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The
Candidates
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Paul
Meli is a candidate for Mayor of Glen
Cove
Paul
comments on....
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What
does the Mayor and City Council's
Job Entail?
from
the Glen Cove
Record-Pilot
Given
the focus of our campaign, and
the true circumstances of our
city, I don't think that there is
much doubt that my council and I
will be hired by Glen Cove's
residents to, first and foremost,
restore order to its finances and
bring an end to the regular tax
increases that have brought
taxpayers to their
knees.
They
can and will expect us to cut
spending across the board, from
departmental budgets to
consulting contracts, by
reviewing and slashing the budget
line-by-line, and by eliminating
wasteful spending and patronage,
and benefits for council members
and retained consultants. They
can and will expect that, by
strictly limiting new borrowing,
we will begin to reduce the
city's tremendous debt, the
service of which consumes so much
of our
revenues.
more...
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What are
the Qualifications of the Mayor's
Job?
from
the Gold Coast Gazette
I
pretty much had the answer to
this question written a few days
ago. It was a pretty good one,
too, noting that I have lived in
Glen Cove for 37 years, where
Jo-Ann and I have raised 4
children, and now live in our
second home. I touted my legal
career, where I specialize in the
representation of municipalities,
and in which I have represented
some of the country's largest
financial services
firms.
I
also spoke of my long and active
involvement in community and
civic affairs, my service on the
library board, and my likely
attendance over the last 7 years
at more city council meetings
than Mayor Suozzi , asking
questions, demanding answers and
offering alternatives and
solutions to issues facing our
city. more...
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City
Finances
Question:
"What is your understanding of
the long term financial history
of Glen Cove, its current
finances, and what are your
financial plans for the city for
the next two
years?"
It
is interesting that this question
comes less than a week before an
October 11 hearing on the mayor
and council's proposed 2012
budget. Typically, we remain in
the dark about what to expect for
next year, and are left to read
whatever few clues we can pry
loose about how we are performing
in 2011. Although the City was
required to send a copy of the
proposed budget to the New York
State Comptroller by September
27, my request for a copy has not
been complied with.
more...
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Benefits
for Part-Time Council
Members
Glen
Cove Republicans have learned
that, although a city council
resolution on December 28, 2010
referenced only the granting of
union benefits to "full time"
non-union City employees, it also
gave such benefits, including
full family health coverage, to
the part-time council
members.
According
to Paul Meli, Republican
Committee Chairman, the fact that
the City Council voted themselves
eligible for the same benefits as
CSEA union members came to light
only after the fact, and upon his
securing of documents and
information from the City Clerk
pursuant to New York's Freedom of
Information Law. more...
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The Glen
Cove Ferry
Terminal
Although
most people associate the
“ferry project” with
development of our waterfront,
not all realize that the city is
building the estimated $16
million terminal, and will
operate and maintain it after
construction. Like many, the
thought of a ferry conjures up in
my mind an almost romantic image,
one that you just want to like.
History and economic realities,
however, tell us that we must
proceed with caution with a
project that presents the
financial risks that this one
does.
That
history, of course, is of failed
ferry operations of which we are
reminded when traveling to the
end of Garvies Point Road where,
on a now ignored, overgrown and
broken “promenade,”
there still sits an abandoned
ferry terminal, a victim of
vandals and graffiti artists, its
windows, walls and fixtures
shattered and torn.
Given
this experience, the highly
touted experts that Glen Cove
hired in 2007 to study and plan a
new ferry terminal told us that
someone would be found to operate
the ferry before construction of
the terminal began. A little more
than a year ago, however, we
broke ground on the project,
starting with the since-delayed
bulkheading of the creek, and
borrowing millions of dollars in
the process, all without knowing
whether someone would be found to
profitably and efficiently run a
ferry. more...
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The
Waterfront
The
concept of cleaning up Glen
Cove's waterfront for development
actually dates back to the mid
1990s when then Mayor Tom Suozzi
proposed transforming the
property into a tourist
destination, like Mystic and
South Street Seaports, with
waterfront restaurants, boutiques
and maritime
attractions.
As
the city's financial woes began
to grow, however, so did the
project, with the developers
increasingly calling the shots as
to what would be built, and with
the zoning of the area being
changed to fit the original Glen
Isle plan for multiple high-end
condo units in high rise
buildings.
Ralph
Suozzi was elected mayor in 2005,
due in part to his promise that
the waterfront would be developed
in keeping with Glen Cove's
character and heritage, pledging
at his first inauguration to
"…throw grass seed on those
50 waterfront acres until a truly
acceptable plan is realized". He
also told us on the eve of the
2007 election that he had
engineered a reduction in the 860
unit project when he brought
Scott Rechler to the deal, only
to approve the same 860 units
after he was elected.
more...
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Pamela
D. Panzenbeck is a candidate for Glen Cove
City Council
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John
Hanley is a candidate for Glen Cove City
Council
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I
am honored to be a part of this Republican
ticket and would be even more honored to
serve as councilwoman representing the
residents of the City of Glen
Cove.
I
am a wife and mother. My daughters, Anna
and Sophia, are 7 and 4, respectively, and
attend Portledge School. My husband is an
attorney with his own practice in Garden
City. I am also an attorney. I am a sole
practitioner with general practice based
in Locust Valley.
I
did my undergraduate studies at Georgetown
University and earned Bachelor of Arts
degrees in Government with a concentration
in Political Theory and Theology with a
Concentration in Christian Ethics. After
college, I went on to attend Brooklyn Law
School. I was in the evening division
while I worked during the day as a
paralegal in the Complaint Room in the
Manhattan District Attorney's Office. I
had my first daughter at the end of my
first year of law school. I graduated in
2007 with my Juris Doctor and was given
the school's gold medal for commitment to
public service.
I
am a true conservative. My alignment with
conservative principles of government were
not contrived or passed down to me through
familial affiliation. Rather, they were
the natural outgrowth of my deep-rooted
Christian values and my innate
hard-working, independent, "pull yourself
up by your bootstraps" sort of spirit. I
knew in high school, and maybe even
earlier, that I wanted to devote myself to
public service. It is for this reason that
I chose to study government in our
nation's capital. When I got to college,
though I did not have a political party
affiliation per se, I quickly discovered
where on the political spectrum I fell. I
attended a Christian Coalition conference
early on in my freshman year and there
heard all of the Republican presidential
candidates give speeches describing their
views and the goals of their respective
campaigns. After that, I volunteered for
and eventually became the student
coordinator for the District of Columbia
for the presidential campaign of former
Ambassador Alan Keyes. Also while in
college, I had the opportunity to intern
on Capitol Hill for Representative J.C.
Watts (R-OK) and the House Republican
Conference. I participated first-hand in
the inner-workings of American government.
The education I received at Georgetown
coupled with the hands-on D.C. experience
is unmatched in my opinion.
I
have been spending my time since then
earning my law degree, raising my
children, and working at building my law
practice. I have been serving my larger
community in supporting the mission and
outreach of my church, the Glen Cove
Christian Church, and volunteering for the
church in its ministry. I am active in the
Parents Association in my children's
school, and provide pro bono legal
services on behalf of the Nassau County
Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an
organization very near and dear to my
heart.
I
sought out and became involved with the
Glen Cove Republican Party only recently.
I was motivated to get involved by the
disturbing things I saw going on in this
town. The poor reputation of the school
system was alarming to me, and I
attributed that to the changing character
of the town by attracting a large
population of illegal immigrants and other
low-income persons receiving public
assistance such as Section 8. I do not
want to be misunderstood - I do not have
feelings of animosity towards people of
different races and cultures. People who
know me know that I have a diverse group
of friends, and in fact my daughters are
half Hispanic. I grew up in a low-income
community in Queens with a single mother.
But, I worked hard in school and in life
to better my lot in life and now to raise
my children in the best possible
environment. I love Glen Cove, in part,
because of its economic and cultural
diversity, but I do not want it overrun by
people for whom English is a second
language, who crowd into illegal housing,
do not pay taxes, or who are intoxicated
on street corners downtown yelling lewd
things at me and making me feel like
certain areas of the City are off-limits
to me for fear of being harassed,
assaulted, or worse. If I am elected to
the City Council, I will make it a
priority to do what we can within the
bounds of our authority to lessen the
impact of the problems outlined above.
Specifically, I will work to strengthen
code enforcement and crack-down on illegal
housing. I would endeavor to work together
with the police department to address
quality of life crimes, such as loitering
for an illegal purpose, littering, public
intoxication, and so forth.
If
elected, I will also work hard to
implement a downtown revitalization
initiative. I believe strengthening small
businesses will make the downtown more
attractive to shoppers, which will in turn
have the effect of pushing out the bad
element. This City is not and has not been
friendly to business owners for a long
time. First and foremost, we need to ease
the tax burden on the businesses and scale
back or altogether eliminate the choking
regulations that prohibit them from, for
example, placing signs and/or merchandise
out on the sidewalk in front of their
storefronts. I would like to see us have
street fairs downtown, and other
attractions that would bring people to
Glen Cove to patronize our local shoppes,
restaurants, and other
businesses.
Another
initiative of mine will be to
de-centralize the City government. Over
the years, the mayor has usurped all of
the power, which is now consolidated in
that sole individual. This is not the way
government should operate. If I am elected
to the City Council, I will work towards a
system of true checks and balances and
separation of powers that follows the
model of traditional American government.
The legislative body, and not the Mayor,
should be passing local ordinances while
the Mayor oversees the administration of
government. The dialogue about the course
this City will take should be among all
elected representatives and not driven
solely by the Mayor without input from the
council members. I want to be a true
representative, and govern in a way that
brings the concerns and priorities of the
people who elected me to the forefront.
Along these lines, it is imperative that
we have transparency in government. I
would do away with "pre-council meetings"
and "executive sessions", which do not
exist in the City Charter and are a way of
closing the people out and governing in
secret. We will govern in the open and
welcome - not hide from - public
opinion.
There
is a lot of work to be done. The City is
in debt, our bond rating is only one level
above junk, and the taxes just keep
climbing despite falling property values.
We need to get spending under control and
stabilize taxes. We need to develop in a
comprehensive manner that is consistent
with the character of Glen Cove, and not
build apartment houses that make our
quaint City resemble Queens. We need a
Waterfront development plan that makes
sense and benefits the public good, not
just the developers' pockets.
Please,
vote Republican on November 8th and elect
me and my running mates to the City
Council and Paul Meli for Mayor. We want
to fight for you and your interests. Help
us take back Glen Cove from the elite and
return it to its residents.
Kristina
Heuser is a candidate for Glen Cove City
Council
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Follow
my blog
on Glen Cove Patch
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Follow
this link to see a
video
on Glen Cove Patch - my reasons
for running for City
Council
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THE
PIAZZA:
BUSINESS AS USUAL IN GLEN
COVE
To the dismay of
many residents, the Planning Board
approved the "Piazza" project last week
over the vocal objection of the public.
For those of you who may have heard
grumblings about the project, but do not
know exactly what it is, you are not
alone. This was maybe not the City
government's best kept secret - as I'm
sure there remain many yet to be revealed
- but it certainly was never put before
the court of public opinion.
Though the votes are
already in and disgruntled residents
appear to be stuck with the development of
four buildings of four to five stories in
height (you didn't read that wrong; it
says: FOUR BUILDINGS of FOUR to FIVE
STORIES in HEIGHT ) in place of downtown's
Village Square, we can say something about
the unseemly participants in what has
become business as usual in this
town.
First, let's look at
the developer, Michael Puntillo. Michael
Puntillo's father was the developer of the
Village Square. Look how well that turned
out for us. Why would the City entrust the
developer of what he admits was a failed
project with the re-development of the
very same property? Interestingly, the
Puntillos and their various business
entities have contributed $33,000.00 to
the campaigns of the Mayor and Council
members. Puntillo and Suozzi. Glen Cove
sure likes to keep it all in the
family.
Next, there is the
City Council, again led by none other than
the current Mayor Ralph Suozzi. The City
Council had to hear the proposal, and then
decide to recommend it or not to the
Planning Board for approval. Guess which
item of business was curiously left off of
the published agenda of the City Council
meeting? Why, the "Piazza" project, of
course. When questioned, the current Mayor
said that this highly controversial
project did not appear on the agenda by
accident. How convenient.
Then there is the
Planning Board, a collection of appointees
by the Mayor. The Planning Board published
their requisite tiny notice of public
hearing in the local newspaper of record,
which nobody would ever see unless they
were looking for it. One would hope that
these purported representatives might
think a little more publicity and
invitation of public comment was warranted
concerning a project that was postured to
completely alter the character of Glen
Cove. But, alas, they did not.
In spite of the lack
of all but the minimum notice required by
law, City Hall was packed with residents
concerned and, in many cases, outraged
about the proposed development. The
Planning Board heard, but apparently did
not listen to, public comment about the
project and reserved decision. At the next
meeting, the Planning Board again reserved
decision, commenting that with the
outparcels (the Village Square properties
not acquired by the developer) remaining
and thereby standing smack in the middle
of Puntillo's "Piazza", the nature and
substance of the project was completely
altered as there could realistically be no
piazza. They hit the nail on the head.
The Board held a
special meeting on August 10 in which they
were to render a decision on the project
and approve or deny the zoning variances
required to build this downtown
monstrosity. Despite the fact that the
developer had not managed to acquire the
outparcels (i.e., nothing had changed
since the previous meeting) and once again
over vocal public objection, the Planning
Board voted to approve the project. A
brave few voted against the project.
However, we do not know, and may never
know, if the vote was orchestrated to
render the appearance of an internal
debate and that the project would be
approved no matter what.
Enough is enough
with these back room deals. Who is looking
out for the residents of Glen Cove while
the developers and politicians line their
pockets or campaign accounts, as the case
may be? That's business as usual here in
Glen Cove, folks.
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THE
URBANIZATION OF
GLEN COVE
The recent decision
by the Planning Board to approve the
Piazza Project lends credence to what our
team has been saying all along. The
character and identity of our city is
being sold out to the developers.
Desperate times call for desperate
measures and this was certainly one of
them. To have this project shoved down our
throats with no real dialogue can only be
explained as a desperate move by an
administration reeling from its continued
failure to manage our city's finances.
Sadly, this project will benefit only one
person….the developer.
We're not opposed to
development but each project must be
evaluated on its own merits and a
determination made if it's in the best
interest of Glen Cove and its residents.
The downtown
certainly is in need of improvement, but
adding buildings of 5 stories in height,
along with 142 rental units is just too
much. A scaled down version would have
been acceptable to most people, but once
again, the developer gets to determine the
look and character of our city.
Let's move on to the
waterfront. The mayor had the perfect
storm in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The economy
was in high gear and real estate prices
were at their peak. The project was ours
to shape. Now, the developer has changed
the plans. The first phases will include
400 to 500 rental units. Once again, the
developer is going to determine the face
and character of our city. Perhaps we
should go back to the drawing board on
this one!
Finally, we may be
saying goodbye to our last great Green
Belt. Plans are underway to sell off a 15
acre parcel from the Glen Cove Mansion to
build 25 duplex homes (50 units).
The Mayor has said
of this 55 acre parcel that "in many ways
it (the Glen Cove Mansion) is the face of
historic Glen Cove …it is a symbol of
the legacy of wealth, elegance , and
gentility that once inhabited the
extraordinary Long Island North Shore Gold
Coast". Regrettably, it will become
another chapter in an evolving story
called "THE URBANIZATION OF GLEN
COVE".
Reginald
Spinello is a candidate for Glen Cove City
Council
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Anthony
Gallo, Jr. is a candidate for Glen Cove
City Council
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GLEN COVE:
A
CITY IN SEARCH
OF AN IDENTITY
While visiting my
college teacher who currently lives alone
in Oyster Bay, I decided to take advantage
of the sunny day to drive around a bit. I
have always liked that little town, its
old-America feel, the character of the
buildings and houses. It was a Tuesday,
mid-morning, and the people were in and
out of the many small stores. It was
lovely and inviting. Suddenly, I
remembered Glen Cove when I first moved
here; I had the same feeling then and
better even, since I knew some people
already. It was a far more lively town
then and my college mates would tell me
how lucky I was to live here. I felt
privileged then; I feel sad now to see our
city gradually being deserted by
businesses that cannot survive and an
urban planning that serves only the
outsiders who wish to exploit it.
I parked the car and
walked a bit thinking that character is
what our city is being robbed of. The
small stores where I could shop and chat
with the owners have for the most part
left or are thinking of leaving; slowly
strangled by taxes they say.
The turn of the
century buildings have been replaced by
garages that look like skeletons in the
middle of the town and by mega-apartment
houses that could have easily been
designed to look less like prisons. How
could this be, I ask? How can
administration after administration have
so little respect for the importance of
sound, attractive, inviting development?
Has it been blind, self-serving policies
or plain, old fashioned incompetence? And
to think that we have just been imposed
another impostor project: The Piazza.
What saddens me are
the comments of some skeptics about the
possibility of changing direction. I say
we can and must change direction. I have
my history and my skin in this city just
like all those families whose major
investment is their home. If we take the
reins of the direction for our city, WE
can control and improve our future. It is
up to us to protect our quality of life
and our investment. The current Mayor can
pick up and leave anytime; no loss of
capital, no waiting. The housing bubble
did not burst for him, that is for
sure.
Filomena
Ricciardi is a candidate for Glen Cove
City Council
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Did
you know?
Under the
City Charter, the City Attorney is
supposed to handle all legal matters, for
which he and his firm are compensated over
$100,000 per year.
The City
of Glen Cove hires outside law firms to
represent us on many of these cases as
well.
The cost
for outside legal work on behalf of the
City is billed at another $200,000 a
year.
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Viewpoints
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Events
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Newsletter
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NC
Sewer Tax for Glen Cove Residents -
$0 ?
Dave
Nieri, 10/20/11
Suozzi's
Rx - More Snake
Oil
Filomena
Ricciardi, 10/16/11
Carpe
Diem!
Pasquale
Cervasio, 8/18/11
Needs
or
Wants?
Pamela
D Panzenbeck, 7/13/11
FOIL Request
Rebuffed by
Mayor
Paul
Meli, 7/1/11
No
Separation of Powers in Glen
Cove
Kristina
S Heuser, 6/9/11
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City
Council
Meeting
Date:
Tuesday, Nov. 22nd, 7:30pm
Location: Glen Cove City Hall
Republican
Club
Meeting
Date:
Wednesday, Nov. 30th, 7:30pm
Location: Page One Restaurant
90 School Street, Glen Cove
PAST EVENTS
ELECTION DAY
Date:
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011
Mayoral
Candidates
Debate
Date: Saturday, Oct.
29th
Meet
& Greet the Candidates - Hosted
by Landing Pride Civic
Association
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 2,
2011
Brunch
and Jazz
Date: Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011
Dinner
& Champagne
Fundraiser
Date:
Thursday, Sept 22, 2011
Republican
Party BBQ
Date: Saturday, Sept. 10,
2011
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The
Glen Cove Informer
Issue
7 - October 2011
In this
edition:
- Republican
Candidates have already made a
different - Suozzi campaign embraces
the Republican position on part-time
and consultant benefits
- Candidate
Reginald Spinello exposes Mayor
Suozzi's magic financial
math
- Candidate
Pamela Panzenbeck urges Glen Cove
voters to actually exercise their right
to vote
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More
Viewpoints
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Archive
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©
2011 Glen Cove Republican Party
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