We attended a Meet the Candidates forum held by the Village for All party at Great Neck House May 28.
James Wu, who is a candidate for Village of Great Neck mayor, along with Julia Shields and Harold Citron, who are candidates for Village of Great Neck trustee positions, spoke about themselves and answered many questions from the audience. We were impressed with their knowledge of village issues and their depth of experience, but also impressed with their openness and enthusiasm for creating a village government that will be transparent and include all residents in decision-making. The future they want to create will include all of us.
We attended several Village of Great Neck revitalization hearings earlier this spring under the administration of Mayor Bral and the current trustees. The revitalization proposals put forth by the mayor were not realistic and based on an obviously faulty, secretive and expensive consultant’s report that was opposed by a large majority of residents at the hearings. Before presenting this plan to the residents the mayor never had any open hearings on the proposals to find out what the residents wanted.
This slate of candidates represents all of Great Neck. It is very diverse and has support from many ethnic and religious groups that make our village great. These candidates are in favor of a strong school district, keeping the suburban character of our village and giving a voice to all groups.
We urge you to vote for James Wu, Julia Shields and Harold Citron in the upcoming Village of Great Neck elections on June 18 at the Baker Hill School.
Chris and Fred Knauer
Great Neck
