By: Brian Zanzonico
At the close of his defense of the Malverne Police Department during the public comment portion of the meeting on Feb. 2 at the Malverne Public Library, longtime Malverne resident Andrew Chernoff announced, "I am forming the Oaks From Acorns Party and running for election for the Village Board of Trustees."
Incumbent trustees Patricia Ann McDonald and Hennessy are both up for re-election on March 15, and until Chernoff's announcement, they were expected to run unopposed.
Hennessy has come under fire from residents since he criticized the police department's patrolling methods at the Jan. 5 meeting because the police cruiser patrol mileage was about 1,500 miles less in December than in November. Chief Glen Jacobsen attributed the drop-off to personal days banked by officers throughout the year and taken during the holidays.
Hennessy also criticized Jacobsen's management capabilities, because almost all of the money budgeted for police overtime has been exhausted with several months remaining in the village's fiscal year. Police officials said that so much overtime has been accrued because Jacobsen has to have a certain number of officers on duty, and the village has not hired more officers.
Chernoff, 45, is a political novice who said he attends about three or four Board of Trustees meetings a year. "At the last meeting, I heard about the police department and the cost to keep them in Malverne," Chernoff said. "You can't put a price on the level of comfort in this town. Listen to the police scanner one night and hear what's going on around us."
Chernoff said on Monday that his newly formed Oaks From Acorns Party is named for words displayed in the town hall board room, and that he would have the requisite 100 signatures on a petition filed before the Tuesday deadline.
Chernoff has owned a sporting goods store in Uniondale with his father, Owen, for 26 years. He and his wife, Amy, have a 2-year-old son, Owen.
A 1978 graduate of Valley Stream North High School, Chernoff briefly attended SUNY-Farmingdale - where he studied mortuary science - and Hofstra, and earned an associates degree in business from Nassau Community College. He is 16 credits shy of a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Chernoff lived in Malverne until he and Amy married in the 1990s. They lived in Valley Stream and Oyster Bay before coming to Malverne so Owen could have the same childhood experience Chernoff enjoyed.
"My wife would say, 'When you talk about Malverne, you just glow,'" he recalled. "I want to preserve what we have here. I'm running for the preservation and betterment of Malverne."
Chernoff said that one of his first moves in office would be to champion a beautification project in the village's business district, giving it what he called a "Garden City-like" feel. He envisions a Hempstead Avenue with cobblestone sidewalks and other ornamental features.
He will have competition from village board stalwarts Hennessy and McDonald. Hennessy served as mayor from 1991 to 1995 and as trustee from 1997 to 2001, winning re-election in 2001. He has earned a reputation for having a contentious relationship with the head of the police department, whether it be Jacobsen or his predecessor, Raymond Garrigan.
McDonald was appointed to a one-year term on the Board of Trustees in 2000 after her father, longtime Trustee John Norris, died in office. She was elected in 2001. Trustees are elected to four-year terms on an at-large basis, meaning that the top two vote getters in the March election will win seats.
The itch to run for village board hit him about six months ago, Chernoff said. The election was still months away, though, and he "put it on the back burner." Then he watched the last board meeting on local television. "Hennessy pushed against the police department and I said, 'I've got to do something,'" he said. "I grew up in this town and loved the comfort level. I want to preserve that for my son. I felt like I needed to get involved."
Residents have expressed fears that the Malverne Police Department will be disbanded and the Nassau County Police Department will assume control. Hennessy said he had been approached by a member of the county police commissioner's office about that possibility but said, "I'd rather have our own police department." Mayor Anthony Panzarella and trustees William Malone, the Malverne police commissioner, and James Callahan, the deputy mayor, have said the Malverne police would continue protecting the village as long as they sit on the board.
"This town is safe as it is because of the police department," Chernoff said. "That night when Hennessy was questioning the mileage, [Garden City South resident James Gottlieb] was being murdered."
Though he admits he is getting a late start on his campaign, Chernoff said he offers voters "fresh energy," and that his pro-law enforcement stance should appeal to anyone concerned with keeping the 82-year-old police department intact. "I think the people of Malverne, after the last couple of board meetings, will probably realize change is necessary," he said.
Hennessy said at the meeting that he invites anyone to run in the election, and McDonald wished Chernoff luck afterward.
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