able to identify a different location, we’d be in a much better position,” he said.
Hernandez said he would seek to incorporate modern technologies into its parking meters, so employees do not have to collect the quarters accumulated from the meters each week.
“I’m a forward thinker, it’s just in my nature,” he said. “I don’t look for things for today or tomorrow, but how they will be affected three years down the road. I think about problems and why they surface.”
