Village candidates answer questions

Four men are running for the two open seats on the Rockville Centre Board of Trustees: incumbents Edward Oppenheimer and Kevin Glynn are running to keep their seats, and challengers Emilio Grillo and Marc Wieman are looking to unseat them.

The Herald sent all of the candidates questions to give voters a chance to know their opinion about issues facing the village and its residents.

Rockville Centre residents will have the opportunity to vote for the two candidates that they believe are best-suited for the job on June 18. Voting will take place at the Recreation Center on June 18. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

•

Herald: Parking is always a concern in the village. If elected, what will you do to improve parking in Rockville Centre?

Edward Oppenheimer: If we wish to maintain and improve the vibrancy and viability of our downtown, we must increase the availability of parking. There are a large number of lots that are in poor condition and need repair. I propose to update the lots by removing the concrete medians and restriping them to create more spots. Plans drawn in 2007 for a private building owner suggested that the lot between PC Richards and the back of police headquarters could be increased from the current 500 spots to 600 spots. This is an innovative and low-cost solution that could potentially increase all downtown parking by 300 to 600 spots.

Kevin Glynn: Also important is what we have done and are currently doing about parking. Two years ago I was proud to join with Mayor Murray in ending night time metered parking to allow our residents more time to enjoy our downtown. This act breathed new life into our downtown and has resulted in many new businesses coming into our village and existing properties being improved upon. Currently we are making our parking fields more user friendly by placing parking consoles that accept coins, bills and cards for payment. A symptom of the success of these policies is the need for more parking. I support a multi-pronged solution that includes better communication with residents and businesses regarding convenient parking fields that remain underutilized; redesign of existing parking fields as they are repaved to create more parking spaces; and exploration of partnerships with other entities, both public and private, to create more parking.

Emilio Grillo: Parking has remained an issue for years in our community, and I had previously served on the Mayor’s Parking Committee. While ample parking remains in Parking Fields 6 and 12, given their distance from downtown, the majority of residents seek parking in close proximity to our downtown and railroad station. As a result, alternative parking arrangements should be tested. Specifically borrowing from the mayor’s plan to eliminate parking fees in the village after 6 p.m., I would propose a pilot plan to eliminate parking fees on the weekends to spur additional business growth and a re-vitalization of our business district by our residents. While re-designing and re-configuring existing parking lots has been discussed for years, a concrete plan needs to be fully explored and a cost/benefit analysis be undertaken to determine the implementation of such a plan against the utilization of the more remote parking lots, and alternative transportation options.

Marc Wieman: Parking is a concern and always has been. While there seems to be a lot of talk about it, nothing is being done. In fact, the problem is only being exacerbated by the opening of new businesses (such as Bonefish Grill) without an accompanying increase in available parking. The solution to the problem is a parking garage. It is apparent that no solution is going to make everyone happy, as there are competing interests — commuters, businesses, visitors. But a solution is in everyone’s best interests and a parking garage is the answer.