The Citizens Advisory Committee had its second meeting together on Thursday, March 5, a session which Committee Chairperson John P. Sullivan commented in an interview on Friday, March 6, lasted until midnight thanks to the mountains of information the committee has to thoroughly examine and analyze swiftly in order to facilitate a fall bond referendum. The committee has already formed six sub-committees to handle each of the facets of the task before them and each sub-committee is chaired by one of the Citizens Advisory Committee members. The Legal and Procurement Sub-Committee is chaired by John M. Dionisio; the Design Sub-Committee is chaired by Cosmo Veneziale; the Needs Assessment Sub-Committee is chaired by Ken Monaghan; the Construction Phasing and Timing Sub-Committee is chaired by Charles L. Koester, Jr. P.E.; the Finance Sub-Committee (to study such issues as the tax impact and after tax effect) will be chaired by John P. Sullivan; and the Communications Sub-Committee (to handle communications to the Board of Education, the community newspapers, and the public) will be chaired by John P. Sullivan.

The Citizens Advisory Committee was given a tour of the Garden City High School last week by the custodial staff at the high school along with some discussion with Director of Facilites and Operations Tim Almeida and Principal John Okulski. The committee plans to tour all of the schools within the next 15 days and according to Committee Chairperson Sullivan, the committee has already determined that major capital improvements and repairs are required for the district's school buildings. Sullivan explained that there are clearly issues of safety, compliance with ADA requirements, program concerns, asbestos abatement concerns, repairs to cracked floors and windows, state mandates, rewiring for computer capabilites, etc. He added that the committee is made up of people seeking to help the children of the commuity in a reasonable fashion. The members hope to develop a proposal that will address these necessary repairs and improvements and will not have a significantly negative impact on Garden City residents' taxes.

Sullivan stated that the committee will "not operate in a vacuum" and will be seeking the input of other experts within the community to assist them in their study. They plan to meet with administrators in all of the schools, consult with members of the real estate profession in the community, and have already sought the assistance of the four POAs, the PTA and the Garden City Men's Association. In fact, Sullivan himself has already requested that he be allowed to attend PTA meetings to gain insight into the parents' and teachers' concerns and hopes for the schools. The committee itself is comprised of representatives of the community with what Sullivan describes as "diverse and vast expertise." The members come from "each walk of life and have been impacted by every school in the district" as their children have either graduated from the district or are currently attending one of the schools in the district, Sullivan noted.

The March 5 meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee was primarily a fact-finding meeting as the committee met with architects involved in the development of the Master Plan and discussed repairs and maintenance plans. While the committee is looking at a 100 day window to review all the material before them and to develop a new bond to enable the Board to hold a November 1998 vote, a specific timeline has not yet been officially determined. The committee plans to attend the meetings of the Board of Education to update the public on their findings and plans to attend the March 18 meeting in the Administration Building. Also, the committee will utilize the Village's resources, such as the newspapers, to keep the public informed.

The committee also wishes to comply with the public's request for the publication of the profiles of its members and has released the following:

John P. Sullivan

John P. Sullivan, age 41, is a Certified Public Accountant and seasoned chief executive with extensive experience and diverse background in all facets of bank and financial management focusing on turnaround and restructuring situations. Most recently, Sullivan served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Bank of Garden City. During his tenure, Continental achieved a dramatic one year turnaround leading to a 600 percent increase in earnings and a successful merger with Reliance Bank also headquartered in Garden City.

Prior to Continental, Sullivan served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the East River Savings Bank in Manhattan for 2 years leading them out from troubled times to their successful merger with Marine Midland Bank. From 1991 to 1995 Sullivan was President and Chief Executive of Hamilton Bancorp in Brooklyn leading them from their initial public offering through their successful merger with New York Bancorp.

In his early career Sullivan served as Senior Manager in the Audit Department of KPMG Peat Marwick, an industry leader in accounting and consulting services where he specialized in auditing and consulting with major corporations focusing on efficiency of operations, mergers, and acquisitions and public offerings of stock and debt.

Sullivan has also administered the workout, management and disposition of over $1 billion of underperforming for real estate and run a mortgage company with over 30 offices in 15 states.

Sullivan is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Niagara University who was named "Oustanding Citizen of the City of New York" in 1993 for his many charitable and civic works. He presently sits on the University Council of St. John's University, the Council of Regents at St. Francis College and the Board of Directors of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn and is an active parishioner and fund raiser for St. Anne's Church and the Leukemia Society of Nassau County. He coaches girls soccer and softball for the Garden City Leagues.

Sullivan and his wife, Maureen, live on Hampton Road with their two daughters who presently attend the Hemlock and Stratford schools.

Ken Monaghan

Ken Monaghan and his wife Meg returned to Garden City from London in 1991. Ken's mother, Jessine Monaghan, had been living in Garden City since 1974. All four of Ken and Meg Monaghan's children --Sean, Caitlin, Connor, and Emily-- are in the Garden City school system. Ken has coached Little League baseball and served as a Cub Scout Leader. He is a past board member of the CPOA and serves as an alternate on the CPOA Nominating Committee. He also was a member of the Board of Education's Long Range Planning Committee that investigated the growing school population and school space utilization. Meg Monaghan has coached both girl's and boy's soccer, currently coaches girl's basketball, serves as a Cub Scout den mother and is a member of the PTA curriculum committee.

Ken Monaghan currently works for Ghent Asset Management LLC, a subsidiary of Bank Brussels Lambert, where he is a managing director and bond portfolio manager. Ken joined Ghent in 1995 after 13 years at Salomon Brothers as an analysts and institutional bond salesman. He holds a BA degree from Colgate University and Masters degrees in both business and public administration from NYU.

Charles L. Koester, Jr. P.E.

Charles L. Koester, Jr. is a Principal in Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, P.C., an architectural-engineering firm involved in the design of buildings. The firm is the 13th largest A&E firm in the United States with offices in Albany, White Plains, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Koester has a civil engineering degree from Cornell University and has specialized in structural and civil engineering design and construction management.

He is a member of the Garden City Planning Commission and has been involved in many local activities for the 32 years he has lived in Garden City, including Past Director of the CPOA, Student Exchange, and Environmental Fund, plus being a manager of Little League and Babe Ruth teams.

His wife, Sandi, is a real estate broker in town and their five children have gone through the Garden City school system.

Cosmo Veneziale

Cosmo Veneziale is a partner and vice-president of Murno and Veneziale, Architects, L.L.P. with offices in lower Manhattan. Veneziale has been a Registered Architect in New York State since 1982. He received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 1977 and his Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1978 from the City College of New York School of Architecture. Veneziale's responsibilites have included the design and construction administration of adaptive reuse housing, institutional alterations, building restoration, religious/educational facilities, restaurants and luxury apartments. His work has been published in The New York Times, New York Construction News, and Audio Video Interiors magazine.

Murno and Veneziale, Architects, L.L.P., is a multi-disciplined architectural firm specializing in corporate interiors, computer facilites, historic preservation, and residential design. Clients include major financial institutions, corporations, developers, and private individuals. Current projects include the historic restoration of several NYC landmarked apartment buildings, a 200,000 square-foot business recovery facility, corporate offices, and apartment alterations.

Veneziale is a member of the Western Property Owners' Association, Garden City Historical Society, C.C.N.Y. Architecture Alumni Association, and a soccer coach for the Garden City Centennials. He and his family have resided in Garden City since 1992.

John M. Dionisio

John M. Dionisio is a licensed professional Civil Engineer with over 27 years of planning, design, construction and program management experience, having worked on hundereds of millions of dollars of multi-disciplined, civil, structural, mechanical and electrical transportation and facilities projects worldwide.

He is a graduate engineer with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the City College of the City of New York (CCNY) 1971 and a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York 1976. He is a registered Professional Engineer licensed in four states including New York.

He is the president of Frederick R. Harris Inc., the 7th largest transportation consulting engineering firm in the United States, with over 30 offices throughout the world and over 70 years of design and management experience on complex infrastructure projects worldwide.

He has been a resident of Garden City since 1982 and is married with two high school aged children.

Reid Sclafani

Reid Sclafani is married to Maria Sclafani. They have one child, Brian, who will be 3 years old this month. Sclafani began teaching business education at Garden City High School in September of 1992. He and his family moved to Garden City in May of 1994. He has been coaching wrestling and soccer at the middle school or the high school since the fall of 1992. He is the advisor to the Stock Market Club and Co-advisor to the Trojan Club. He is also the high school teacher representative to the PTA, and a member of the student eligibility committee.

He graduated from the Half Hollow Hills Public Schools and then Carnegie Mellon University, with a B.S. in Managerial Economics. After graduation he spent two years working for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, and then two years with a start-up company which manufactured and marketed golf and tennis equipment. Upon leaving the sports equipment business he entered Dowling College, earning a masters in business education.

James Carney

Jim Carney has been a Garden City resident since 1994. He is the father of two young boys, (one in Stewart School and one soon-to-be). He and his wife, MAryellen, live on Chestnut Street. Carney is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point where he received a B.S. in Engineering and later attended Baruch University in NYC where he received a MBA in Finance. He is currently a Director in the Eastern Property Owners' Association and has volunteered for several seasons as a soccer coach for both the GC Centennials and the GCAA.

Carney is currently the Assistant Director of Engineering for the ABC Television Network. As such, he is responsible for all aspects of building engineering and maintenance, both with new construction and renovations. His expertise covers areas such as roofing, mechanical and electrical systems, masonry and parapet work, building management systems, environmental controls, hazardous materials, and interior construction. Carney is responsible for ABC's large portfolio of buildings in NY and Washington, D.C. and also consults on ABC facilities in Chicago, LA and London. Prior to his tenure at ABC, he had similar responsibilities for Con Ed, the major utility in NYC.