The Property Owners' Association of Garden City Estates held their annual electors' meeting Tuesday, Jan. 16. At that meeting, the 15-member Nominating Committee presented to the residents their nominees for trustee positions, including village board trustee - John DeMaro - for a two-year term commencing April 2007.

At that same meeting, residents of the Estates section responded to a request for any challenges by submitting a challenge nominee: village board trustee - incumbent Estates trustee Robert Rothschild - for a two-year term commencing April 2007.

As a result of the events of this meeting, a runoff election will be held between John DeMaro and Rob Rothschild for the position of village board trustee Jan. 30 at Garden City High School from 4 to 9 p.m. All residents of the Estates section of the village (18 years of age or older) are eligible to vote.

The winner of this runoff election will be the Estates village board trustee candidate and will run for election March 20 in the village-wide board of trustees election.

Robert Rothschild will seek re-election as trustee for the Estates section, a position he has held for the past four years.

Rothschild has lived in Garden City since 1983, and he has been a resident of the Estates section since 1986. As a sitting village trustee, he brings to the board significant experience in all levels of local government and the knowledge needed to resolve the complex issues facing the village at this time.

He has been an active and contributing member of the Garden City community since moving here, and his involvement with the Property Owners Association of the Estates section of the village dates back to the early 1990s. He has served as president of the POA as well as its vice president, director and member on various committees, including the Nominating Committee. He has chaired the Traffic Committee for the Estates POA, a position in which he was responsible for the presentation of resident requests for traffic control changes within the Estates area. His many years of experience with the POA has given him the opportunity to obtain a first-hand understanding of the various commissions that form the village government.

Always putting the needs of the residents first, Rothschild said he has advocated the importance of a balanced and vibrant commercial district to enhance quality of life and to stabilize the tax base. In 1996, he was appointed by the mayor to be the Estates POA representative on the Business Planning Coalition. This coalition, made up of residents and business owners, formulated the plan to revitalize the village commercial district, which plan was accepted by the village board and is being successfully implemented to this day.

In 2003, after serving as president of the POA, Rothschild was elected village trustee, a position he currently holds. As a member of the board of trustees, he has served as chairman of the Traffic Commission, chairman of the Environmental Advisory Board, liaison trustee for the Recreation and Planning Commissions, the Architectural Design Review Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Police Department and Chamber of Commerce.

He has always encouraged residents to participate in village activities. As a member of the village Audit Committee, he supported the appointment of village residents to the Citizens Budget Committee. This committee will review village expenditures and budget costs focusing on the necessity, the method and the means by which particular services are provided to the public. The committee members will be expected to offer possible recommendations to slow the ever-increasing tax burden on village residents. Serving as the chair of the Public Information Committee, Rothschild managed the development of the Village Facts newsletter regarding the status of St. Paul's and the presentation of options available for the property. He also assisted in the defeat of the Roosevelt Field expansion that would have adversely impacted Garden City with traffic and other environmental issues.

Rothschild is the senior vice president in charge of real estate lending for Signature Bank. He is a graduate of St. John's University where he received BS and MBA degrees. He and his wife, Valerie, have been residents of the Estates section for 21 years, along with their two daughters, Claudia and Claire, who both attended Garden City public schools.

John DeMaro, officially selected by the Estates Property Owners' Association (Estates POA) Nominating Committee, is seeking election as trustee of the Estates section.

DeMaro acts as chair of the Public Policy/Legal Subcommittee of the Long Island Wireless Broadband Initiative, a group with members appointed by the county executive of the County of Suffolk. The goals of the project include the deployment of a wireless broadband network throughout Suffolk and Nassau counties, to make affordable Internet access available to all residents of Long Island and to stimulate economic development and growth and to improve the services provided by the counties.

He has also been involved in fundraising for several charities, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and has been awarded the National Multiple Sclerosis Leadership Award.

DeMaro is a partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C. (RMF) where he is chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Group and a member of the Litigation Department. RMF is a 60-attorney, full-service business law firm located at Reckson Plaza in Uniondale.

He is an intellectual property attorney, recognized in the field for his work on complex transactional matters and dispute resolution. He represents and advises clients in connection with all conceivable intellectual property issues, including trademark, copyright, licensing, privacy, Internet, software, domain name, unfair competition, trade secrecy and technology-transfer matters. DeMaro supervises the firm's international trademark practice and advises clients regarding worldwide intellectual property matters. He has performed these services for national and regional clients. He writes and lectures extensively on intellectual property and litigation topics.

DeMaro also has substantial experience with the New York State procurement lobbying rules and regulations affecting governmental entities and has lectured on the topic with the New York State comptroller. Among other administrative responsibilities at the law firm, he serves as the hiring partner and interviews more than 75 attorney candidates per year.

Actively involved in the New York State Bar Association's Intellectual Property section as well as the Nassau County Bar Association's Intellectual Property committee, DeMaro is also a member of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Nassau County.

He received his law school degree from St. John's University School of Law. While at St. John's, he served as the executive publications editor of the St. John's Law Review as well as the executive notes and comments editor of the New York International Law Review. DeMaro currently serves on the board of directors of the St. John's Law School Alumni Association (Nassau Chapter) and is a class representative.

He received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany with a major in political science and a minor in business administration. While attending SUNY Albany, DeMaro was employed for four years at the New York State Assembly. Further, he has also taken classes focusing on leadership and management at Harvard Business School.

DeMaro lives in the Estates section of Garden City with his wife, Kimberly, and their three children, Timothy (5), James (3) and Julia (1).