Candidates for Glen Cove mayoral race face off

Residents ask Tenke and Spinelli about money, water and housing

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Residents from all over Glen Cove gathered at Robert M. Finley Middle School on Oct. 16 to watch Mayor Timothy Tenke debate his challenger, former Mayor Reggie Spinello, at an event hosted by the League of Women Voters. During the hour-long debate, the candidates were asked questions submitted by residents about issues ranging from rising housing costs to how they were managing their campaigns.

Both men offered opening statements about their work in the city. Tenke began with the water issues that Glen Cove was facing when he became mayor in 2018. The city had only two working wells at the time, after a series of incidents shut down two others, and it was forced to buy water from Locust Valley for about $11,000 a month, Tenke said. He touted his success in having five wells up and running this year, with the hope of opening two more in the coming years.

He criticized Spinello’s budgeting when he led the city, which, Tenke said, depended on selling city assets for one-shot revenues and raiding the water fund.

Spinello rebutted Tenke’s claims, and said that selling the waterfront for the Garvies Point development, which Spinello oversaw, would eventually generate revenue when a 40-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement expires. Project developer RXR Realty agreed to pay the city, the school district, the public library and Nassau County more than $600 million over the next four decades.

Spinello added that during his administration, Glen Cove received two credit upgrades from Moody’s Investors Service, and that his budgeting was praised by the state comptroller’s office, which, in a more recent report, listed Glen Cove as “fiscally stressed.” “We were in the best financial shape we’d been in two decades,” Spinello said. “Now the finances are spiraling in a downfall. I can’t allow this to continue.” 

Although the state comptroller’s office had a favorable view of the city’s finances in 2016, it backtracked in 2018, after an audit of the city budget during the Spinello administration slammed the handling of those finances. The audit criticized the selling of city assets and the withdrawal of money from the water fund, calling those actions short-term solutions and not something city officials should rely on to cover recurring expenses.

In addition to the budget, residents were clearly concerned about housing. Many submitted questions about how the candidates would create affordable housing for seniors, some asked how they would tackle illegal housing, and others wanted to know how they would handle the rise of homelessness in Glen Cove.

Tenke acknowledged that there is a shortage of truly affordable senior housing in the city. He explained that because Glen Cove’s median income is so high, a studio apartment that rents for $2,200 a month may be considered “affordable,” though that may not be the case for seniors on fixed incomes. And as the city eyes new developments at Garvies Point, Village Square and Livingston, Tenke said it was important to push for more affordable units than the standard 10 percent the city typically requests of developers of housing projects.

“We need to push for developers to use 20 to 30 percent for affordable housing, and make sure that it really is affordable,” he said. “Garvies Point will have affordable housing, so we can make that specifically for seniors.” 

On the issue of illegal housing, Spinello touted his record of cracking down on illegal rentals, which he said also brought revenue to the city through fines and fees. He used to walk around neighborhoods with the city’s top police officials, he said, and pledged to do that again if he were elected, and to re-establish a community task force focusing on code enforcement. “Illegal housing devalues our homes, devalues our neighborhoods and burdens our emergency services,” Spinello said. “Under this administration, code enforcement basically doesn’t exist.”

Spinello added that Glen Cove wouldn’t be able to tackle the homelessness problem without the help of the county or state. Tenke said that the city should look into creating temporary shelter for homeless people so they won’t loiter by the library or local businesses when they need to use a restroom or escape the cold. Two homeless men died of exposure in Glen Cove in the winter of 1998, and Tenke said the city had a responsibility to make sure that never happens again.

Residents also asked about Tenke’s and Spinello’s sources of campaign funds. Tenke said he doesn’t keep a list of his donors himself, but added that he had returned some checks from people working in the city. But Spinello criticized him for accepting money from RXR Realty, which Spinello said he has never done. Records at New York Open Government, which tracks campaign contributions in the state, show that the Friends of Tenke for Mayor campaign group received $850 from RXR in 2018 — and that Livingston Development Corp., which is in charge of the city’s Livingston project, donated $1,250 to Friends of Reggie Spinello this year.

As the debate ended, the League of Women Voters’ Judy Esterquest thanked both men for taking part, and praised audience members for their questions and their engagement in the election. “Good government,” Esterquest said, “rests on the shoulders of its citizens.”

With New York state now participating in early voting, residents can cast ballots starting Oct. 26. The early polling sites include the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, at 2534 Cedar Swamp Road in Glen Head. Early voting will be available until Nov. 3. Election day is Nov. 5.