By:Angela Marshall
The Rockville Centre Little League umpires were not the only ones to cry out Play ball last week. Both of Rockville Centre's leading political parties made their first pitch this season, announcing their slate of candidates for the June 2001 village election.
Each party has named three candidates to compete for the three open trustee positions. And, there is still time for others to join the race independently. Petitions do not have to be returned to the village clerk until May.
The race widened this year with the need to fill the last two years of former deputy mayor Chris Amato's term. Amato resigned from the board in August because she was moving out of the village.
Jack Matthews, a Home Rule Party member, was appointed to fill the position until election time and he is looking to complete the term. Matthews, an attorney, and his wife, Janice, have lived in the village for 22 years. They have three children.
Matthews will be matched up on the ballot with lifelong resident Patrick Lagudi who was nominated by the Concerned Citizen party to fill the two-year term. Lagudi owns the 7-Eleven on Merrick Road. He and his wife, Karen, have two children.
The only candidate running for reelection is Concerned Citizen party member Mary Whalen Bossart, who was first elected in 1997. Bossart, an attorney, and her husband, Rob, are the parents of four children.
Fellow Concerned Citizen Bud Cosgrove has decided to let his term expire and not seek another.
Seeking to fill Cosgrove's seat on the Concerned Citizen slate is newcomer Gregory Rinn. A consultant in training and systems evaluation for telephone companies, Rinn and his wife, Jane, are the parents of three sons.
Joining Matthews on the Home Rule slate are Fran Murray, Mayor Eugene Murray's son, and Vivian Lewandowski.
Some insiders are already wondering if Fran sees this as a move toward following in his father's footsteps to the role of Mayor. In a similar move, he took over Murray Floor Waxing when his father left to concentrate on village government. Fran said he will be passing the business on to his son Fran Jr. soon.
Lewandowski, commissioner of the RVC Soccer club, is a lifelong Rockville Centre resident. She and her husband, Henry, have four children.
Both parties endorse Frank Yannelli in his bid for reelection as village justice.
The election will be held on Tuesday, June 19.
