By:KEITH GRANT
The race is on!
With two incumbents not seeking reelection, the Long Beach Democratic Club faces the task of getting two new faces elected to their council in order to maintain its full control of the city's governing body. Edmund Buscemi and Barbara Mosca chose not to run for another term, leaving incumbent Denis Kelly to stand on a ticket with political newcomers Dan Kearney and Lenny Remo.
While Democrats continue to hold a clear majority among city voters, the strength of the Democratic Club has come into question this year. Last winter, Recreation Superintendent Bob Carroll launched a brief campaign to oust Gene Cammarato from his post as party leader, and just weeks ago the party's preferred candidate for Nassau County Executive, Tom DiNapoli, was defeated by Glen Cove Mayor Tom Suozzi. Suozzi narrowly edged his opponent in Long Beach despite local party leaders' strong backing of DiNapoli.
Observers believe the viability of the party's current leadership will clearly be seen in the results of the Nov. 6 council race.
Dan Kearney
Daniel F. Kearney, 54, is a first-time candidate for Long Beach City Council. He currently sits on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
A ten-year resident of the West End with his wife Yvonne, Kearney first began spending summers in Long Beach some 30 years ago. The son of an Irish father and an Italian mother, he grew up in Manhattan and Queens, served for two years in the U.S. Army, and then studied business administration at Queensboro Community College.
In 1972, Kearney followed in his father's footsteps and became a member of the Laborers Local 104 Union, and gradually worked his way through the ranks to shop steward and foreman. At the same time, he and his brother also owned and operated four delis in New York City.
In 1996, the Federal Government began an investigation of labor unions in an effort to remove the unions from organized crime control. Government officials hired Kearney to serve as secretary/treasurer to the Local Unions, and serve the Laborers International Union and assist with the cleanup. Kearney now serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the 15,000 Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York and the 9,000 member Construction and General Building Laborers Local 79, and the Local 66 on Long Island.
His plans for Long Beach include continuing his commitment to citywide recreation programs--he serves as a Recreation Commissioner--and helping to build on the progress he believes the current city council has embarked on in regards to projects like the Superblock development and the bay front "rediscovery" plans.
Denis Kelly
Denis G. Kelly, 37, is seeking his second term on the Long Beach City Council, having been sworn in on Jan. 1 2000.
A resident since 1993, Kelly and his wife are raising four children in Long Beach. Raised in Westbury, he attended Regis High School in N.Y.C., where he met his future wife, and received a B.A. at New York University and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1992.
He received worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Law Department of N.Y.C. in the Manhattan Trial Unit, and then began a private practice.
As a councilman, Kelly is most proud of having worked with his colleagues to keep tax increases at a minimum while maintaining services, and increasing Recreation and Senior programs. He is proud of numerous projects that went from ideas to reality, such as the replacement of the canal street bridges, street repaving and the installation of new remote water meters.
Kelly is a member of several local organizations, such as Knights of Columbus, A.O.H. and St. Ignatius R.C. Church. A former Republican, Kelly says he is seeking re-election because he believes the city is moving in the right direction and wishes to continue the work he and his colleagues have begun. By developing the city with expert planning and existing zoning laws, he believes the city will increase its tax base, stabilize taxes, and create a bright future for Long Beach.
Lenny Remo
Leonard G. Remo, 43, is a third generation Long Beach resident. He grew up in a Reynolds' era home built by his grandmother. His parents were longtime educators in the Long Beach City School District, and Remo, himself, was a bicentennial graduate of LBHS. He and his wife Julie currently live in the East End of town.
A current member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Remo is best known locally as a successful restaurateur. A 1980 graduate of Cornell University, Remo pursued a career in culinary arts, earning his training at the New York Restaurant School. In 1991, he opened The Kitchen On Pine Street, which moved four years later to a larger facility on Long Beach Boulevard as The Kitchen Off Pine Street. Today, he operates TKOPS 180 at Magnolia Boulevard and Park Avenue.
Remo's businesses are the main sponsors of the annual Du Jour Festival, a fundraiser and HIV/AIDS education and awareness day. The festival has resulted in the Du Jour Mini Grant Program for the Long Beach Schools, and has granted over $16,000 for programming that otherwise had not other source of funding.
Remo sees himself in a unique position to sit on the city council. He is not only a lifelong resident, but shares the concerns of local business owners. He is in the city virtually 24/7, and often hears the concerns of other citizens that come out to his restaurant, one he says is like "a contemporary version of a general store or barber shop."
"I know what goes on in the city," Remo said. "I'm in the city seven days a week. If the garbage isn't getting picked up, I know it because they're not picking up my garbage."
"The economic and emotional health of the community," he said, "affects me as a resident and as a business owner."
GOP promotes bi-partisan team
By KEITH GRANT
In the a city dominated by the local Democratic party, new Republican leader Jim Moriarty hopes a bi-partisan coalition will help the GOP shake things up in City Hall.
"This election is not about political affiliations, it's about who can restore accountability, independence and leadership to the City Council," Moriarty said.
The two Republicans and one Democrat on the ticket charge that Democratic party leader Gene Cammarato is the real power behind council members. They argue that his dual role as leader of Long Beach's dominant political party and the city's Director of Operations give him more power than they believe any one individual should have in the city.
Mona Goodman
Mona Goodman, 41, is a regular attendee of Long Beach City Council meetings and is one of the residents who successfully sued the city over the director of operations position that has been held by Cammarato. As a result of that lawsuit, the city amended its charter to legalize the position.
Goodman works for a specialty food manufacturer in her native boro of Brooklyn. She was raised across the bridge in Island Park, and has lived in Long Beach for 15 years. She owns a B.A. in English Literature from Brandeis University.
Goodman says she is running for the City Council because she is "very brave." While she has not enjoyed the public nature of a run for office, she believes strongly that changes are needed within City Hall. She was motivated to run by what she called the "arrogance and condescending nature of the only five elected officials in Long Beach." Goodman believes that most residents are not happy with the local government, but avoid going to council meetings because of the way she feels people are treated at such meetings.
"I'm very resentful of this 'mommy and daddy know best' attitude they have," Goodman said.
She looks forward to serving the city by helping to hire a new City Manager, as well as a City Planner.
Goodman is an active member of We The People, a group that promotes itself as a bi-partisan, non-political organization of concerned residents. She feels Long Beach needs a bi-partisan City Council in order to have checks and balances within the government.
Jim Hennessey
James Hennessey, 34, has been involved in Long Beach politics since a young age. He once worked on the campaign of Sen. Norman Levy, and then became an aide to Congressman Peter King (R, Seaford).
A current resident of the East End with his wife Bonnie, Hennessey has been a Long Beach lifeguard for 18 years. He also served as a Long Beach volunteer fireman for a decade. Today, he is a special education and history teacher at Hewlett High School, where he also runs an alternative program similar to Long Beach's Nike School.
Hennessey is campaigning for open, responsible government, one in which decisions will be made in public, not behind closed doors where he believes things are currently done.
The L.B. native believes the city has thrived before under bi-partisan government, such as the early 80s and mid-90s. Like his running mates, he believes the city needs a professional City Planner to help officials map out Long Beach's future development. He also believes that city leaders need to reach out to the local unions.
"City workers are the backbone of Long Beach," Hennessey said. "The city has not treated the unions fairly."
Hennessey's family has been in Long Beach since the 1930s, and he plans to raise his own family here.
Tom Sofield
A fourth generation Long Beacher, Thomas Sofield, 36, is a registered Democrat seeking aplace on the City Council from the GOP ticket. Though running against his own party, Sofield has no plans to change his registration because, he believes, "On a local level, it's not about Democrats and Republicans. It's about making Long Beach the best place to raise your family."
An attorney, Sofield lives in the Westholme area with his wife, who is expecting the couple's second child. He is a 1983 graduate of Long Beach High School, and owns a degree in political science from Villanova. He earned his Masters there in 1989, and three years later graduated from Hofstra University Law School.
After a year in Long Beach's Corporation Counsel office, he went to work for the state Attorney General, where he remained for five years. He now runs a private practice out of Mineola. He is a former Long Beach lifeguard, and said is committed to raising his family in Long Beach, and making the city a better place for doing so.
He initially had reservations about being the Democrat on a Republican ticket, but was convinced to run by what he says he saw as an unresponsive government at City Council meetings.
"What we have now is one party rule in Long Beach," Sofield said. "I don't think that's a healthy form of government. It permits abuses and it permits people in positions of authority to be non-responsive and to ignore its constituents."
He supports efforts to develop the bay front area, calling it a "crime" that the city has no marina or waterfront restaurant. He is concerned, however, about the over development of Long Beach.
"You can't measure quality of life issues in dollars and cents."
