Local voters went with experience in Tuesday’s special district elections, as incumbent Andrew DeMartin was selected for another term as commissioner of the Manhasset-Lakeville Water and Fire District, while veteran politician Dan Nachmanoff was elected to the Great Neck Parks District Board of Commissioners.
Nachmanoff, a former Village of Russell Gardens mayor, garnered 404 votes to win the parks district seat vacated by retiring commissioner Ivar Segalowitz. Raymond Plakstis Jr. came in second with 368 votes, as Neil Leiberman received 347 and Martin Markson garnered 342.
DeMartin received 334 votes to remain on the Manhasset-Lakeville Board of Commissioners, a post he had held since 2008. His closest challenger was John Nash who received 301 votes, while Daniel Ross and Joe Renta received 168 and 103 votes, respectively.
In an uncontested election for the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District Board of Commissioners, incumbent Jerry Landsberg received 290 votes. There were four write-in votes cast in that election.
Nachmanoff will join Ruth Tamarin and Robert A. Lincoln on the parks district board of commissioners.
“I feel pretty good about it,” Nachmanoff said. “It was a hard-fought election. There were four candidates running for one spot. I was fortunate enough to get more votes than the others and so I’m happy about that.”
Aside from serving as mayor of Russell Gardens until 2002, Nachmanoff has served on the Russell Gardens Board of Trustees and was president of the Great Neck Village Officials Association. He also served as the Nassau County director of inter-governmental affairs.
“I think that it showed that the community is engaged,” Nachmanoff said of the election. “They seemed to like the message that I gave them. That’s about it. The message was that I’m experienced and I’m not a radical.”
With a parks district, which includes 20 park venues, 49 full-time employees and a $15 million budget, Nachmanoff said during his campaign that his viewpoints as a resident of one of the park district’s southern districts would be valuable.
He also received a key endorsement from Segalowitz during the campaign.
“I want to reiterate the same things that I said before, which was to preserve and protect the parks, reduce expenses and hopefully hold the line on taxes,” Nachmanoff said of his plans for office. “(That) is what I think everybody felt that they wanted.”
The park district is comprised of all Great Neck Villages and unincorporated areas with the exception of Great Neck Estates, Harbor Hills, Lake Success, Saddle Rock and University Gardens.
Nachmanoff will serve a three-year term, beginning on Jan. 1. Parks District Commissioners receive $80 per day when working on district business and cannot exceed $20,000 per year for their services with the board.
“I think it’s important to try to get a hold of the job that you’ve been elected to,” Nachmanoff said. “The people deserve my operation and my activity in that job. So, that’s what I intend to do.”
While DeMartin was pleased to return to his seat on the Manhasset-Lakeville board of commissioners, Tuesday’s election was closer than the longtime local firefighter expected.
“Anytime you have four candidates in one race, which is good for the community, it can turn out to be unpredictable,” DeMartin said. “Did I expect it to be that close? No, I expected to have a greater lead.”
In the end, however, DeMartin said that voters chose him for one main reason.
“I’ve been there three years,” he said. “We’ve got a very good track record. It’s a very good product that we serve in water. It’s a very good product that we put out in fire. The costs are still way below the surrounding districts in water and fire.”
“I think that they feel that (I am) an experienced hand at least in governmental issues with the district,” he said.
DeMartin, who is the Town of North Hempstead Commissioner of Public Safety, has served with the Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company for the past 28 years. He has served as chief of the company and as Vigilant’s chairman of the board of trustees.
Those fire fighting duties also extended to his service as chairman of the 8th Battalion and he was chairman of the Emergency Operations Center of the Nassau County 8th Battalion.
During his campaign, DeMartin said that as chairman and the senior-most member of the Manhasset-Lakeville Water and Fire District Board of Commissioners, it was important for him to remain on the board for the sake of continuity.
He said he is now ready to continue his work along with fellow commissioners Brian Morris and Donald O’Brien.
“We have a pretty good plan on capital spending and the infrastructure for the water district,” he DeMartin said. “It’s a 100-year-old water district and we really need to focus on the distribution system.”
As for the fire district, DeMartin’s goals are not less clear.
“We need to make them financially sound,” he said. “Make sure the budget money coming in can cover the expenses for running the fire department to the degree it needs to be run. All those large-scale projects are right on course, both truck replacement and the dispatch center.”
DeMartin said he will also focus on adding more funds into the district’s capital budget so “we’re not debting the district to oblivion.”
“Now, as we can see it was a very hefty 13-percent budget increase,” he said. “We don’t predict to have those in the future.”
The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District is comprised of the villages of Russell Gardens, Thomaston, Lake Success and the southern portion of Great Neck Plaza. It also serves the villages of North Hills, Munsey Park, Plandome Manor, Plandome Heights and Flower Hill.
DeMartin will serve a three-year term, which begins on Jan. 1. Commissioners are allowed to collect a $100 per diem rate when on district business and are also eligible to receive New York health benefits and participate in the state’s pension system for their service with the board.
