Great Neck voters will take to the polls on Tuesday to decide a pair of tightly contest races for seats on the board of commissioners for the Great Neck Park and the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water districts.
With current Great Neck Park District commissioner Ivar Segalowitz vacating his seat in January, Dan Nachmanoff, Ray Plakstis Jr., Neil Leiberman and Martin Markson are all vying to join the park’s leadership.
Current Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District Commissioner Andrew DeMartin is also running for re-election against challengers John Nash, Joseph Renta, and Daniel Ross.
The area’s final election is uncontested, as current Great Neck Water Pollution Control District Commissioner Jerry Landsberg is running to continue his four-year tenure with the district.
A former mayor of Russell Gardens, Nachmanoff is a veteran of local politics, also having held previous posts on the Russell Gardens board of trustees and as president of the Great Neck Village Officials Association. He is one of only two people ever to be named a “Friend of the Parks” by the Great Neck Parks District Board of Trustees and has received an endorsement from Segalowitz.
Plakstis is a local businessman who currently is a third-generation owner of Doray Enterprises, a company his grandfather established 75 years ago. The 27-year veteran of the Alert Fire Department, who is the current chief of the department, is looking to rein in spending by the district’s board of commissioners.
For Leiberman, the appeal of becoming a parks district commissioner began 12 years ago when he first ran unsuccessfully to join the board. The retired longtime educator and salesperson is looking to increase revenue in the district by attempting to sway every Great Neck village to join the district and by also adding advertising at park venues.
Leiberman is the husband of Great Neck News columnist Karen Rubin.
Over the past five years, Markson has chaired the Great Neck Park District open spaces committee and he said he has been spending much of the past few months speaking with residents to better address their needs within the parks. The retired electronics engineer is looking to use his business experience to keep the district’s budget balanced and expenses down.
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.
Residents will be eligible to vote from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday at one of four locations based upon where they live. Those locations are the Great Neck House, E.M. Baker School, the Great Neck Senior Citizens Center and the Manhasset-Lakeville Water and Fire District Company No. 4 firehouse at Jayson Avenue.
Candidates are running for a three-year term, which begins on Jan. 1. Great Neck Park District commissioners receive $80 per day when working on district matters and cannot exceed $20,000 per year for their services with the board.
After serving on the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District Board of Commissioners since 2008, DeMartin has been campaigning over the past few months to retain his seat.
The 28-year veteran firefighter has held several positions within the Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company including stints as fire chief, and chairman of the department’s board of trustees. DeMartin is also the Town of North Hempstead Commissioner of Public Safety.
Nash, who is a Navy veteran and has been a partner at a Garden City law firm since 1980, is looking to use his business experience to his advantage if elected to the board. He has been a volunteer with the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department Company No. 2 since 2004.
A resident of the district for the past 20 years, Renta is looking to capitalize upon his lengthy history as a community leader if elected to the board of commissioners.
Renta has been an employee of the Garden City Park Water and Fire District for more than two decades and is currently president of the Merillon Athletic Association, a past grand knight with the New Hyde Park Knights of Columbus and is a member of the Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church pastoral staff.
Ross is a graduate of Manhasset High School and Hofstra’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business, who has worked in the international financial sector, where he co-founded DarkHorse Investors, a registered non-rofit company intended to assist entrepreneurs.
He has been volunteering with the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department for nearly 10 years and is currently the department’s first lieutenant.
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, Flower Hill and parts of New Hyde Park.
Voters will be eligible to visit the polls from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday at one of four locations based upon where their they reside. Those locations are the Company No. 1 firehouse on Bayview Avenue, the Company No. 3 firehouse on Prospect Street, the Company No. 4 firehouse on Jayson Avenue and the Company No. 5 firehouse on 78th Avenue in New Hyde Park.
Candidates are vying for 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.
