The top two vote-winners in this four-way race will take the two available trustee seats on Mineola’s Village Board.
John Colbert
• What are your most important contributions as an elected official?
Seeing all that has happened in Mineola in the past few years, I have decided to take action to protect the village that has been my home for the past 32 years and that I served as trustee and mayor. Therefore I have decided to run for trustee of the Village of Mineola on Tuesday, March 15.
During my terms in office, I listened to the residents of this village and took action to address their concerns, need and dreams for Mineola. Now I feel strongly that the current administration is not listening to the residents, who want to preserve and enhance our suburban quality of life, and instead are budding up to developers and wealthy interests that want to build more apartments and extend the crowded, overextended urban lifestyle to our friendly village.
During my 14 years as trustee and mayor, I heard from our residents that they wanted facilities that reflected our values and met our needs. With astute financial planning, favorable lending rates and available state and federal money, we invested in our community and built or renovated all of these community assets along with our parks and fire department facilities and equipment. Thanks to our efforts we have a Village Hall and completely refurbished Village Library and swimming pool, refurbished parks and new Wilson Park hockey rink that are among the finest in Nassau County. We also now have an new garage and bus depot with federal monies on the south side of the Long Island Rail Road and a new Herricks Road bridge, new Mineola Boulevard bridge and a passenger crossing bridge at the railroad station with state, federal and MTA funding.
• What are the most important issues facing the village and what do you think should be done to address them?
The current administration which succeeded me has turned a deaf ear to residents. They wasted our money trying to force a local police department on us despite almost unanimous opposition. They have green-lighted numerous apartment buildings and claimed that this high-density housing will not add to traffic congestion, burden our schools and overload out municipal services. When the Village Green project was introduced, the residents spoke out against the project 9 to 1, at four separate hearings.
The board did not require the developer to meet the demands of the public and not only approved the nine-story apartment complex on the site of the old Citibank building, disregarding traffic, parking, sanitation, water and sewer usage, but awarded the developer massive tax breaks, so village residents and businesses will bear the costs while the developers get even richer.
• Why should village residents support you in the election?
I have not made this decision to run for office lightly. The village is in need of responsible leadership and I have the experience, ideas and abilities to provide that leadership, and I have the experience, ideas and abilities to provide that leadership. As a financial planner for over 40 years and realtor for 12 years, I have also served as the first clerk of the Nassau County legislature, chief of staff to the Nassau County Executive, liaison for the 2010 U.S. Census for Long Island and was co-chairman of the North Hempstead Re-Districting Committee.
I ask for your support for my election, to take back our village for our residents. Please talk to your neighbors and let them know that their suburban lifestyle is being threatened, and that I am stepping forward to reverse the course of urbanization. Please vote for me on March 15 at the Mineola Community Center.
Paul Cusato
Paul Cusato is running for re-election as trustee. He moved to Mineola at the age of 18 months with his parents. He attended Jackson Avenue and Cross Street elementary schools, the junior high school on Willis Avenue (which was later razed for a new school building), and graduated from Mineola High School in 1966. He completed his education at New York Institute of Technology, where he received his degree in electronics. Paul spent 35 years in that field as a printed circuit board designer. In 2000 and 2001, Paul attended C.W. Post, where he took courses in fundraising management.
Paul has been actively involved with the community, which includes membership in the Mineola Fire Department for 49 years. He served as Engine Co. No. 1’s secretary and president, as the department’s executive secretary for 14 years and as co-chairman for the 2006 NCFA Firemen’s Parade and Drill that took place in Mineola. A former member of the Mineola Athletic Association for 16 years, Paul managed and umpired and was later elected president of the Little League program. Two years later, he was elected MAA president, a position he would hold for three years. Paul is also a former Police Athletic League basketball and softball coach. He was also actively involved with the Mineola school district as a member of the district’s Building and Grounds Committee, as a member of the Athletic Booster Club, where he would volunteer his time working in the hot dog stand during home football games and served as chairman for their Sports Award Dinners. He was also a member of the school’s Music Parents Association and the Site Based Management Team. Paul is one of six founding members of the Mineola High School Alumni Foundation and currently holds the position of co-president. He also spearheaded the effort to raise monies, through the alumni, for the renovation of the high school auditorium. Since its inception in 1999, Paul has represented his alumni by annually attending the Senior Awards Breakfast, presenting scholarship monies to deserving graduating students. He is also a member of the “Wings of Winthrop” Hospital. Paul’s village activities include the chairmanship of the Block Party Committee for the 1981 75th anniversary Diamond Jubilee Celebration, serving on the village’s Planning Board and was an active participant in the Mineola Mustang Run.
Paul is the senior member of the board and is seeking re-election for his seventh term because he wants to continue to serve the residents — residents, as Paul has stated, who graciously volunteer their time and work so diligently to support our village and its organizations.
Paul is a recipient of the following awards: Mineola Fire Department Fireman of the Year in 1989, Town of Hempstead Firefighter of the YEar in 2002, Nassau County’s Fire Service Award in 2006 and 2012, MAA’s Joe Bruno Award, and Mineola PTA’s Jenkins Memorial Award.
Paul is retired and resides on Argyle Road. He has four grown children and four grandchildren.
Paul Pereira
• What are your most important contributions as an elected official?
My most important contributions as an elected official have been to provide our residents with the high level of services they have come to expect while maintaining taxes flat. Adopting fiscally sound balanced budgets year after year while paying down debt without any new long term borrowing is also something that I am very proud of. Lastly, I am also proud of the way that I serve and represent my friends and neighbors in the Village of Mineola … with honesty, integrity, and dedication.
• What are the most important issues facing the village and what do you think should be done to address them?
The most important issues facing the village in the next decade will be the upkeep and repair, if necessary, of our aging infrastructure (especially our water and sewer systems). To this end we have created a capital fund with some of the receipts from the Development Incentive Bonus payments to better prepare ourselves for the future especially our water and sewer systems. We have also begun to develop a plan that looks out into the future to address some of these potential concerns in a proactive way rather than waiting for something to happen.
• Why should village residents support you in the election?
I believe that my fellow residents in the Village of Mineola should support my re-election because I have a track record of getting things done, a track record of delivering quality services, a track record of expanding our tax base, a track record of getting the village through the “Great Recession” of 2008-2009, a track record of honest open government that benefits all of my neighbors and friends. The village, by all quantifiable measures, is headed in the right direction. I should be re-elected to keep us on track. We should not be distracted by scare tactics, half-truths and flat out lies. Serving in local elected office should not be about ego, self-promotion and the “trappings” of the office. It should be about serving the public, not oneself. I believe that I have done that for the last eight years and I would like to continue to serve the great people of the Village of Mineola.
Larry Werther
• What are your most important contributions as an elected official?
During my tenure in office there were a number of tangible and intangible contributions in several areas.
In the area of open government, I was part of the team that put Village Board meetings on the air and created “Mineola Television.” Additionally, I was responsible for creating our website and getting the coveted “.gov” address. We also boosted the number of board meetings each month to give residents greater access to the Village Board.
In the area of finances, we initiated a “debt management plan” that is still being touted today. The paying down of debt, refinancing of bonds, budgeting tools and the like all started here.
We increased non-tax revenue and brought active management to investing LOSAP funds. We brought accountability to village government department by department. Additionally, with our engineers, we devised a plan for infrastructure and road repair that is being used today.
In the area of relationship with our business community, it was my work with the Chamber of Commerce that brought the Mineola Street Fair out of park and onto our main streets. Additionally, it was my work with the Chamber that led to our business showcases, the Taste and Style of Mineola.
Additionally, the Master Plan was formulated and adopted under my watch. Also, there were the intangibles. The village had an open and friendly feel. There was a Pride in Mineola that now seems lost.
This is a very abbreviated list. For a full list, visit my website, mineolamyhome.com
• What are the most important issues facing the village and what do you think should be done to address them?
There are many issues and some opportunities that face the residents of Mineola. First and foremost is the over development that the current administration has foisted upon us. We are laboring under the design of our village from over 100 years ago. This makes our streets narrow and crowded and not well suited to large developments. While I believe the two projects on Old Country Road were a natural addition there, the rest of our village cannot bear the burden of LeFrak City size apartment buildings. Traveling down our commercial streets like Jericho Turnpike, Mineola Boulevard and Willis Ave is a nightmare. The Village Green project and the one going into the Corpus Christi School lot will exacerbate that problem exponentially. The possibility of one on First Street in the Jackson Steel property is mind numbing. Time to stop this now. No more projects!
Taxes are a key issue on Long Island. A study published in December 2014 by The Long Island Index asked “How likely is it that you will move out of Long Island to an area with lower housing costs and property taxes in the next 5 years?” 72 percent of respondents in the 18-34 year old category and 66 percent of the 50-64 year old category said very or somewhat likely. We blew the opportunity to have a substantial impact on school taxes when our Village Board gave support to an IDA “gift” to developers. I will try to get those breaks reduced or cancelled and I certainly will not support and future IDA tax breaks .
The current administration is touting the large influx of cash that developers paid to us. With our infrastructure crumbling, I believe we should use some of those funds to create a “Sidewalk District” as the Village of Westbury has done. This would take the burden of sidewalk repair away from the residents and shift it to the village. This same district could be used to repair the once beautiful gatehouses along the Old Country Road corridor.
I believe we need to support our commercial entities. I will work with the Board to institute a Business Improvement District (BID). Funds raised through a BID must, by law, be used for promotion of businesses in that area. Advertising and business promotional programs would be implemented to increase viability in our business community.
Additionally, I would like to examine our pay scale to see if our employees are being underpaid compared to other municipal entities (board members excluded). If so, we need to fix this on the next contract negotiation.
• Why should village residents support you in the election?
I have demonstrated in the past key qualities that will help us move Mineola forward. My experience in finance will be invaluable to our board. That same experience has given me an empathy that I will use in dealing with our residents. Further more, I was the only trustee asked to serve on the executive board of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. I was recruited for my thoughts and ideas but above all else, for my passion for the village way of life. I have championed the causes of our residents, sometimes to my own detriment. My word is my bond no matter what. I will demonstrate, as in the past, a willingness to listen to our residents and act on their words. I have a strategic vision for enhancing our village. Finally, I see this position as one of service. I will work diligently for all residents.
