A formidable number of Sea Cliff residents, many of whom remarked that it was great to see so many involved neighbors, attended the Sea Cliff Village Board meeting on Monday, June 5. At the meeting, Trustee Ted Kopczynski announced his resignation from the board, effective immediately. He stated that he has been offered a new position to advance his career which would require more of his time. "At this point in my life this type of opportunity does not come along often," said Mr. Kopczynski. He spoke of his deep esteem for the mayor and his fellow trustees, saying he will miss working with them but once he is settled in his new position, he hopes to have more free time to donate to the Village. "I love this village; I have Sea Cliff blood in my veins," said Mr. Kopczynski. In keeping with something of a tradition in this one-party village, Mr. Kopczynski would have been next in line to run for mayor because of his seniority on the village board. His departure changes the political spectrum. In response to a question from the editor of this newspaper, Mayor Claudia Moyne said she would be appointing someone to fill Mr. Kopczynski's position. The annual elections are scheduled for next April. Everyone who spoke during the meeting later that evening expressed regret at the news and prefaced their statements with a compliment to "the independent thinker," Trustee Kopczynski.

Emotions also ran high during the public comments portion of the meeting when Don Cavanaugh, an attorney affiliated with the North Shore Environmental Alliance, asked the village board to rescind their decision granting official newspaper status to one of the local newspapers, the Gold Coast Gazette. Both local newspapers, the Gazette and the Record-Pilot , have been the target of the village board's ire in recent months for printing unflattering letters to the editor on the actions of village officials, editorials stating the lack of a democratic process in village government and continuing coverage of a recent lawsuit sparked by allegations of election improprieties. Mr. Cavanaugh impugned the reputation of the Gazette by accusing the paper of being unfair, vindictive, of misquoting the Mayor and trustees and practicing "yellow dog journalism." Amid cries of "censorship" from within the audience, numerous citizens rose in defense of the Gazette. Mitch Lipson said that any negativity the paper has printed has been contained in letters to the editor. "It is the right of the Gazette to print what it wants and it should not be censored by you [the Village Board] or anyone else." Dr. Gorski thanked the Gazette and the Record-Pilot for printing the public's opinions which he said "may not be flattering sometimes." The comments, some of them defending the First Amendment rights of the local papers, were met with thunderous applause. Gazette editor Kevin Horton said that the designation of official newspaper is based solely on circulation figures, not with reporting. "I've used my tape recorder for meetings. Trustee Como can attest to the accuracy of my quoting in doing a story. Maybe the words didn't come out the way he wanted them to, but that's what was said."

In other business, Trustee Eileen Kennedy reported that the village would charge a nominal fee for Storytime at Sea Cliff Beach. In the past, no fee was charged, allowing non-members to come for Storytime and stay on to enjoy the rest of the day at the beach. Trustee Kennedy said this was not fair to paying beach-goers. The funds collected will go to the Sea Cliff Library.

Trustee Phil Como reported he met with the Public Safety Awareness Committee regarding forming an agenda with achievable initiatives. Their first action is to have a stop sign installed on Prospect. Trustee Como, the Board's liaison to the Committee, said , "We'll try it and see how it works. We will be contacting Legislator Muellers again about the situation at Prospect and Shore Road to better afford easy access for pedestrians going to the pool." At one point Mitch Lipson asked Trustee Como, "Who's the foreman at public works who will direct the installation of the stop sign?" To which Trustee Como replied, "Wait until we get to the Mitch Lipson part of the meeting to ask questions." In giving the traffic report Trustee Como, board liaison to the Nassau County Police Department, said the issuance of parking summonses has increased from 34 tickets in April to 56 in May. He then apologized for comments he made during the May 15 board meeting during a discussion about the presence, or lack of presence in Sea Cliff of the Nassau County Police Department when he said," If you get in a cop's face, they are trained to get back right in yours." In his apology, Trustee Como expressed his hope to continue working in cooperation with the police department especially in light of the opening of the St. Boniface School to Sea Cliff elementary students this fall. Trustee Como then announced that Rhoda Andors, whom he called " a Princeton graduate with a pedigree" has developed a great way to inform animal owners about the pooper-scooper laws in the village. Ms. Andors has created a sign that will be posted throughout the Village regarding that law.

Trustee Eileen Krieb announced that Ward Bell is looking for adult volunteers for his sailing program, and without these volunteers there will be no program this summer. Trustee Krieb said that a public forum will be held on June 14 on a proposal by Metrocom to install wireless equipment throughout the village enabling their customers to access the Internet. All Sea Cliff residents are invited to Village Hall at 8 P.M. to learn more about this proposal.

During public comments, Bob Haim thanked Trustee Kopczynski and proceeded with his questions. "Is there an agenda followed for this meeting? Is that something that should be posted and placed in the newspapers?" Village attorney Richard Siegel said the agenda was not required to be sent to the newspapers, but the village could consider that option. Mayor Claudia Moyne added that sometimes the agenda is not in the newspapers because of their deadlines and items are added to the agenda after those deadlines. Mr. Haim thanked Fire Department Chief John Lyons on a review he recently conducted. At press time, this newspaper has learned that the review concluded that the St. Boniface building, scheduled to be used this fall by the North Shore School District as a temporary school for students currently in the Sea Cliff Elementary School which is about to undergo renovations, does not comply with current fire safety codes. (More on this matter next week).

Peggy Costello of the Sea Cliff Beautification Committee received accolades for yet another volunteer job well done. Dean Scheu inquired about the ongoing contract negotiations between the village and its employees. Mayor Moyne said the delay was not because of the village; it was because of a change in union negotiators. When Mr. Scheu asked if a PA system and nameplates could be installed in Village Hall, Mayor Moyne said she hadn't thought of making Village Hall more formal. The mayor said she would rather fix the floor and borrow pictures from the museum to enhance Village Hall. "I'd like to keep the atmosphere informal. Everybody knows us," said Mayor Moyne.

Zefy Christopoulos contributed to this story.