A Village School social studies teacher announced on Tuesday his intent to oppose Village of Great Neck trustees Mitchell Beckerman and Jeff Bass in the June 16 village election.
Sam Yellis said he is running as the lone candidate on the Bridge Party ticket because of his unhappiness with decisions made by the village in recent years, including the rezoning of Middle Neck Road and Steamboat Road.
Yellis said he objected to the reduction to the village’s business district along Middle Neck Road and an increase in residential properties along parts of Middle Neck and Steamboat roads in the rezoning plan.
“You don’t save it by shrinking it,” Yellis said of the business district. “We need more stores and customers, and their plans will eliminate stores that have been around for generations.”
Trustees will argue for hours about the minute details of how things should look in the village, Yellis said, but don’t focus on larger issues, such as the increasing population density of the village, the number of car accidents and parking.
If elected, Yellis said, he would try to get town, county, state and federal funding to bring in five electric shuttle buses to bring people into the village to shop.
“Don’t charge people, bring merchants in, bring in people who can’t walk down Middle Neck Road, get people to Great Neck House and the pool,” Yellis said.
Yellis also said trustees don’t work with other municipal agencies enough to create more interesting programs people can attend. He said he wants to have a farmers market, high school band concerts and art fairs.
“Make [the village] a destination, have something going on,” Yellis said.
Yellis said he is not seeking campaign donations, and that he is only campaigning through word of mouth.
Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, Beckerman and Bass announced last month that they would be running for re-election together on the Better Government Party ticket.
The first day to file nominating petitions for the elections was May 5, and the final day to file is May 12, according to the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials.
Village Clerk Joe Gil said he had not received any nominating petitions as of Wednesday.
The villages of Lake Success and Kings Point will also see trustee elections.
In Lake Success, trustees Adam Hoffman, Gene Kaplan and David Milner all have open seats, village officials said. In Kings Point, officials said, the seats of trustees Ron Horowitz and Hooshang Nematzadeh are also up for election.
Nematzadeh said he intended to run for re-election in Kings Points.
Village of Lake Success Mayor Ron Cooper said Hoffman, Kaplan and Milner are running for re-election on the Village Party ticket.
Efforts to reach the Lake Success candidates were unavailing. Efforts to reach Horowitz were also unavailing.
Bass said if re-elected he wants to continue the work he has been doing as Village of Great Neck trustee, including making Middle Neck Road more walkable and ensure the quality of life in the village.
“We’ve spent $50,000 in planting new trees, we’ve paved 85 percent of the roads in the past few years to make sure our infrastructure is maintained,” Bass said.
He also said he works closely to make sure the village’s storm water is as clean as it can be, as it eventually flows in Manhasset Bay.
“I want to be there for our neighbors, and respond effectively,” Bass said. “If there is an issue we should own up to, we’ll own up to it.”
Bass, who is CEO of Executive Strategies Group LLC, a strategic advisor to business owners and executive management, was first elected to be a Village of Great Neck trustee in 2007. He had previously served on the village’s Planning Board from 2000 to 2002 and the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals from 2002 to 2007.
He said he decided to initially become involved in village government because he wanted to give back to the community.
“I felt like if you live in a village, and you have the skill and experience to help make a difference in that village, then in some way you ought to get involved,” he said.
Bass began his career as a transportation planner in New Jersey during the early 1970s. He returned to New York and became the first district manager appointed by Community Board 11 in Queens where he supervised the delivery of municipal services to the area.
He has said he then worked in the Ed Koch administration as the director of the Bureau of Management Analysis in the Department of Sanitation. He is the chairman emeritis of the Long Island Capital Alliance, a member of the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee and on the Board of Governors for the American Jewish Committee.
Beckerman said he is running for re-election because he is committed to make the village a place people want to live in.
“We’re continuing to upgrade the village’s infrastructure, and we’re involved in repaving the village roads,” he said. “A lot of little things need to be done to keep the village running and make it into a great place to live.”
Beckerman also pointed to village plans to move Village Hall from its current location at 61 Baker Hill Road at 265 East Shore Road and upgrade the village computer system.
“Giving back to the community is an important part of my life. My parents taught me that and I’ve taught my children that also,” said Beckerman, a CPA who was first elected trustee in 2001.
He said was approached to run for trustee the first time by Great Neck Mayor Stephen Falk in 2001 while serving on the Great Neck Senior Housing Authority.
At the time, he said, the village’s reserve fund was very low.
Due to very good budgeting, he said, the trustees were able to grow the reserve and become Aaa Bond rated by Moody’s.
