By Nicole Falco
March 18 is the day residents have their say about who should be a part of the village administration leading Valley Stream over the next four years. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and there are numerous polling places throughout the village.
Mayor Edward Cahill, seeking re-election to a second term as mayor, is running unopposed, as is Judge Robert Bogle, who is seeking a fifth term as village justice. Both incumbents are running on the United Community Party line alongside incumbent trustee candidates Guido Cirenza and Joanne Antun.
Cirenza and Antun are facing competition on Tuesday from Integrity Party candidates Bill Freda and Mary Salg.
For residents who are not acquainted with the candidates and their positions, the Herald has compiled brief profiles.
Name: Robert Bogle
Political party: United Community
Position sought: Village justice. Bogle is running unopposed.
Current position: Village justice. Bogle was appointed village justice in 1988 to fill a vacancy and won election in 1989. He has presided over village court proceedings ever since.
Community involvement: Bogle is an assistant cubmaster for Boy Scout Troop 116 and a member of the Nassau County Eagle Scout Board of Review. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus Father Carroll Council, New York No. 1 Elks in Valley Stream and the Wheeler Avenue School PTA and serves as a Sunday morning lector at Blessed Sacrament Church.
Accomplishments: "When I first became village justice our revenue was at $380,000. We now generate revenue of $1.5 million, almost all of which is [used] by the village. Our success is due to the modernization of our computer system and our diligence in making sure tickets are paid for and responded to. In addition to our enforcement process, we believe the village court should be a positive force in the community. Therefore, we routinely invite school groups and community groups such as the Girls Scouts and Cub Scouts to come down and help out on court nights. This gives them, at an early age, an inside view of our legal system."
Goals: "In the future [I] plan on expanding the community-services program for defendants who are guilty of excessive speeding and disorderly conduct. Through court services, these defendants will, hopefully, learn to become valuable assets to the community. The next few years should prove to be very interesting for our court system. I hope to continue to expand the role of the village court and in 2004 will serve as New York State President of the Magistrate's Association, which represents the 2,400 village and town justices in New York state. I hope to go around New York and showcase the expertise we have developed in the Valley Stream Village Court, which remains a flagship court in the State of New York."
Current Employment: Bogle is chief court attorney of the Nassau County Court and an adjunct professor of criminal justice at C.W. Post College of Long Island University. He co-authored "Village, Town and District Courts in New York," published by West Group, which is currently in its fifth edition. Bogle also travels throughout the state giving lectures to village and town justices on changes in law for the New York State Office of Court Administration.
Family: Bogle and his wife, Kathleen, have two young sons.
Name: Edward Cahill
Political party: United Community
Position sought: Mayor. Cahill is running unopposed
Current position: Mayor. Cahill was elected trustee in 1995 and served as deputy mayor under former Mayor James Darcy until Darcy's election to the Assembly. Cahill was then appointed mayor, and formally elected in 1999.
Community involvement: Cahill is an active member of the Holy Name Society of Holy Name of Mary Church, the Gibson Civic Association and the Knights of Columbus Father Carroll Council. He is also active in the New York City Sergeants' Benevolent Association, the Retired Police Association of New York State and the New York State Police Conference.
Accomplishments: "We've followed through with the soccer field at Arlington Park, the hockey rink at the Long Island Rail Road Station, a new parking field next to the library, the upgrades at Barrett Park and Arlington Park and all of the work in Hendrickson Park, including the new lighting system, the shrubbery and the new path to walk along. Now we're looking forward to the new mini-golf facility. We've also worked with the New York Power Authority to refurbish Village Hall, the library and our firehouses in terms of energy-efficient doors and windows."
Goals: "We will keep working on the infrastructure of the village. Get our streets paved and refurbished. Keep working on the recreational facilities and programs that the village offers and entice businesses into the area. We're also working toward upgrading the library and bringing it up to higher standards. We want to move forward by upgrading Valley Stream to make it one of the better places to live, if not the best place to live on Long Island."
Current employment: Retired New York City Police Sergeant
Family: Married to Mary Ann Cahill.
Name: Joanne Antun
Political party: United Community
Position sought: Trustee
Current position: Trustee. Antun was previously elected trustee in 1992 as a member of the Valley Stream Citizens' Party Coalition and in 1999 on the United Community ticket. Antun was a member of the Library Board of Trustees from 1996 to 1998 and served as an alternate to the Planning Board in 1991.
Community involvement: Antun is a member of New York No. 1 Elks Lodge in Valley Stream and the board of the Valley Stream Youth Collaboration, and represents the village at Town Village Airport Noise Abatement Committee meetings. She is the village's former liaison and continues to maintain contact with the Corona Avenue Group Home for the Mentally Disabled. Antun is an active fundraiser for Holy Name of Mary Church.
Accomplishments: "I am very proud of the administration's work with the library, including its automation project and its expanded program offerings. I've had the opportunity to study the court's ticket management system and championed changes in the penalty structure. I've worked with Stephanie Price on improvements in the tax department and with Allison Walsh on human-resources initiatives in the village. I'm very proud of the improvements that are more behind the scenes as well as the big stuff, the kinds of improvements you see all over town, including the roads and our pool complex and parks."
Goals: "We want to keep the momentum. Keep the road-improvement plan moving forward as well as maintain a continued focus on Rockaway Avenue. We need to initiate an advisory council to study the parking issue along Rockaway Avenue. We want to work with the library board to continue their facilities improvements and improve the use of technology."
Current employment: After a career at JP Morgan Chase, Antun now works in the field of "business resiliency planning," which focuses on emergency preparedness and companies' response capabilities and recovery capacity.
Family: Single mother of two adult daughters.
Name: Guido Cirenza
Political party: United Community
Position sought: Trustee/re-appointment as deputy mayor
Current position: Trustee/deputy mayor. Cirenza was elected in 1995, serving under former Mayor James Darcy, and again in 1999, serving under Mayor Edward Cahill. He was appointed deputy mayor in 1999.
Community involvement: Cirenza is president of the Italian-American Civic Association, a former Democratic zone leader, village liaison to Kennedy Airport and to the village's Department of Public Works.
Accomplishments: "At Hendrickson Park, I, along with the current administration, was instrumental in trying to get things done. We've been getting a lot of compliments from the residents about how that park looks. We've improved the walkways, put in all new lighting fixtures, the memorial park, new tennis courts and so on. Also, the roads. When you look around this village you're looking at your parks, your roads, to see that your garbage is picked up on time...we want to keep everything up to par and continue beautifying Valley Stream. We seem to work well as a team."
Goals: "To keep up the work we have started, do more as ideas come to mind and listen to the people who share their ideas. Also, the main theme here is to continue with the roadwork. We've done some, but to get more roads in need of repair done is important. Also, work to see if we can get businesses to invest in the business district, modernize some of those buildings and get more people into that area. Naturally, we'll also have to address the parking situation along Rockaway Avenue. Another project I am concerned with is the demolition of the Arlington incinerator. I would like to see that get done in the next administration."
Current employment: Retired. Cirenza formerly taught at the College of Aeronautics in Queens and worked for Pan Am.
Family: Cirenza and his wife, Elena, raised five sons and now enjoy being grandparents.
Name: Bill Freda
Political party: Integrity
Position sought: Trustee
Current position: None. Freda served on the Village Planning Board from 1991 to 1995. He also served as deputy village treasurer from 1995 to 1999.
Community involvement: Freda began taking an active interest in village government in 1984, when the village board voted to join Housing and Urban Development. He attended the infamous Sunday morning board meeting at the bandshell when Mayor Greco announced the resignation of Dominick Minerva as village attorney to mollify the crowd. Freda has been a presence at virtually every regular Board of Trustees meeting since 1990. He is a board member of the East Valley Civic Association and a member of the Ormonde Civic Association.
Accomplishments: "[I helped] fight the catering hall in Hendrickson Park through an Article 78 lawsuit. Ultimately the contractor decided not to build it. Stopped the sale of the village parking lot near the Knights of Columbus, pending state court's decision on that Article 78. [I suggested the village] install an automated switchboard in 1996 in Village Hall for $900 to replace a $29,000 receptionist. I fought to keep the roller hockey rink in Hendrickson Park instead of moving it to Arlington Park, where it was too close to homes, and the parking was across Merrick Road from the rink itself. Ultimately, the rink was moved to the LIRR station park. In general, I engage the Board of Trustees in dialogue on questionable resolutions so that, hopefully, they won't be able to slip through items [that are] detrimental to the public interest."
Goals: Freda wants "public referendums before borrowing money, before any park construction projects, and before selling village land. A 5 percent tax cut, term limits, [and for the] Board of Trustees' meeting agendas to appear in the Herald the week before each meeting."
Current employment: Freelance computer programmer
Family: Single
Name: Mary Salg
Political party: Integrity
Position sought: Trustee
Current position: none
Community involvement: Salg is a member of the Ormonde Civic Association. She co-founded the Concerned Citizens of Valley Stream in the mid-1990s in response to the King Kullen project, and though it was unsuccessful, the group initiated litigation to halt the project.
Accomplishments: "My role as an activist is very satisfying, and got me involved in local government and how they handle things. Public participation is very important. I work very hard to give back to the community I have lived in for 49 years. I lived in the village from 1953 to 1985 and had no problems, but I became more active in 1985 when I began having drainage problems on my street, and again when the King Kullen megastore project was being planned in our backyard. I'm not opposed to supermarkets, but the supermarket that was there could have been redone and maintained. We fought for eight years and eventually lost two court cases, but they remember our name."
Goals: "I want to see more public participation. We want referendums that would allow the people to control the finances of the village. Stop the borrowing. It's become a builder's paradise in Valley Stream. [The village] may have [its] ideas about what our town should look like, but the people should be asked about this. King Kullen alone will bring so much traffic into the village, yet they don't fix the roads. Fixing the roads is very important. It should be done now. We need to look into asbestos and make sure it's cleaned up the right way. Postpone the pretty projects, the big projects that cost a lot of money. The infrastructure of the village should be done first. [Also] I support term limits...because people are in power too long. We need fresh blood in the village with fresh ideas."
Current employment: Wife, mother, homemaker and self-described community activist.
Family: Salg raised three sons and a daughter with her husband, Martin, and has eight grandchildren.
