Claiming that campaign flyers and advertisements urging residents to re-elect Jon Segerdahl to the village board depicted village merchants and several members of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce as "evil," Jerry Unger, president of Printing X-Press located on Franklin Avenue, emotionally defended himself during the Feb. 18 trustees meeting.

"Your recent comments have made me an angry man. Angry I am, evil I am not," a visibly upset Unger told Segerdahl.

"Your advertisements and the fliers that were stuffed under front door mats showed me just how little you know about me and my fellow business people. The next time you are ready to spread misstatements and innuendoes, why not try something that, to the best of my knowledge, you've never done - have a dialogue with us 'evil-doers.'"

Segerdahl, who ran against opponent Roger Eltringham in a Feb. 4 primary election in the East, listened but did not comment during the Feb. 18 meeting. Wanting to "just move forward," he has no comments at this time either. The 10-member Nominating Committee of the Eastern Property Owners Association (EPOA) publicly selected Eltringham, present Chamber treasurer/secretary and a past EPOA president himself, in January for the position of village trustee to replace incumbent Segerdahl.

Andrew deLannoy, chairman of the Recreation Commission, however, presented EPOA President Nick Episcopia during the Jan. 21 electors' meeting with a challenging petition signed by numerous residents to re-nominate Segerdahl. Segerdahl won the primary with 557 votes; Eltringham received 262 votes.

Garden City Life received copies of the fliers, which stated, "If you haven't attended village board meetings for the past seven years, you might not know that Jon's opponent hasn't either - except to join the chorus of Chamber of Commerce representatives and a Franklin Avenue developer who seek to control the village board.

"With that power, they can move forward with their plan to control zoning in the commercial district, expand parking lots into residential neighborhoods, reroute traffic off Franklin Avenue and spend more huge amounts of your tax dollars on brick sidewalks to benefit themselves.

"You should know that these are the same people who wanted to build a 50,000 square foot supermarket in the middle of our village. These are the same people who wanted to 'calm' Franklin Avenue by pushing traffic onto Washington, through the Mott neighborhood, and make a north-south roadway out of the railroad right-of-way behind Arthur Street.

"These are the same people who still want these things. These are the same people who threaten that if they don't get what they want, the village tax base will continue to shift to homeowners because of commercial property tax certiorari suits. They don't say that they are the people bringing up the lawsuits. These are the people who want no discussion with residents about their demands and proposals."

Another flier, which indicates that the Committee to Re-elect Trustee Jon Segerdahl paid for it, stated, "Commercial interests are threatening our village and quality of life. Developers want to tear down and redevelop the Social Service building on the corner of Eleventh [Street] and Washington [Avenue] along with many areas of Franklin Avenue. If unchecked, four- to six-story buildings with parking structures will rise before our eyes. Traffic nightmares will wind through our streets. Light and noise will pollute your neighborhood and destroy our quality of life."

Unger, on behalf of the board of directors of the Chamber, noted that the Social Services building is Nassau County-owned. "True, the county has said it would like to consolidate its departments and is analyzing a real estate study to determine which properties to keep or renovate and which to sell. But the county has not even issued its findings. To imply otherwise is simply wrong," he said.

Althea Robinson, one of the 10 members of the EPOA's 2003 nominating committee who brought forth Eltringham as candidate for village trustee, also commented on the "negative innuendoes" concerning certain committee members, specifically a past Chamber president, present Chamber members and Robinson herself, longtime Chamber executive director. Other nominating committee members include James Brady (chair), Maureen Clancy, Stephen Dooley, Harold Hecken, Maureen McConnell, Michael Maloney, Eileen Murphy and Robert Stark (one member resigned prior to deliberations).

"To presume that my or their vote would be cast for Mr. Eltringham - just because he serves as a Chamber officer - is absolutely incorrect and ludicrous! To be sure, Mr. Eltringham is a friend of mine. But, putting the Chamber and our friendship aside, we have worked together over the years on many community projects and activities. And also to be sure, my admiration for Roger Eltringham's numerous contributions to the community go far beyond friendship and business associations."

Robinson added, "I and members of the 10-member Nominating Committee of the East are Garden City residents - first and foremost. Innuendoes suggesting otherwise are insulting and hurtful."

She noted that of the four members of the committee who are also present Chamber members, three had also served as EPOA officers and all had previously served on the 10-member nominating committee. "All committee members have passed through the ranks and have served or do serve our village well in various capacities," she told Segerdahl. "To have produced for circulation fliers casting aspersions upon the integrity of these fine residents is unconscionable."

Unger, a Garden City merchant since 1978, suggested Segerdahl "seems to want a process that includes residents and the property owners' associations but leaves little or no consideration for the very businesses that help support this village. Not exactly the kind of open-minded thinking that we need on this board."

The annual village election will be held Tuesday, March 18 from 12-9 p.m. at village hall. Residents will be voting for the following candidates: Barbara Miller for mayor (two-year term); Gerard Lundquist for trustee (two-year term); Segerdahl for trustee (two-year term); Robert Rothschild for trustee (two-year term); and Peter Negri for trustee (one-year term).