Adams Steps Up Campaign in Final Week

With the special district election only days away, Manhasset Park District Commissioner Michael C. Adams is intensifying his efforts to get his supporters to the polls on Tuesday, Dec. 9. The election will be conducted on that evening at the Manhasset-Lakeville Firehouse, Bayview Avenue, Manhasset between 5 and 9 p.m.

"I'm confident my message is getting out," Commissioner Adams said. "During my tenure, the Park District has taken dramatic steps to rid the commuter lots of non-residents, acquire and clean-up our passive parks, and meet our civic responsibilities through the sponsorship of the flu shot program and the annual tree-lighting ceremony." The tree-lighting ceremony will be held tomorrow night, Friday, Dec. 5, starting at 4:15 p.m. at the Plandome Road Bandstand.

The 34-year Manhasset resident is reminding voters that, as a daily LIRR commuter, he knows firsthand the importance of finding a parking space in the morning and brings that viewpoint to the district's board meetings. The Manhasset Park District (MPD) is charged with issuing commuter parking permits and making sure only MPD residents are using the lots nearest the LIRR station. Since his election to the Board of Commissioners, Mr. Adams has instituted a policy whereby the commuter lots are manned starting at 6 a.m. Snow removal begins even earlier in the day, if circumstances warrant.

His opponent, Commissioner Adams maintains, has failed to attend one Park District meeting or budget hearing over the past 15 years. "The campaign seems to be built on one issue--our public hearing last August to determine whether a lot on Bayview Avenue should be condemned and purchased for shopper parking," he continued. "As soon as we realized the public sentiment against the idea, my fellow commissioners and I dropped the proposal in a phone call to the property's owner. That occurred 20 minutes after we closed the public hearing. If that isn't responsive government, I don't know what is."

The Park District's formation of the Plandome Road Commission, a group of volunteers charged with making recommendations to alleviate the parking shortage along Manhasset's busiest thoroughfare, came soon thereafter, the commissioner said.

"The idea had been bouncing around for years," he stated. "But the hearing really called attention to the longstanding parking problems on Plandome Road and, when we publicly sought volunteers to serve on the commission, the Park District's phone and fax lines lit up immediately," Commissioner Adams stated.

While Commissioner Adams opposes the idea of placing parking meters along Plandome Road, he said that Nassau County would eventually make the final decision because Plandome Road is a county road.

The Park District's ability to influence public policy at all governmental levels, however, has been enhanced by his strong working relationship with North Hempstead Town Hall's elected officials and the top officials at the Nassau County Police Department, he said.

If re-elected, Commissioner Adams said he would spend the next three years doing what he's done over the past 15 years on the Board. "I'll continue putting Manhasset first. My only agenda is improving the quality of life in this town," he said, paraphrasing the message on one of his campaign flyers.