Open discussions between residents and the mayor are not something that typically happened at meetings, according to a Suffolk Boulevard resident who declined to give his name. “It’s refreshing to have this dialogue between the residents and the mayor,” he said. “It’s something we didn’t always see in the past.”

Village business
The excitement gave way to the business of running the village. Replacing about 150 trees that have died in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy will be the first major project of Pappas’s new administration. Village Building Superintendent Steve Cherson said that an arborist identified the dead trees, and that they would be taken down next month, and most likely replaced this fall. “FEMA reimbursement should pay for the trees,” Cherson said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The cost is as yet unknown.
Residents said they were concerned about stumps being left and roots damaging sidewalks. Cherson said the stumps would be grinded down. Baessler said she had seen similar work in Long Beach, and the sidewalks had been kept intact.
In addition to the trees, Pappas has said that repairing village roads, figuring out what to do with the tennis center that was damaged in Sandy, improving relations with the 4th Precinct police and maintaining Atlantic Beach’s strong fiscal health — an achievement of Mahler’s administration — would be his primary goals. “This was a great start — the community is enthusiastic, and there is a brand new energy,” Pappas said. “We will look to keep it going.”