By TIFFANY RAZZANO
Sponsored and moderated by the League of Women Voters, the evening was split into two sections, one for mayoral candidates Andrew Karamouzis of Residents' Voice and Mary Bossart of Concerned Citizens, and the other for the four trustee candidates running for two open positions, Residents' Voice Suzanne Sullivan and Ralph Bumbaca and Charles Joyce and David Krasula of Concerned Citizens.
Bossart and Karamouzis both agreed the biggest issue the village will face over the next five years is overdevelopment. Calling overdevelopment an issue she's been working on since 1985, Bossart, a former village trustee, said, "There are many different components [of overdevelopment] to consider... I have attempted to get laws in shape so we can control the process. I initiated a comprehensive rezoning and achieved the Planning Board. We have to work hard, look ahead and work together for Rockville Centre."
Using the issue of overdevelopment as his platform when he won a trustee seat in 2005, Karamouzis said that was the reason he was elected. "Overdevelopment affects every other issue in the village," he said, including taxes and local schools. He said that since he and other Residents' Voice party members have joined the board, they have set density restrictions and attempted to repeal the 2003 multifamily law, a law that allowed multifamily homes in the downtown district. He also pointed out that attempts to repeal the law were not successful because they were blocked by Mayor Eugene Murray and Deputy Mayor Wayne Lipton.
Karamouzis also attacked Bossart's take on the issue. "I'm against the 2003 multifamily law, which my opponent supported," he said. "I'm a little suspect of the stance Concerned Citizens is taking now."
In her closing statement, Bossart responded to this. "[Karamouzis] failed to tell you [the multifamily law] was a trio of laws," she said. "I voted against the commercial law."
Taxes were another hot issue at the debate, as the village recently passed a budget with a 5.91 percent tax increase, the highest it's been in 10 years.
"I am not going to tell you there will not be tax increases," Bossart said, "but I will try my best to make sure the increases are no more than what is necessary to get the job done quickly and efficiently."
Calling high taxes in the village an "inherited" issue, Karamouzis said it takes time to fix. "Balancing services and taxes is what we've done over the last two years," he added.
Bumbaca agreed that the board needed to keep the costs in line while maintaining high quality services. Sullivan said the village needs to find other ways to bring in income.
Krasula, a long-time member of the Citizen Advisory Committee, said the group brought issues with the budget to the village administrator over the years, but they often went unaddressed. "Annual budget preparation should be extended," he said. "We need long range planning."
"We need to project ahead," Joyce said. "We can't be given two weeks to review the budget. It's the first time I can remember that the [property] taxes are higher than the school district's."
Trustee candidates were also asked how they would better enforce the village code. Krasula said residents need to be better educated about the code and the village needs to better maintain its Web site for this reason. "The info is there now, but good luck finding it," he said. He and Joyce agreed that the village's code enforcers needed to be put to better use and concentrate less on issuing parking tickets.
Sullivan said all the right information is out there and that the Web site and the village publication, "This Month in Rockville Centre," help to convey it. "We are educating," she said. "People can talk to each other. If someone puts their garbage out before sunset, tell your neighbors, 'This is the rule.' Don't be afraid. Do it in a nice way and they won't get mad." Bumbaca agreed that the Web site provides good information and suggested a hot-line for residents to call about minor enforcement issues.
Parking, a major issue in the village, was the final topic of the night. All trustees were unanimously against building a parking garage in the village. "It would just bring in more cars and it's expensive," Sullivan said. She said a pilot parking program implemented in October opened up approximately 100 spots.
She said the village needed to hire an expert to evaluate all parking lots, which all candidates agreed upon. "We need to look at where the meters are placed and the time constraints on them and relax them a little," Bumbaca said. "We need to look to the experts to redesign [the lots]."
Joyce, however, pointed out that a local business owner had hired a parking specialist on his own. "I was taken aback that none of the trustees knew about it," he said. "If there's proper parking, we'll get more stores."
Krasula suggested a "count-up meter," which would time how long a car has been parked at an expired meter, as well as issuing different kinds of parking permits. "It all starts by bringing someone in who does this for a living," he said.
Comments about this story? TRazzano@liherald.com or (516)) 569-4000 ext. 221.
Photos Rich Matarazzo/Herald
