By Jessica DeStefano

Village residents will go to the polls March 19 to elect three trustees, with two of the positions holding a term of two years, and one holding a term of one year. The two contested seats pit incumbent trustee Gail Klubnick and former Mayor Camillo Giannattasio of the New Village Freedom Party against Jeffrey Pravato and Theresa Spinosa of the People's Rights First Party.

Jeff Pravato has worked as an institutional trader with Morgan Stanley for over ten years. A graduate of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, he is also a member of the Village Planning Commission, and the third vice president of the Massapequa Park Lions Club. Pravato, a resident of the village for eight years, is married with two children.

Pravato said that what the village wants and needs is commitment and fresh vision, both of which he claims he and Teresa Spinosa can provide. "We're bringing fresh blood into the job," he said. "This is what the village needs and residents want; I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of people and they want new ideas coming in."

Additionally, he cited his financial background as particularly useful when facing economic challenges to the village due to the slowing economy. "With my background at a major institutional investment bank in Manhattan, I can see things coming earlier so the village can react preemptively to any coming economic problems."

Pravato praised Mayor James Altadonna for improving communication between the village and residents, but claimed the current board is not operating under the greatest spirit of unity that it might. "We need to stop doing what is best for ourselves and start doing what is best for the people of this village," he said.

Teresa Spinosa is a CPA and graduate of St. John's University. She is currently serving her second term as co-president of the Birch Lane Elementary School PTA. She has been a resident of the village for ten years, where she and her husband have raised their three children.

Like her running mate Pravato, Spinosa also stressed the necessity for a sense of unity between the mayor and the board. "I feel we need a board that is cooperative with the current mayor and that will support the mayor to get things done that need to get done." Her main goal is to " ...continue with many programs that have been started and to ensure the quality of life for the residents of the park."

Spinosa said that her financial background would also be helpful when facing the upcoming budgetary challenges she sees as inevitable. "With cutbacks at the state level, it will be a challenge to complete the improvements that need to be done with funding we have," she said.

Spinosa stressed her commitment to the community and her fresh vision as strong credentials for the job at hand. "I represent a big portion of the community because I have a young family, and my kids are growing up here. I am convinced we need a new vision, new experience. The people want someone who doesn't have an agenda, who is basically looking out for the betterment of the village."

Gail Klubnick, the incumbent, will serve her second term as trustee if elected. She is a resident of the village since 1976, and the owner and operator of Tim's Florist on Park Blvd. in the village since 1969. Klubnick said it was a sense of gratitude that prompted her to run again for the board. "My family has grown, I have a business in the village, and I really want to give something back to the community that did so much for me and my family."

Klubnick said that she and Giannattasio have "unfinished business" from back in the year when Giannattassio was mayor and she sat on the board. She cited a host of projects that had been started but not necessarily finished, including the refurbishment of Park Blvd., Colleran Park playground, Mansfield Park in North Massapequa, and improvements to the Long Island Railroad Station. Another challenge she sees facing the village is improving the roads. "The roads will be a big challenge, as the village is getting older and the roads are an expensive repair."

Klubnick stressed that not only does she and Giannattasio have the most experience for the job, but they have innovative ideas, as well. And she promised, "A good idea will never go by me, no matter whose idea it is."

"As a business owner, I see residents every single day, seven days a week. I hear their complaints, and I often sympathize with them. I don't consider myself a politician; I'm doing the same thing I've always done. I just happen to be a trustee now."

Camillo Giannattasio is a lifelong village resident. He served on the Planning Commission from 1977 to 1980; was a trustee from 1981 to 1985 and served as legal counsel to the Zoning Board of Appeals from 1997 to 1999. He was elected mayor in 1998. Additionally, he is a member of New York State and American Bar Association.

Giannattassio cited the need for strong leadership, as well as the surprising decision by Trustee John O'Brien not to run for re-election, as his main motivations for entering the race. "I am not using this as a stepping stone back to the mayorship," he said. "I've been there and done that. I am committed to serving my full two year term as a trustee."

Having been a former mayor, Giannattasio said he was familiar with the limits of the mayor's power. "He has one vote, just like everyone else. If the trustees believe in the mayor, believe in his vision, then they'll usually go along with what he says. But the mayor has to earn that."

Giannattasio said he and Klubnick are committed to voting no on a tax increase, whatever current financial conditions in the village may be. If elected, he would also revisit all the zoning laws that he calls "too restrictive."

"People have taken to calling this village the 'Land of No,'" he joked. "We have a lot of restrictive laws on the books, and the fact is that people have the right to the full use of their property."

"We are more qualified than our opponents, anyone can clearly see," Giannattasio concluded. "We have given residents a record of our accomplishments, a history of what we have done, and a vision of what we want to do."