Incumbent Saddle Rock trustees David Schwartz and Mark Collins won re-election Tuesday, surviving an upset campaign from challengers Hamid “Ben” Sharifiazed and Shlomo “Mony” Zenou.
Schwartz took 141 votes and Collins took 144, while Zenou claimed 52 votes and Sharifiazad 51. Mayor Dan Levy won an uncontested election with 161 votes.
Zenou and Sharifiazad, running on the Independent Party of the Village of Saddle Rock line, had launched a late bid for the two open trustee seats, filing their candidacies shortly before deadline and campaigning to improve the village’s years-old Web site and increase public engagement in village government.
Schwartz and Levy had criticized the challengers for failing to regularly attend village board meetings, and disputed that the village did not involve residents in decisions.
“Their complaints are without merit. They’ve never been to a board meeting, so how would they know what’s going on in the village,” said Schwartz on Wendesday. “I don’t know what they were running against.”
“I wish the board and the trustees success in their next election period and we will stand by the mayor and the trustees and watch over and look and try to assist what ever we can,” Zenou said. “We congratulate them and appreciate that there was at least exposure to the concerns and ideas that we brought up.”
“We learned lessons from this. We obviously were not as prepared as we should have,” Zenou continued. “We will definitely be more involved [in village government.]”
Schwartz, a financial consultant who joined the board in 2011 after the death of long-time Mayor Leonard Samansky, said he has worked to make the board more transparent compared to what he described as Samansky’s one-man style of government.
Zenou, who owns a technology business, has lived in Saddle Rock since 2007 and has never been formally involved with village government. Sharifiazad, an engineer, ran unsuccessfully for trustee in 2005 and said he has been a resident for 19 years.
Collins, who has served on the board since 2005, could not be reached for comment.
The board’s goal for the next term will be to move forward on improvements to roads, parks and village tennis courts, as well as formalize village procedures that Samansky had handled personally, according to Schwartz.
“Our main goal is going to be to really start to put together a very detailed program on how to run the village, so in the event of the next mayor or board there’s a guide book,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz said one of the opposition’s complaints – the village’s Web site, which possesses an early-2000’s aesthetic and does not post meeting agendas – is already being addressed.
A redesign should be completed within the next two months and is being done pro-bono by a resident, Schwartz said.
”Our Web site may be antiquated, but it’s fully functional,” Schwartz said. “The new one will be 21st century.”
Zenou said he hoped the board would take his ticket’s concerns over low public engagement into account.
“If everything goes the way we hope it can go, that’s good. That’s all we want,” Zenou said. “It’s a step in the right direction. There are still hundreds of people that didn’t vote.”
But Schwartz said the board is already transparent and informs residents before making decision. And he said the election’s 208-voter turnout, in a village which had 596 residents over the age of 18 according to the 2010 census, was evidence that people were engaged.
“For the two people that claimed we’re not open and don’t produce enough information on the web, fine. Volunteer,” Schwartz said.
Zenou said he plans on being more involved in government, and would not rule out running again if he was not satisfied with the board’s actions during its next term.
“If the need arises we will definitely step up to the plate again,” Zenou said.
Five of Great Neck’s other villages held uncontested elections Tuesday, all of which featured much lower turnouts – and much less rhetoric – than the Saddle Rock contest.
In Great Neck Plaza, incumbent trustees Gerry Schneiderman and Lawrence Katz won with totals of 79 and 83 votes, respectively.
In Russell Gardens, former Mayor Steve Kirschner won another term in office with 72 votes. He will take the reigns from current Mayor Matthew Bloomfield, who did not seek re-election. Trustee Martin Adickman won re-election with 72 votes and Trustee Jane Kraukauer won with 68 votes.
Longtime Thomaston Mayor Robert Stern won re-election with 30 votes. Incumbent trustees Steven Weinberg, Gary Noren and To-On Pang won re-election as well, with totals of 21, 20 and 28 votes.
Kensington trustee Alina Hendler won re-election with 15 votes, and attorney Darren Kaplan won an uncontested election to replace departing Deputy Mayor Gail Strongwater with 14 votes.
And in Great Neck Estates, incumbent Mayor David Fox claimed another term with 50 votes. Trustee Sidney Krugman and Deputy Mayor William Warner won with 46 and 48 votes.
Reach reporter Dan Glaun by e-mail at dglaun@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x203. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
