By TIFFANY RAZZANO
The new board consists of Bossart, Joyce - who was named deputy mayor - Krasula and incumbent Trustees Andrew Karamouzis and Jeanne Mulry.
The newest trustees are all members of the Concerned Citizens party, fresh off their victory in the June 19 election. Former Mayor Eugene Murray, who stepped down after serving for 20 years, was named honorary village ambassador as well as alternate marriage officer. Former Trustee Gregory Rinn and Kevin Ryan were appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals, whose new chairman is Kevin O'Brien. Jeffrey Schoen was appointed to the Planning Board, as was Donna Joyce, and Mary Beth Kearns was named chairwoman.
"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you very much ... for electing me as your next mayor," Bossart said. "I never plan on things in life. It's amazing to me that I'm here ... I'm very grateful ... You don't always plan these things, they just work out."
"I'd like to thank the 5,092 people that came out to vote," Joyce said. "That is a big part of our village's democracy and our government. I'd like to thank the neighbors that took the time to talk to us [during the campaign] to express their concerns. I will work as hard as possible for the community and ... to represent the entire village."
"When your home was originally 900 miles west of here, you do have a smaller group of people to call family," Krasula said. "But [my wife and I] have been here 30 years. My neighbors are my family. I would like to thank the voters of this village for their trust and faith. I'll do the absolute best to honor the commitments we made."
All three promised that they would work to keep the promises they made during their campaign, including a pledge to return civility to the village board, and also to work to repeal Local Law 2, passed in 2003, regarding multifamily housing in certain business districts.
The new board took the first steps towards repealing several provisions of Local Law 2. It voted unanimously to send a copy of proposed legislation that would keep multifamily housing out of the Business A and Business C2 districts to the State Environmental Quality Review board, which will consider the environmental impact of the legislation, as well as to the Nassau County Planning Commission for its approval. A public hearing will be held at the Aug. 6 board meeting.
The two parties have already butted heads, however. Karamouzis and Mulry said they would like to see a repeal of the entire trio of 2003 multifamily laws, including Local Law 1 and Local Law 3, which would also prevent multifamily housing in the Urban Light Manufacturing and Industrial Districts.
"It sends a strong message to the public if we join together and join all of these pieces," Mulry said at a July 5 board briefing session.
"The materials [the Concerned Citizens party] put out [during the campaign] made it clear they were interested in the repeal of the multifamily law," Karamouzis said at the July 9 meeting. "It's somewhat disingenuous to promise the law would be repealed in its entirety." At the briefing session four days earlier, Karamouzis said he was "disappointed, but not surprised" that Bossart, Joyce and Krasula were not interested in repealing all three laws.
At that session, Bossart stressed that her party had only discussed only Local Law 2 during its campaign. And none of the three newest board members said they were opposed to repealing all three multifamily laws at either the July 5 briefing or the subsequent meeting. Krasula said that "serious discussion" about the topic was needed, and that he wanted to hear what the public had to say before making a decision.
At the July 5 session, Karamouzis called for a vote to include all three laws in the repeal. He and Mulry voted in favor of the proposal, while Bossart voted against it and Krasula and Joyce abstained from the vote. Karamouzis called for another vote at the July 9 meeting, saying that Krasula and Joyce had had more time to consider it. Once again, Karamouzis and Mulry voted in favor of repealing all three laws. This time, Bossart and Joyce voted against the proposal, while Krasula abstained.
Bossart called the repeal of certain provisions of Local Law 2 "an easy first step." She also announced that the board would work to reduce the density of multifamily housing from 25 units per acre to 18, with more discussion on the matter planned for August.
Comments about this story? TRazzano@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
