Mary McCaffery is running for a council seat on the Oyster Bay Town Board on the Democratic and Working Families Party Lines. McCaffery, a longtime resident of Bethpage, said her community involvement and innovative ideas make her well suited for the position.

McCaffery said she is running for the town board for several reasons. She said that in her experience of being out in the neighborhood campaigning, she has heard several complaints from Oyster Bay Town residents about the planning board, receiving permits and certificates of occupancy and the zoning board. In addition, McCaffery feels that the town board does not help taxpayers as much as it should and that it takes too long to get things accomplished.

McCaffery, a member of the Bethpage Chamber of Commerce, noted that she also ran into problems with the town in regard to the railroad station in Bethpage. She said the chamber has been attempting to beautify the area around the train station, especially since the US Open is coming to the Bethpage State Park next summer. In addition, she cited several safety issues concerning the railroad station that need to be addressed. McCaffery said that once she and fellow chamber members approached the town board regarding a clean-up project and safety issues concerning the railroad station, they received no support.

"If you want to generate corporate support, especially federal and state monies, you need to have some backing from a government source," McCaffery said. "People in the chamber care about the town, they wanted to get some money to improve the look of downtown."

She said that those personal experiences, including others she had heard about from her friends and neighbors, made her decide to run again. McCaffery ran for town board before in both 1995 and 1997.

"Bottom line, I really think it's time for a change. We really need both Democrat and Republican representation," McCaffery said. "It's pretty clear in Nassau County especially and also in the Town of Oyster Bay, which is not as visible, that one party rules. If you have two [different] opinions then you'll have some dialogue and you won't have such control from one party."

McCaffery added that overcrowding is becoming a large issue throughout the town. She said that there has been too much development with too many houses expanding, leaving areas throughout the town with few places to bring their children to play. She mentioned some areas near her neighborhood, where one house used to stand now have two houses.

"I care about the community. I've lived here (in Bethpage) for 38 years and raised my family here. We've lived here all our married life and my husband taught in the schools for 40 years," she said. "You see these changes creeping in and it's disturbing. The other thing that's disturbing of course is the cost of living here which is going up higher and higher."

McCaffery said that while taxes may not have increased, the amount of debt bestowed upon residents has increased and that debt is going to fall to the next generation. In addition, she noted that the town has several bonds to pay. She added that while the town's budget appears to be balanced, she does not think that the state aid the town anticipates will come through.

"That's not fair, (having the debt fall on the next generation), it's hard enough to get started without having such a large debt," she said. "Right now, the state is spending a lot of money on the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center and what we anticipate in state aid is probably going to be diminished. But the state aid is in the budget which shows that the budget is in balance. There's no provision for less state aid than you anticipated."

McCaffery said she has been very involved in her community. In addition to being a member of the Chamber of Commerce, she has also been a soccer coach, class mother and involved in Cub Scouts when her children were younger. She is also one of the founders of the Bethpage St. Patrick's Day Committee, of which she was the grand marshal last year, helped establish Walk About, a home for homeless young men (ages 16 to 19) which was open for 25 years before closing down due to the county's budget problems. She was also on the Family and Children's Association Board for 25 years and is involved with the Institute for Student Achievement, which provides low functioning children with support services. In addition, McCaffery is a member of the Bethpage Community Council and the Bethpage US Open Committee.

"All of these programs were initiated by the people of the community and then the government came on board to supplement the cost of operations," McCaffery explained. "So you have a public/private partnership, a public/private initiative, and I think that's the way things are supposed to work. Government is supposed to be there to serve us, to be our advocate."

McCaffery, who holds a masters degree in nonprofit management currently devotes her time to the Society of St. Vincent De Paul, which runs seven homes for homeless people. The organization has 1,200 volunteers from all over Long Island who help people locate jobs, rehabilitate and find their own places to live once they make enough money.

"Things happen and people's lives fall apart but I'm grateful that we have places like St. Vincent De Paul," McCaffery said. "The volunteers are really great and it feels so good to be able to help people. I'm happy to be [there]."

McCaffery said that her diverse background in community service makes her a well suited candidate.

"I think that I bring a very different background in working with communities at different levels, in the human services, in the arts and business. I think I bring a diversity that no other candidate has and I think it's important to have diversity," McCaffery said.

"We're headed for some really serious difficult decisions and times and we have to rely on the resources within the community to solve these problems. The big thing is balance on the [town] board," McCaffery said. "That would help bring balance to town issues; and a woman's perspective wouldn't hurt."

McCaffery lives with her husband in Bethpage. The couple has six children, who were all raised in Bethpage, and 10 grandchildren.

"There's a lot of wonderful things here," McCaffery said of the Town of Oyster Bay, particularly noting the beachfronts as a great asset to residents. "There's a lot of beautiful areas and they're being gobbled up. You see all these things that have come up from the grass roots level to improve the quality of life here," she said, adding that support from the town board is crucial in bettering the quality of life for town residents. "I'd like to see those things continue."