The deadline to file petitions to run in the Village of Old Westbury elections on June 14 closed on Tuesday with all incumbents seeking re-election seeing no challengers.
Trustees Marina Chimerine and Edward Novick and Mayor Fred Carillo, whose terms are set to come to an end, have filed to run for re-election in a race that will all of them unopposed.
Chimerine, ran and won a 1-year term last year as a member of the New Voice of Old Westbury as a write-in candidate, defeating Christopher Sauvigne who was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2014.
Chimerine said she is re-running for the board of trustees because she felt more comfortable with the job.
“I was approached two weeks prior to the elections and Fastenberg had already done the most of the work,” Chimerine said. “Based on the work she had already done, I thought she should run for the four-year position. Plus I had young children and this was new for me.”
Fastenberg, Chimerine and Cory Baker successfully unseated incumbent trustees Andrew Weinberg, Sauvigne and Harvey Simpson in an under-the-radar write-in campaign that relied on social media.
While Chimerine and Baker both won their elections, Fastenberg fell four votes behind her opponent after votes were counted. She challenged the vote count, which was later decided in her favor.
“If there’s a write-in candidate, that’s better for the village,” Chimerine said. “My only reason for serving on the board is so the village can run as effectively as possible.”
She said she renegotiated the village’s lease with the Post Office for a 12 percent increase over the next 10 years.
“I also deal with different attorneys and public works. I’m very involved with the road project around the village and the PSEG with all the tree removals,” Chimerine said. “I’ve also been dealing with the Glen Oaks Club with the FedEx Cup they’re going to hosting at the golf course.”
Chimerine immigrated from Ukraine when she was eight years old. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a law degree from the New York Law School.
Chimerine, 48, moved to Old Westbury from Manhattan in 1998, two years after she stopped practicing commercial law.
She and her husband Spencer live in the village with their three children, all of whom currently attend the Wheatley School.
Carillo, who have served 18 years on the board of trustees – 10 as deputy mayor and eight as mayor — said he could have done a better job handling the last village elections.
“There were little things that came up that last run off elections that we could have been better addressed,” Carillo said.
Carillo, 73, whose mayoral seat will be on the ballot next month, said he is by far the most experienced among all the trustees.
“I have been doing this for a long time. I have tremendous knowledge,” Carillo said. “I’ve served as chairman of the Planning Board and on the Zoning Board.”
Carillo said he has worked to cut waste and make the village more effective in its operations.
“We changed engineers and saved $400,000, installed Edward Novick as budget officer and have done $2 million of road repairs that’s within the budget,” Carillo said. “When the new trustees came in last year, they realized the institutional knowledge that I had. They fully supported me.”
In March, Carillo recently followed the lead of East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz by sending letters to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth and state Sen. Jack Martins, requesting litigation suit against the Federal Aviation Authority on behalf of North Shore villages affected by aircraft noise from John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
“We’ve done a lot of good stuff,” Carillo said. “Between the synagogues and golf clubs that I belong to along with residents, the interaction allows me to address certain issues before they become big issues.”
Carillo said he has worked in commercial real estate for more than 50 years and controls Carco Builders Corporation with his son.
Carillo and his wife, Marie, grew up in Old Westbury both graduating from the Wheatley School, as did both of their children. He earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Husson College in Bangor, Maine before serving as a Marine Corps.
Carillo announced Novick as replacement for Trustee Michael Wolf last December after Wolf stepped down from the board of trustees to “spend more time with his family.”
Wolf’s resignation leaves Carillo as the lone member of the Old Westbury Party, which until last year had held a majority since its 1924 incorporation.
Carillo and the Board of Trustees appointed Novick, a businessman and jewelry manufacturer in Albertson to take over Wolf’s seat.
“Prior to being appointed to the board of trustees, I was working with the Zoning Board and with a committee that was reviewing the village building codes for five months,” Novick said.
Novick was also assigned the Budget Officer role after his appointment.
“I have 30 years in business. I’ve worked in manufacturing and finance for years and that experience comes in handy at the granular level when trucks, or police comes into play,” Novick said. “They needed someone to balance the board
Novick said he is re-running to see to the end the projects that he was instrumental in starting in the village.
“We’re in the middle of a variety of very important projects and I want to make sure I see the projects through,” Novick said.
Old Westbury is expected to begin a $1.7 million capital project in July which Novick said the village was able to fund without issuing any bonds. The village is also expected to dig another well that would cost $400,000.
“When you have my background and you put it into work in government, the village can run effectively,” Novick said. “We didn’t even need to go over the state mandated tax limit. The objective is to become as cohesive as much as possible. We want to maintain efficiency while providing the same resources and improving infrastructure.”
Novick is the president of Dorset Industries, a jewelry manufacturer in Albertson. He holds a bachelors degree in applied economics and business management from Cornell University. Novick and his wife have resided in Old Westbury since 1989.
Residents will cast their votes June 14 at the Old Westbury Village Hall.
