District 4 in the newly drawn North Hempstead council districts includes most of the Great Neck peninsula to the west, the unincorporated areas of Manhasset, Munsey Park, North Hills, Roslyn Estates and Roslyn. The two candidates running for the seat are Republican Ed Kitt of Manhasset and incumbent Democrat Wayne Wink of Roslyn.

Edward K. Kitt has been a resident of North Hempstead for most of his life. He grew up in Mineola and now lives in Manhasset with his wife and four children. He is a graduate of Chaminade High School, Villanova University and St. John's University School of Law. Ed has been an attorney for more than 20 years and for many years has owned his own law practice. Currently he is employed by the New York State Insurance Department.

Ed has always enjoyed community service. Most recently he joined the effort to convince the commissioners of the Manhasset Park District to acquire parkland for recreation and preservation purposes. He has worked with State Senator Mike Balboni to obtain grants to support the Manhasset Baseball and Softball Leagues. Ed also obtained the first grant and negotiated the acquisition of land and the county permit that allowed the new baseball field to be built in Manhasset Valley Park. Currently Ed has a committee in formation to obtain funding and a location for an indoor lacrosse and sports facility. Once again Senator Balboni has come through with a State grant to help this effort.

Over the years Ed has been CYO basketball coach, PAL lacrosse coach, assistant Scoutmaster, member of St. Mary's School Board and member of the Knights of Columbus and the Surfrider Foundation.

In 1996 Ed received a Citation for Heroism from the State of New York. This recognition arose from his rescue of a swimmer in hurricane surf at Jones Beach.

Ed has worked on the staff of Senator Kemp Hannon handling constituent requests and working on health and insurance issues. He served on an ad hoc committee for County Legislator Rich Nicolello in regard to issues of land use and over-development. Currently Ed has provided his services, free of cost, to the Manhasset Park District in regard to government relations and land acquisition.

One of Ed's most rewarding experiences occurred when he approached Senator Mike Balboni with a special request after September 11, 2001. The Manhasset community was hit very hard by the attack on the World Trade Center. Ed and Mike discussed the special government benefits being made available to surviving spouses and families of the victims. It was decided that Senator Balboni and Assemblyman Tom Di Napoli would send staff members to Ed's Manhasset law office to open a special September 11, 2001 victim assistance center right in the heart of Manhasset. Ed, Mike and Tom agreed that whatever comfort was given to those neighbors who used this service was worth the effort.

Kitt is not happy with the way the North Hempstead town Board drew the district lines for the new council districts. He is particularly critical of the fact that the Manhasset area h as been divided, with the Plandomes and Flower Hill located in the 6th district, which basically contains the Port Washington peninsula, and unincorporated Manhasset and Munsey Park located in the 4th district, which is dominated by the Great Neck peninsula. If elected he would propose to redraw the district lines. "The town board drew the lines and the new town board can change the district lines," he says. "Communities like Manhasset should be kept together."

Ed Kitt would like to put his energy and experience to work for everyone in the Fourth Town Council District.

Wayne grew up in Nassau County, graduating from the Uniondale public schools. He received his BA in political science from Hofstra University and his JD from St. John's University. Professionally, Wayne is an attorney specializing in real estate law and litigation. In addition, he is an adjunct professor of political science at Hofstra University. He lives in Roslyn with his wife.

From 1992 to 1995 Wayne served as a legislative assistant to the North Hempstead town board. He also represented the town board at various civic and governmental functions. In civic affairs, he supervised the 1996 Manhasset Bay Environmental Study, the Lacer disc Personal Identification Program and as a member of the Sheets; Creek Task Force.

He says that he was "somewhat ambivalent" about the change of the town's government to councilmanic districts, although he believes most of the issues will be the same as those that concerned him as an "at-large" councilman. "We have the best educated, most sophisticated residents in this town," he said in a recent interview. AS a member of the May Newburger team in North Hempstead, he has supported the town's debt management plan, which he says should do much to reduce the town's debt. He said that the town has already reduced its number of employees through a combination of "efficiency and technological improvements" but acknowledges that there is still much to be done.

He doesn't expect to see much change in North Hempstead whether Democrat Jon Kaiman or Republican Frank Moroney is elected. "Town government doesn't lend itself too much to ideology," he said. "We are here to make sure roads get paved and swept, snow is cleared and garbage is collected." He believes the town is on the right track but says there is much to be done. The town's highway department has a schedule for future work which Wink believes is a good one. On code enforcement, he says that more needs to be done. "Code enforcement has town-wide implications," he said. It does not just affect one individual district.

As far as taxes go, Wink says that he believes the town "should be able to hold the line on taxes, within reason." Still and all the effects of the state budget will be felt locally. "We don't operate in a vacuum," he said.

Mr. Wink and Mr. Kitt will participate in the League of Women Voters Candidates' Night to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Port Washington at Schreiber High School.