John L. Mauk, whose name was submitted to the mayor via petition, to replace Trustee Laurence Kettner on the Village Board, will be joining his fellow trustees on the board for the first time this Thursday. This will be the first time since before the April 3 reorganizational meeting that the board will be complete. This term will be for the remainder of this fiscal year.

"It is an honor and I appreciate the confidence and the trust that the mayor has placed in me and I hope that I am equal to that confidence and trust," said Trustee Mauk of his selection. "I was interested in this job, principally because when I heard about the vacancy and people urged me to let my name be considered for the position, I really thought that my background in capital construction and development might be useful in helping the village address some of the things that they are currently facing, like the issues of the disposition of St. Paul's, the expansion of Village Hall and the continuing revitalization of the Franklin Avenue business areas, including the issues of parking, so I'm pleased that he [the mayor] agreed that I have some experience that might be useful in that regard." Mauk noted that the next step for him was to prove the mayor right.

Mauk, by profession is an attorney, with a great extent of his responsibility retaining and managing services, principally professional and construction services for the World Trade Center and the operation of the World Trade Center. According to Mauk, much of what he deals with is professional architectural and engineering services, as well as being responsible for preparing and issuing construction contracts for the millions of dollars worth of construction that takes place each year at the World Trade Center. During a career at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Mauk has held a number of responsible positions in a variety of fields, including participation as part of the overall management team that planned and implemented the $370 million recovery of the World Trade Center following the 1993 bombing.

The other experience that Mauk feels will help him in his role as trustee, is his 11 years on the Garden City Planning Commission. "I have quite a bit of knowledge and familiarity there with some of the planning aspects and issues affecting the village and some of the things coming up in that regard," said Mauk. "I've also got a background and experience in other areas regarding development and construction that I hope I will be able to apply to what's coming up in the village."

In addition to his law degree, Mauk also has his master's degree in public administration and worked at one time as the assistant to the City Manager for Torrance, California, a municipality that according to Mauk is similar to Garden City.

Mauk is well known in the village, not only for his role on the planning commission but for his role in bringing to light the problems with the first bond presented by the school district. After the defeat of that bond, Mauk began to serve on the ad hoc committee for the school bond. As a member of the legal subcommittee of the ad hoc committee, he provides legal council and advise on the bond. Mauk was involved in preparing the solicitation documents, the requests for proposals, the contract documents, and bringing in new professionals, architectural firms and construction management firms and project manager to help implement the new school bond. The members of the ad hoc committee were named "Citizens of the Year" for 1999 by the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, received an Award of Recognition from the PTA in 1998 and received a certificate of appreciation from the Garden City School Board for their ongoing efforts.

Mauk sees several parallels between the work that was done by the ad hoc committee for the school bond and the ongoing process of the expansion of Village Hall. This project has been delayed because when it went out for bid, twice, all the bids came in over the money allotted by the village. Now the architect who developed the plans has retired and the village must find a new architect and rework those plans. Even prior to being named a village trustee, Mauk has been involved in this process, providing some advice to the village with regard to that project.

A resident of the village since 1978, Mauk has been involved in many aspects of the community in addition to the planning commission and the ad hoc committee. He served on the Estates Property Owner's Association's 15-member nominating committee, been a coach for boys and girls traveling and intramural soccer continuously since 1988, and is serving as the Building Committee advisor for the Garden City Community Church for some building improvement plans they want to undertake.

When asked about his future on the planning commission, Mauk responded that he has been asked to continue on the planning commission temporarily to take care of some ongoing issues, such as zoning matters and the recently released parking study, but noted that the village is looking into the legality of him serving on the planning commission and the village board at the same time. He will be continuing to serve on the ad hoc committee for the school bond.

Mauk and his wife Ellen Schuler Mauk, a professor of English at Suffolk Community College and Faculty Association president at SCC, have two children, Daniel, a junior at Garden City High School and Stephanie, an eighth grader at Garden City Middle School.

"I expect to try and represent the interests of all the residents of the village as a whole, especially the residents of the Estates section. I will try to serve as a liaison also to the trustees on issues that the Estates POA considers to be important," concluded Mauk. "I expect to be doing a lot of learning as well, in terms of other things."