Village of Great Neck Trustee Mitch Beckerman said Thursday he would participate in a debate between all five trustee candidates running for two open seats in the June 16 election.
“I have no problem doing a debate,” Beckerman said. “I want it to be done in the proper fashion, and I would want it done by people who know how to do it.”
Beckerman said he considers the League of Women Voters of Nassau County — the group trustee candidate Sam Yellis contacted to moderate the proposed debate — a proper group to moderate the debate. He said he would only debate if all trustee candidates would participate.
Beckerman is running for trustee along with fellow trustee Jeff Bass on the Better Government Party Ticket against Raymond Plakstis Jr. and Anne Mendelson, of the Voice of the Village Party, and Yellis, the lone Bridge Party candidate.
Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman is running for mayor on the Better Government Party ticket against Pedram Bral, who is running on the Voice of the Village Party ticket.
Yellis proposed the debate last week, saying he wanted the issues to get out into the open.
Bass earlier declined to comment on the debate, but Kreitzman earlier this week said any debate would have to be professionally organized and that all the trustee candidates should participate. He said if Yellis believes a debate can be arranged in the short time left before the election, he would consult with Beckerman and Bass.
Mendelson said she would debate if all the candidates participated.
Efforts to reach Plakstis were unavailing, but the party’s campaign manager Rebecca Gilliar said the candidates think a debate is an excellent idea.
Carmen Lloyd, who organizes the debate moderators for the League of Women Voters, said the league would provide a moderator but Yellis would have to organize all the candidates and find a venue. She said all the candidates don’t have to agree to the proposed debate, but all must be invited.
Yellis said he wants to debate to get the issues out in the open, such as the rezoning of Middle Neck Road and Steamboat Road to condense the business district in an attempt to revitalize the downtown area. Mixed-use buildings, with commercial properties on the first floor and residential on the second floor, are also permitted under the changes.
He said he wants to reverse the zoning changes, build better communication with village residents and open up a farmers market on the Village Green.
Kreitzman, has said that many people in the village were in favor of the re-zoning and that there was no outcry the trustees were “wrong” in changing the zoning.
Yellis, however, has said that the re-zoning wasn’t generally accepted.
Mendelson has also said she opposes the zoning changes, which she said will burden aquifers and clog roads.
On. Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) endorsed Kreitzman for mayor, emphasizing Kreitzman’s leadership on projects to boost Great Neck’s economy.
Bral, Mendelson and Christine Campbell were part of an under-the-radar write-in campaign in the 2013 elections, which resulted in hundreds of residents lining around the block to vote for the challengers. Campbell was originally set to run for trustee on the Voice of the Village party ticket, but declined the nomination after her name was submitted on the petition.
Plakstis then accepted the nomination to replace her and run for trustee.
The opposition campaign led incumbents to rally for support at the last minute. Trustees stood for hours making phone calls outside the polling station to residents to shore up support against the surprise challengers, officials had said at the time.
In that election, Kreitzman defeated Bral 325 to 232. Beckerman took 316 votes and Bass won 320 votes, with opposition trustee candidates Campbell and Mendelson receiving 226 votes each.
Mendelson, who has lived in Great Neck most of her life, works now as a technical software product manager for Thomson Reuters. She worked in defense and software development for years before she got her teaching certificate in 2003. She eventually began teaching Math at Great Neck North High School, she said. She worked as a teacher until 2013 when her job was eliminated due to budget cuts, she said.
Plakstis ran for Great Neck Park District Commissioner in 2011, losing to current commissioner Dan Nachmanoff. Plakstis came in second with 368 votes, Neil Leiberman, husband of Great Neck News columnist Karen Rubin, received 347 and Great Neck resident Martin Markson received 342.
