After sitting through his third meeting as a member of the Garden City Village Board, Jon Segerdahl took some time to speak to the Garden City Life about how he feels about his position as a trustee.

"I think it's an awesome responsibility," said Segerdahl of his new role in village government. Commenting on the most recent meeting, where tensions were high, Segerdahl added, "I think one of the things that all of the trustees need to do is sometimes remove personal feelings and be more global and examine issues based on what's in the best interest of the village at large even though each of us is elected representing a particular area, a property owners' association, as a trustee one keeps that in mind but I think the global responsibilities within the village of looking at what's in the best interest of the village at large is something that we must constantly evaluate."

Noting that he was aware of many of the issues facing the village because of his involvement with the Eastern Property Owners' Association, Segerdahl stated that his first goal has been to bring himself up to speed about all the issues facing the village. Among those that Segerdahl sees as being at the forefront right now are the revitalization of Franklin Avenue, the parking issue, and St. Paul's. Segerdahl went on to note, though those are some of the issues that are most well known, there are items such as water conditions, that also need attention. "Last night we received a report on the water infrastructure within the village and it's quite an awesome responsibility," said Segerdahl. "Water gets piped into our houses and we just expect it to be in this wonderful condition and how it gets there from the numerous wells and the upkeep of those wells, things of that nature is one of the things that I'm coming up to speed on."

When asked about any changes he would like to see, Segerdahl stated that he would like to see some conclusion on a number of issues. "I don't know if that qualifies as changes but I would really like to see some conclusions and I think that's what the board and Mr. Lewis are trying to do, bring some final resolution to this parking issue in the downtown area. That's an issue that's been going on for the last year or two and it's really sucking up a lot of oxygen from everybody. We'd like to really come to a conclusion on that," said Segerdahl. "Of course, the other thing we'd like to come to a conclusion on is the status of St. Paul's, whether we can continue to examine the leasing of that or whether we'll continue to explore the possible municipal uses of the building."

Segerdahl notes that these are not the only issues in the village. One thing that he finds especially important is maintaining and sustaining the high level of municipal services that are delivered to residents of the village on a daily basis. He wants to be sure that these services, whether it be snow removal, street cleaning, or water service, are maintained in a high state. He added that not all residents realize the complexities of these services and noted that he is just beginning to recognize the complexity himself. Segerdahl went on to commend the municipal staff within the village, from Village Administrator Robert Schoelle down, for the high level of service they maintain for the residents.

Though recognizing the inner workings of the village is new to Segerdahl, involvement in village activities is not. Segerdahl has lived in Garden City for nearly 30 years and has always been actively involved. In the early years his involvement centered around his three children, coaching teams that his two sons and daughter played on, whether it be soccer, baseball, or softball. As his children grew older, he was asked if he would be interested in joining the board of directors of the Eastern Property Owners' Association. After serving as a director of the EPOA for a number of years, Segerdahl then served as vice president of the organization for a year before serving two years as president of the EPOA and as the chairman of the joint conference of POAs before moving on to be trustee.

Outside of his work in the village, Segerdahl is the principal of Island Trees Middle School. He has been a building administrator there for approximately 24 years. A graduate of Adelphi University, Segerdahl earned his master's degree in community counseling from Long Island University at C.W. Post, which is also where he received his professional diploma in administration and supervision.

Describing the village process as "interesting," Segerdahl gave some final thoughts about his newest role. "I think the Village of Garden City has a unique form of government that, I think, works very well. It is a form of government that encourages a lot of participation on a grassroots level, the way the four POAs are set up and that trustees are nominated from each of those POAs- it's not a dual-party type of system, it's actually a single party because when trustees get elected they actually get cross-endorsed so the nomination process is one of cross-endorsement so that the EPOA will cross-endorse the nominee from the West, the Central, and the Estates and the other POA, for the nominating of trustees will do the same. I think it's kind of a unique form of government and I think it works very well for our village," concluded Segerdahl. "Of course, not everybody agrees on all issues and never will but those are some of the things we have to grapple with."