Port Washington North village officials run unopposed

Jessica Parks
Port Washington Mayor Bob Weitzner. (Photo courtesy of the candidate)
Port Washington Mayor Bob Weitzner. (Photo courtesy of the candidate)

Port Washington North Mayor Bob Weitzner and Trustees Matthew Kepke and Sherman Scheff are each seeking re-election for two-year terms on March 19.

They are all running unopposed as members of the Port North Party.

Weitzner was first elected as mayor of the village in 2005. Prior to that, he served as a trustee beginning in 2002.

He has been a major player in the creation of Port Washington North’s Bay Walk Park, a $2.8 million project to beautify the waterfront area on Manhasset Bay that was unveiled in July 2017.

In his professional life, Weitzner is the Town of North Hempstead’s commissioner of finance and human resources.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Weitzner served as the president of the Ronald McDonald House from 2007 to 2008.

He has said in past interviews that he “loves being Mayor Bob” and as long as the village’s residents enjoy having him serve, he wants to be here.

He was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

Kepke is seeking re-election for his third full term. He was appointed by Weitzner in 2014 after former Trustee Michael Schenkler resigned.

He said in an email to Blank Slate Media that some of his greatest accomplishments while serving on the village government have been the expansion of Bay Walk Park, bringing new businesses to the village and working on the restoration of Robert H. Dayton Park with residents, the local Boy Scouts Troop and the Port Washington Fire Department.

He said he was also proud to be a part of one of the first local governments to implement a law limiting the sale of tobacco products to people 21 years old and over.

Kepke said there is still more work to do in the village, citing the village government being stretched every year in order to maintain existing infrastructure with limited resources and increasing costs.

He said he hopes that board members are able to finalize the sale of village-owned land that would provide funds to allow the administration to complete infrastructure improvement projects.

He said he is excited to be running alongside Weitzner and Scheff for re-election.

“Over the past several years, the Board has acted cohesively and we are able to gain consensus on new matters where we often are able to act unanimously,” Kepke said.

Kepke works as a lawyer, which he has attributed in the past to him bringing a unique point of view to the board.

Scheff, who is running for his sixth two-year term, first joined the board in 2008. He has said in past interviews that he joined the board to represent residents of Mill Pond Acres Condos, where he lives.

He retired from the manufacturing industry six years ago.

Port Washington North elections will take place March 19 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the village hall located at 3 Pleasant Ave.

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