Former civic leader James Altadonna is challenging Camillo Giannattiasio in a bid for the office of mayor of the Village of Massapequa Park.

Giannattasio, the incumbent, is running for re-election to a second term, after being elected in 1999. The office carries a two-year term. Village elections will take place on March 20.

Altadonna is running with the Village People's Rights First Party, while Giannattasio is with the Front Street Party.

As the mayoral race begins to get under way, in recent weeks, the issue of cellular towers has come to the forefront of the start of the village election season. Altadonna, who has criticized Giannattasio on recent village land deals regarding cellular towers, cited the issue last week as a major reason he decided to run for the office. Meanwhile, the current mayor has defended his handling of the cellular tower issue, noting that the land deals were aimed at keeping some municipal control over towers which would inevitably be erected in the village due to telecommunication industry trends. In interviews this week, both candidates gave their stance on the cellular tower issue.

Altadonna is opposed to the cell tower that was placed in front of village hall in the fall, through a lease deal that the village has with Nassau Towers, Inc., and was part of the opposition that caused the village board to cancel a similar deal for village property near Massapequa High School last month.

"I felt that the village was going in a direction that did not benefit the residents," said Altadonna, noting that the health risks associated with cellular towers are not yet clear.

Giannattasio said the cellular tower erected in front of village hall is not a health risk and generates lease revenue for the village. He added that it is encased in an aesthetically pleasing flagpole, which the village was able to arrange by exercising municipal control over the structure.

"Most people were upset that they weren't told what was going on," said Giannattasio, acknowledging that he was at fault for not effectively communicating the village's plans for the tower lease deal to the public. "We didn't communicate well," he explained.

Giannattasio said he spent months researching the issue before recommending to the village board that the land deals were in the best interest of the village, but then distanced himself from the issue because he knew the cellular tower company representative, Edward Mooney of Nassau Towers, as a personal friend, and did not want to create an appearance of a conflict of interest.

While Altadonna questions the health risks associated with cellular towers, and cited a cancer cluster in the area of the cellular tower near the local water tower, Giannattasio assured the safety of the structures. The mayor said that the Federal Communications Commission has deemed them safe and prohibited local municipalities from barring them on the basis of health concerns.

With the progression of the mayoral campaign, the Observer will feature personal profiles of the candidates, and their campaign platforms, in next week's edition.

During the March 20 village election, residents can vote at village hall from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. All residents who are registered with the Nassau County Board of Elections are eligible to vote. Also on the ballot, under the Front Street Party, are trustees Joseph G. Pinto and Robert J. Wilcox, who are running unopposed, each for another two-year term.

In addition, Acting Village Justice Gerard E. Giannattasio is running unopposed for village justice, which carries a four-year term. The present village justice, James Morris, is retiring.