By Mary Malloy
"The reason for this meeting tonight," said Penso at the June 19 gathering, "is to let the village know that the Reform Party is alive and well. We're an open-door party, and that hasn't changed."
Penso's trustee seat on the board, as well as Trustee Richard Clifford's, will be up for grabs at the next election. Mayor Brian Curran, Deputy Mayor Bill Hendrick, and Trustee Alan Beach - all New Vision Party members - were elected to their four-year terms during the 2007 election.
When asked if he planned to run again, Clifford, who ran under the Independent party at the last election, said that it would is something he is thinking about. "People have requested that I run, and at the present time, I am considering all my options," he said.
In the Lynbrook village elections, candidates run "at large," not for a specific seat.
The candidate with the highest amount of votes gets the trustee position.
"We have not had a meeting since June 2007," said former Independent Party President Tom Atkinson. "I had my two one-year terms. After that, we had a search committee to find an executive board. There is no plan now to meet or elect new officials. We have no immediate plans."
Chris Monzert, president of the Reform Party and former candidate for a village board seat in the last election, said that he and other reform party members were coming together as neighbors, not politicians. "We met with a common goal," he said. "To see a better Lynbrook. We formed this party with the idea of electing responsible and accountable officials." He said that Penso has fought for what is "fair and right" from the beginning, and he is still fighting. "The issues back then were taxes, hotel parking garages, and the preservation of our small-town feel. Today, some of the faces have changed, but the issues haven't," he said.
"We hope to broaden our scope and bring in more people and businesses from the village," Penso said. "The Lynbrook Reform Party will represent the needs and the concerns of the entire community, not a part of it." He said that there needs to be a master plan in place for the entire community, not just the downtown area. "There is none in place, and we want to broaden the tax base." He added that the New Vision Party's promise of lower taxes "went out the window very quickly."
"As your elected official for the last three years, I have been committed to being fiscally responsible, finding out where the money is going and making suggestions as to where it could be used better," Penso said.
Besides economic development, Penso stated that another key issue of his party is open government. "I am committed," he said, "as the Reform party is, to open and transparent government. The mayor's party seems to forget that the government is for the people, and despite repeated requests that the back-room meetings become front room meetings, that just the opposite has happened in the last 14 months." More and more substantive issues that are affecting the residents' pocketbooks in big ways in terms of dollars and taxes, he said, are being discussed in the back-room.
Former Mayor Bill Geier said that he was not a member of any particular party in the last mayoral race. "This community is at a crossroods," he said, "and if the right decisions are not made for the economical revitalization of the downtown and surrounding residential areas, very quickly we are going to be in trouble. I see the approach that is being taken by the administration, and they are doing it in a slipshod, piecemeal fashion. There are solutions out there, models to be followed. There is a problem with the leadership or the current mayor and his fellow trustees in executing certain policies and decisions which are very clear. For those reasons, I give my wholehearted support to [the Reform] party."
"I attended the last three work sessions in the back room," said resident Laura Enright, "and it was an eye-opener. Helping the residents seems to be last on their agenda."
"We are committed to insuring that Lynbrook remains a village and a government that makes decisions with regard to people's wishes, not regardless of them," said Monzert.
Party representatives said the the officials will meet in the near future to nominate two members who will run for the open trustee seats.
Comments about this story? MMalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
