Great Neck Plaza Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen, a trustee since 1985 running in an uncontested election, said he hopes to maintain the village’s “record of accomplishment” as a “very nice place” to live, work and shop.
“I think the opportunity to serve the public is a very special opportunity,” Rosen, an attorney, said in an interview. “And if you feel you’re doing a good job and you could serve the public, I think you should run.”
As a trustee, Rosen deliberates issues that come before the board ranging from apartment building proposals to sign laws. He also supervises code-related offices like the Building Department and Department of Public Works and serves on traffic and safety committees, he said.
“It’s really using what I’d like to say is good judgment and common sense in making decisions that are right for the village and for the community,” Rosen said.
Rosen said one of the biggest challenges Great Neck Plaza faces is maintaining village services like snow removal, garbage removal and repairing local infrastructure in a fiscally responsible way.
“We believe in our village that we’ve been able to do that fairly well, holding the line on any kind of significant tax increases, yet maintaining the services,” Rosen said.
“Another challenge is maintaining an active and vibrant downtown,” he said, “and that’s not easy in this day and age.”
Rosen said the village has adopted zoning favorable to transit-oriented development, which allows for mixed-use buildings to house businesses and residences, so people will have incentives to live in the area and rely less on cars.
He also pointed to attempts to “streamline” the permit approval process, cooperation with the Business Improvement District to promote businesses and events, and the village’s transportation enhancement project for Shoreward and Welwyn Roads.
When asked whether there is a parking problem in Great Neck Plaza, Rosen said there are usually spaces available.
“I think there’s at times a perception that parking is a challenge, but I think in reality, there is parking and I think that’s something over the years we’ve tried to address,” Rosen said.
Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender gets paid $65,000 in her role as a full-time mayor, the deputy mayor gets paid $12,500 a year and other trustees make $10,000 per year. Of the six villages with elections on March 20, only Great Neck Plaza offers a salary to its trustees.
When asked why officials get paid, Rosen said it has been this way for as long as he can remember and that people should be compensated fairly for their time.
Rosen also said issues coming before the Board of Trustees have become more complicated and complex, with meetings sometimes going on well into the evening and paperwork going beyond them, meaning it is harder to expect someone to volunteer their time without compensation.
“If you don’t pay people a fair amount for their time, you’re basically saying to people that only people who can afford to donate their time need apply,” Rosen said. “I think to be democratic, we should encourage everyone to be involved.”
Great Neck Plaza Trustee Pam Marksheid and Mayor Jean Celender are also in uncontested races.
The terms of Trustees Lawrence Katz and Gerry Schneiderman expire next year.
