By Andrew Coen
The Peninsula Public Library budget was also defeated, 2,383 to 2,247.
Residents carried Pamela Greenbaum to victory for the open seat on the school board and returned Kathy Raquet Barry to a second three-year term on the board, but just by a slim 98-vote margin over her challenger, Lisa Lesser. Barry received 2,700 votes to Lesser's 2,602.
In a three-way race for the vacant school board seat, Greenbaum, backed by Alliance for Lawrence Public Schools, collected 3,111 votes to Dr. Sol Blisko's 2,528 and Asher Mata-thias' 236. Greenbaum won the right to finish the remaining year on the seat held by Frank Argento, who resigned before completing his three-year term. Blisko, a dentist and private-school parent, is a former board member who was elected to a one-year term in 2001 and decided not to run for re-election last year. Matathias, a political science professor at St. John's University, unsuccessfully ran for a school board post
in the past.
I'm happy I won, said Greenbaum. I just wanted to do the right thing for the children educationally and the right thing for the community financially.
School Board president Frank Parise, who ran unopposed for his seat, received 3,106 votes.
The Lawrence school budget called for no program cuts and a 4.9 percent tax increase, the fifth lowest in Nassau County. Despite that, the budget failed by a considerable margin.
I'm a little disappointed that it didn't pass, said Parise. I think it was a reasonable budget -- and we'll just have to do it again.
The budget must now be re-worked and put up for a second vote before July 1, and if it fails a second time, contingency may kick in.
The $20.7 million bond issue would have helped pay for upgrades to roofs, boilers, fire escapes, masonry and plumbing. The bond would have had no impact on the tax rate for 2003-04 since the cost would have been spread over 10 or more years and would have been partially reimbursed with state aid. The library budget requested $2,800,090 in tax appropriations and a net increase of $80,430 over the current budget. Michael Heidenberg, who ran unopposed in his re-election bid to the library board of trustees, received 1,925 votes.
