Two Manhasset villages are guaranteed to have new faces on election day March 19 and the fate of two others will be in the hands of voters.
The villages of Plandome and Plandome Heights will each elect new trustees to their boards with incumbents deciding not to run, while the Village of Flower Hill has four candidates running for three open trustee spots and the mayor and two trustees in Munsey Park are being opposed by an opposition slate in a campaign marked by sharp exchanges.
In Flower Hill, incumbent Trustees Robert McNamara and Tab Hauser, along with new comer Eileen Mills, are running under the Flower Hill Party. Roy Nelson, a local physician, is running under the Civic Party.
Nelson has worked as a physician specializing in open heart surgery in Manhasset for 33 years and holds a degree in public administration from New York University’s Graduate School of Public Service. He has also served on the Port Washington School Board.
Nelson said his responsibilities serving the Port Washington school board are similar to those of a village trustee, particularly in understanding budget terminology, according to a story in Newsday.
McNamara was appointed in 2012 to fill the position held by Avery Ryan, who stepped down after 15 years on the board upon selling her home.
Mills has been active at board of trustee meetings and Flower Hill Civic Association, according to Flower Hill Administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer. Shatzkamer said Mills has taught English at Paul D. Schreiber High School since 2000 and is running in her first election.
There are no contested elections for Plandome Heights this year, but two of the three trustees running are up for re-election, as is Village Justice Cye Ross. Incumbent Trustees Lawrence Bourguet and Norman Taylor are each running for re-election, and will be joined by Daniel Cataldo, chairman of the Village Citizen’s Advisory on Finance, who is running unopposed for Don Parker’s seat.
Parker will not run for re-election after serving two terms as trustee. He is the founding technology board chairman.
The Village of Plandome’s mayor, a trustee and the village justice are each up for re-election this year, while a new trustee will be elected. Mayor Lloyd Williams, Trustee Judith Bode and Justice James Kiley are seeking re-election unopposed, while Katie Saville is running unopposed to fill the seat left by the departing Ed Henderson.
Plandome Manor also will not host a contested election this year, though its mayor and two trustees are up for re-election.
Mayor Barbara C. Donno and trustees Matthew Clinton and Irwin Klein are running unopposed on the Action Party ticket.
In Munsey Park, the incumbent mayor of 17 years, Harry Nicolaides, is being challenged by Frank DeMento of the People for a Better Munsey Park ticket, which also includes trustee candidates Sean Haggerty and Patrick Hance. Hance and Haggerty are running against trustee incumbents Al Jaronczyk and Sheila Brennan. Together, Nicolaides, Jaronczyk and Brennan make up the Village Party.
“There seems to be a real culture in the village of getting any work done being a hard process for any kind of permit,” DeMento said of the incumbent board. “They don’t work with you, they work against you.”
Nicolaides said that his party’s challengers lack village government experience and are not running for office in the best interests of the village as a whole.
“They haven’t come to our meetings or participated in our village in any way,” Nicolaides said. “They may be speaking for a group they socialize with, but not the entire community. Like many of their representations, it is simply not accurate.”
Polls will be open at each Village Hall location from 12-9 p.m.
Voting for the Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor and Village of Plandome elections will take place at the Village of Plandome, located at 65 South Drive.
The Flower Hill election will take place at Flower Hill’s Village Hall, at 1 Bonnie Heights Road from 12-9 p.m.
Voting will take place at Munsey Park Village Hall, 1777 Northern Blvd.
