By Danny Teigman
The following is an alphabetical break down of the three parties candidates, their backgrounds and their campaign issues.
Alan Beach, who is a member of the New Vision party, has lived in Lynbrook for 23 years and is a retired New York City Firefighter. He was born in Queens, but has lived on Long Island since age 5, and graduated from Valley Stream Central High School in 1972 before attending SUNY-Morrisville upstate. He has been married for 27 years and has two sons, Alan, 25, and Greg, 21. This is the first time Beach is running for village board trustee, but he was a founding member of the Lynbrook Excellence in Education Foundation, and supported building the village's roller hockey rink. Beach said he supports installing surveillance cameras in downtown and bicycle patrols to increase public safety. He also supports a tax cut.
Rob Boccio is running for mayor on the Lynbrook Independent party's ticket. Boccio, 34, has lived in Lybrook since 2005 and graduated from New York University with a degree in economics and English. He has a master's in public administration and a law degree from New York Law School. He has worked in both the public and private sectors, and is currently at attorney with Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin & Spratt LLP, a medical malpractice firm in New York City. Boccio's wife, Danielle, is a prosecutor in Queens, and they are expecting their first child in May. If elected, he supports developing a marketing plan that attracts other businesses to the area. In order to save taxpayers money, village efficiency must also improve, he said.
New Vision mayoral candidate, Brian Curran grew up in Lynbrook and graduated from St. Agnes High School in 1986. In 1990 he graduated from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania with degrees in history and political science, and he earned a law degree in 1994 at the City University of New York. Curran, 38, was legislative counsel in the New York State Assembly and entered private practice in 2001. He and his wife, Rosemarie Ciaccio-Curran, have three children, Isabella, 4, Jake, 2, and Riley, who is three weeks old. Curran was appointed the village's prosecutor for illegal over-occupancies and is a member of the Lynbrook Fire Department. Curran said he wants to preserve the village's small town character with economic development that adds businesses but not skyscrapers. He would also like to work with the Metropolitan Transit Authority to rent out boarded up properties underneath the railroad trestle.
Michael Hawxhurst, 39, is running for trustee with the Lynbrook Independent party. He moved to Lynbrook in 1995 and is vice president of commodities auditing at Morgan Stanley. Hawxhurst works with the St. Raymond's Christian Youth Organization swim and track teams, the Lynbrook swim team and Titan's lacrosse. He and his wife, Melissa, have two children - Sarah, 10, and Hannah, 6. His financial background, he said, is one of the greatest assets he can bring to the board. He has served on the Citizens Budget Committee since its inception three years ago. To improve public safety, Hawxhurst wants to increase the communication among the school district, business and the police department. Hawxhurst said businesses outside of downtown must not be neglected. Promoting and expanding the village's niche as a bridal shop destination may increase the commercial tax base. He also supports appointing an ombudsman - or a liaison to the board through which residents can address their particular concerns.
Bill Hendrick joined the New Vision Party, after breaking ranks with the LIP but has been involved with village politics since 1985, and was elected a trustee in 1989. Hendrick, 54, has lived on Scranton Avenue for 30 years. He graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in business administration, and earned a master's in the same field from St. John's University. He received a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. He has two sons, Billy, 24, and Johnny, 23. His community involvement includes membership in the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Elks and Knights of Columbus. He is also the committee chairman of the Lynbrook Expo. One of the reasons he helped form the party, he said, was to give Lynbrook voters another choice and to reduce board meeting bickering. If elected, he hopes to reduce taxes and return some of the village's surplus to residents.
Maryanne Hoesel is running as trustee for the LIP and has been involved in village politics for the last seven years. She is chairwoman of the Lynbrook Beautification and Winter Celebration committees, while also serving on the Architectural Review Board and the 9/11 Committee. Hoesel, 53, graduated from Lynbrook High School in 1971, earned a degree in art education from Molloy College, and is a licensed family day care provider. Hoesel is a single parent, and her daughter, Amanda, 23, is a teacher assistant in the Lynbrook schools. Central to Hoesel's campaign is village beautification - planting new trees, refurbishing village parks and enhancing overall green space. Increasing the village's police presence and obtaining more homeland security grants, she said, is equally important. Additional goals include holding the line on taxes, instituting a new casual monthly meeting for residents to voice their particular concerns on specific issues and expanding the village's movie theater.
Cecil Maloney is the Reform Party's president and is running for trustee. Maloney, 66, has lived in Lynbrook since 1975 and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, later graduating from Brooklyn College with a degree in political science. He has been married to Dolores for 43 years and has three sons - Charles, Kevin, and Timothy, and four daughters - Marybeth, Dolores, Maureen and Sharon. In addition to his interest in politics, Maloney said he joined the two-year-old party out of frustration over the recent direction the village was taking. He said that he and his party support moving back room work sessions into village hall's main rotunda. Maloney said he also wants the village to gain control of parking spaces currently owned by the MTA to help alleviate the village's growing parking shortage.
Reform Party trustee candidate Chris Monzert, has lived in Lynbrook since 1977. He grew up in North Babylon and graduated from North Babylon High School in 1970. Monzert, 54, worked for the New York City Police Department for 20 years and is now working in the home security industry. For the last two years he has served as a volunteer in the "Fly With the Owls" race. He and his wife of 29 years, Annette, have three children: Marique, 27, Brianna, 24, and Christopher Jr., 20, who were students of the Malverne school district. Monzert said he would like to see the Chamber of Commerce take a more active role at board meetings. He supports a "Zero waste budget concept" where monthly meeting are held with village department heads and reports are issued on their expenditures. He also wanted to see more projects done "in-house" as opposed to continued out sourcing.
David Penso, who has served on the Lynbrook school board for seven years and has been a village trustee for two, is running as the Reform Party's mayoral candidate. Penso, 54, has been a resident of Lynbrook since 1957, and graduated from Lynbrook High School in 1970. He earned an associate's degree in business administration from SUNY-Farmingdale, and was elected to the village board in 2004. He has been married to his wife, Joanne, for 29 years and has two daughters, Michelle, 20, and Lauren, 16. Penso is the owner of Malverne-based Top Hats of America Inc. Penso said he would like to return civility to board meetings and is opposed to the village selling publicly owned land to private developers. Economic development, he said, must proceed carefully. As a nearby business owner, he said, he was the candidate most able to dedicate his time to running the village.
Comments about this story? DTeigman@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 246.
