Pamela Marksheid has served as a trustee in Great Neck Plaza since 2008 and is seeking her fifth two-year term.
She has lived in a Great Neck Co-op for over twenty-five years with her son, Sam. She became a member of the Board of Directors of 50 Brompton Owners Cooperative soon after moving into her three building cooperative, and has served on the Board for almost twenty years, the last 15 years as president.
She participated on the Shared Decision Making Committee for three years at South Middle School and also served as the Parent Chairperson. At South High School, she was the Executive Vice President and a member of the PTA’s Board for several years.
Trustee Marksheid is retired from teaching in the New York City School System where she was honored to be included three times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. After retirement, she taught computer education and science at the Silverstein Hebrew Academy. She was a union activist for the New York City Teacher’s Union (UFT) and served for twenty-five years as a Chapter Leader. During that time, she was also a delegate to the American Federation of Teachers and New York State Federation of Teachers.
Her service in local government came about through her active role in volunteering with the village and in other community-based organizations. Prior to her election as Trustee, she served on the Zoning Board of Appeals for Great Neck Plaza. She has attended meetings of the Town of North Hempstead and has spoken out on issues that affect the Plaza.
Similarly, she attended regular meetings of the Great Neck Library and in her position as village trustee helped champion the successful relocation of the Station Branch to an expanded location on the second floor at the Gardens of Great Neck Shopping Center. The Library was going to leave the Plaza and re-locate in another village. She spearheaded the drive to have this branch remain in the Plaza, because this issue was extremely important for the senior citizens and other residents who rely on that branch. She, together with her fellow village officials, acted as intermediaries to help work out a solution between the landlord and the Library.
She also serves as the Trustee Liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission as well as being a member of the Climate Smart Communities Committee. This committee is striving to achieve certification by introducing initiatives to achieve our goal of being more energy efficient. Trustee Marksheid also regularly attends the monthly meetings of the Nassau County Village Association since these meetings give village officials an understanding about what is happening in other parts of the County and how it might affect Great Neck.
Although the Board only formally meets two Wednesdays a month, there are many days that she and her fellow elected officials need to meet for Plaza business. Some of the areas that give her great pleasure is the improvement of the safety of residents through traffic calming projects, the continued beautification of the Plaza with seasonal flower planters and art displays, and seeing thousands of residents and non-residents alike experiencing restaurants during Restaurant Weeks, which aims to economically boost the restaurants and other businesses.
The Board has aimed to create a sense of community and showcase the village’s merchants during the summer months with its Street Promenades and music in the park summer series.
Marksheid approaches each issue with an open mind and has made decisions based on what will have a positive impact on the lives of the people who live in Great Neck Plaza. In this tough economic environment, she is proud of the Board’s actions working hard together and being fiscally prudent. In this year’s budget, the village did not need to go over the New York State tax cap and has kept the Plaza’s property taxes at an almost zero increase during her tenure. This is not typical of most municipalities here in either the Great Neck peninsula or on Long Island.
She greatly enjoys her work as a Trustee and representing the people of Great Neck Plaza. It is not only an honor for her, but also a privilege. She hopes she will continue to serve the residents by being re-elected on March 20.
Editor’s note: This biography was submitted by Trustee Pamela Marksheid.
