Vote for Meagher, Klose, Levitt in East Rockaway

It’s been a long, nasty campaign for East Rockaway mayor and trustees, which seemed to start even before the late mayor, Ed Seiban, died suddenly last July.
The Pride Party chose from the outset to run a campaign of distortion and intimidation. It raised shocking amounts of money for a small village election, from contributors mostly outside East Rockaway. Its tone and tactics seemed more appropriate for a national campaign than an election among neighbors in a hamlet of 10,000.
Campaigning is one thing; governing another. We have tried to judge each of the candidates on his merits and record, not the overheated rhetoric of a campaign. But the conduct of the campaign is part of that record.
East Rockaway residents deserve no less than a five-person governing board that will be there for them, listen to their issues, and make decisions accordingly — all with a combination of knowledge and integrity. In other words, we need a board with no other agenda but to do what is best for the residents of East Rockaway. Period.
It is for these reasons that we think the best candidates are the Freedom Party’s Richard Meagher, for mayor, and Bobby Klose and Harry Levitt for trustee. Their combined expertise would bring wisdom, integrity and well-thought-out decision-making to what has been a split and often argumentative and incomplete board.
         Meagher, who served as village trustee from 1991 to 1995 and again from 1999 to the present, has served as deputy mayor under the leadership of both Joseph Carrigan and Sieban. Although he did not officially appoint himself mayor upon Sieban’s death, Meagher has taken the helm during the last eight months, working at Village Hall every weekday morning to make sure things are going smoothly.