Residents will be making an important decision next week when they will be voting to determine who the next two trustees will be on the five-person board. Linda Fairgrieve, Kevin Reilly and Jack Martins are vying for two of the seats with the top two vote-getters earning them.

At a recent "Meet the Candidates Night," hosted by the Mineola Civic Association, the candidates had a chance to express their views. Here are some excerpts from the evening:

Linda Fairgrieve was born and raised in Mineola. She is running for re-election under the Hometown Party for the trustee seat she has held for the past two years. Linda is a claims examiner in the insurance industry with duties including supervision, investigation and negotiation.

Linda has served as president of the Mineola Mustang Run Committee. She is a member of the Mineola Historical Society, past president and treasurer of Welcome Wagon Friends and Neighbors Club, past Girl Scout leader, past MAA girls soccer coach, past Jackson Avenue School PTA committee member and member of Mineola High School Alumni Foundation.

She cited some of her accomplishments on the Village of Mineola Board of Trustees including proposing notification to residents within 400 feet of subject of hearing for commercial hearings to alert more residents to issues that will affect suburban quality of life; making residents more aware of the happenings of village government as evidenced by a budget message sent to all residents last year and a water hearing statement.

In her two years as trustee, Linda was the board's liaison to the Mineola Athletic Association (MAA), the Police Athletic League (PAL), Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps (MVAC), Mineola Historical Society, Mineola Chamber of Commerce and the Mineola School District.

Linda has recently proposed fluorescent inserts for traffic signs so that signs are more easily seen at night. She is proud of her board accomplishments such as increased senior citizen tax exemptions, downtown renovation project, the passing of an historic preservation law, the forming of an architectural review board, opening a new library and firehouse, setting up a senior recreation program and improving the summer recreation program, increased village security and increased tax certs line in the budget.

Jack Martins is running for election under the newly formed New Line Party. He has lived in Mineola since he was 4 years old. He currently serves as president of the Mineola Memorial Library Board of Trustees, a position he has held for the last four years.

The library board is appointed by the Village Board of Trustees and elects officers among themselves. The library is, by state law, required to maintain its funds separate from the village and its budget is under the direct control of the library board. In effect, the library acts as an independent entity. It negotiates its own budget with the village board after consulting with the professional staff at the library. It monitors its budget and can redirect moneys from budget lines to address contingencies. It interviews all new hires and negotiates the union contract for library employees (CSEA) through the attorney for the library board.

It has monthly meetings where it approves all expenditures at the library, reviews circulation, and any planned programs and activities for the month ahead.

"In each of the foregoing, I am the person that takes the point as president of the board -- I meet with the village board to negotiate budgets, with the village treasurer to review budget items, with the union representative to negotiate the union contract, with the staff to address concerns and feedback," Martins said.

"Mineola is at a crossroads - either we continue on our present course or we take a moment to reflect on the very real issues affecting our village," Martins said.

Jack said he is concerned about a decrease in suburban quality of life as evident, he said, by loitering in the village, excessive bonding for non-capital improvements and tax certs and skyrocketing increases in property taxes. "I see the resolution of these three issues as crucial to maintaining and improving our suburban quality of life," Martins said.

Jack said he is a firm believer in fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Kevin Reilly is running for election under the Village Party. Kevin has lived in the village for the past 13 years. He said when he moved to the village, he saw that Mineola was an extraordinary community and has come to realize that more and more. "I want to continue to see this village grow and prosper the way I have over the past 13 years," he said.

During his time as a resident in Mineola, Kevin has become more involved in the community. He currently serves on the pool/recreation board, where he has served for the past five years. He is an active member of the Corpus Christi Church and an active member of the Corpus Christi Knights of Columbus.

Kevin has a degree in computer science and works in the information technology industry, which encompasses finance, communications, information technology and fiscal responsibility for budgetary purposes.

Kevin said he would like to see an expanded use of information technology in the village. That includes a widely used village web site, the use of the village newsletter, and a cable television community bulletin board so information such as a calendar of events, the village's municipal code, handbook, budget, newsletter, master plan and applications for permits and licenses would be readily accessible over the Internet. Kevin also proposes to convert all the village's paper records to digital records so anybody can access the information.

Linda Fairgrieve: "I try to keep the tax rate as low as possible. Last year, we had an 8.6 percent tax increase. When you look at it and break it down, 2.25 percent was from increasing the tax certiorari line $200,000 to try and get rid of bonding for it; 1.82 percent was from the decline of assessed valuation; 3.8 percent was the general cost of living increase; 2.1 percent was an increase in employee benefits. We streamlined the budget without reducing services. I'm going to try my best to maintain a low tax rate without sacrificing our suburban quality of life."

Jack Martins: "Our taxes shouldn't go up, but if they have to go up, we must first look at cutting our expenses in the village. Before we reach out to our taxpayers to pay more, let's look at what we can do to tighten our belts a little bit. We have people on the payroll and those people need to be compensated for their work. But, we also have people on the payroll who are doing duplicative jobs and we have to question ourselves as to whether or not those people should be reassigned or let go."

Kevin Reilly: "I do not like to see a tax increase. When you hold a public office, I think there is a balance that you need to have between protecting and promoting the village and guaranteeing its solvency. Being a trustee means you are a steward of taxpayer money. Last year's tax increase I understand the need for. In the future, I'm going to have an open mind about it. The first thing we need to look at before we increase taxes is looking where we can cut expenses and looking at where we can increase non-taxable revenue."

Jack Martins: "Illegal housing is a perennial issue. Strict code enforcement is the only alternative. People have certain protections in their home and the village and the village's building department has to deal with that reality, but we also have a lot of our illegal housing coming from commercial areas. We need to look at the areas that are most accessible and the areas we are able to attack immediately."

Kevin Reilly: "I think the preservation of our neighborhoods and the quality of life is of prime importance. I don't see how those goals can co-exist when we have illegal housing. We must find these people and we must bring them to justice. There are brokers in this village who are knowingly renting out illegal apartments to people. We must go after those people and we must enforce the laws."

Linda Fairgrieve: "The village currently has an investigative program that was initiated by the Hometown Party in the '80s. It's very difficult to have enough proof and go to court successfully. Illegal housing is a drain to our schools, our sewage, water and our parking. It is also a safety hazard to our firemen, ambulance and police. We've had 978 building violations between 2000 and 2002 and we've had 64 prosecutions in illegal housing in the last two years. We're trying our best but it's a difficult situation."

Jack Martins: "Part of the problem has been addressed by the construction of the new Winthrop parking garage. There's very little land to work with. It is a problem that needs to be addressed. I believe we need professionals to do so. If a property does present itself, and the village can acquire that property, that's one mechanism, but aside from that, we're constrained by the limits of our own construction in the downtown area."

Kevin Reilly: "I think getting some sort of feasible study or an assessment done of the downtown area to see if changing traffic patterns or relocating businesses or if a business does become available, we should look at. One of the things we need to be careful of is that we want to keep the characteristics of the Village of Mineola."

Linda Fairgrieve: "The village has done certain things to help the parking situation as much as we can. With the downtown renovation, the railroad will be using the Kozy Shack property as a staging area and then we will make it a parking lot. By keeping up the illegal investigation program, it definitely helps parking. For blocks that feel they have a parking problem or want to change things or regulate parking, all they have to do is notify the board and we issue parking surveys and if the majority of the block wants something, I haven't seen a time when the board didn't want to give the block what they wanted as far as parking regulations."

Jack Martins: "As a trustee of this village, you have a fiduciary responsibility to the residents. That means you should be a team player, but you have to keep and maintain an independent point of view. You are required to vote your conscience and to vote according to what the best interests of this village are. There has to be a certain amount of accountability."

Kevin Reilly: "I think my fiduciary responsibilities are to maintain services and make sure we are finding the proper balances between maintaining those services without overburdening the taxpayers of the village. I know how to set goals, administer those goals and follow up on those goals. I feel I would have an accountability to everybody. I feel if you have a question, you can stop me and ask why I did something and I better have a good answer for it. I do think that I can do that."

Linda Fairgrieve: "My responsibility is between keeping the tax rate low and having a balance with bonding and yet maintaining our suburban quality of life and the infrastructure of the village. At times, it's definitely a balancing act. When I do make a decision, it's what is best for Mineola. Sometimes, you have to make a decision that's maybe not the short range, popular choice. But, sometimes you have to look ahead because if you don't, you'll pay for it in the end. As far the public, they should definitely be made aware."

Kevin Reilly: "I think that I am for a pay as you go system. I am strictly against bonding for anything other than capital improvement projects. However, I do believe the way to lessen impact is to pay as you go. You increase the budget line by tax certs gradually while bonding for the remainder of that money so you're not burdening residents with double digit tax hikes."

Linda Fairgrieve: "I am against bonding for tax certs. You want to bond for capital projects. However, considering the amount of these items, we have no choice at this time. The Hometown Party started a budget line for tax certs. Before that, there was no line. You have to gradually increase this line. You can't overburden seniors and young families with an outrageous tax increase. My goal is to gradually increase the line to the point where we don't have to bond anymore."

Jack Martins: "I think more needs to be done. How far can we tighten that belt? How far can we look into the village itself to cut costs to compensate? How far can we burden future generations of homeowners in this village with tax certiorari payments and interest on those payments that we are incurring on an annual basis. I think it's fantastic that the village has increased the budget line to $400,000 for tax certioraris next year. We need to take a realistic approach. We need to make sure there is enough money in that line to cover as much as possible so we bond for tax certioraris as little as possible."

Kevin Reilly: "I think bonding is necessary when you're making capital improvements in the village. If the residents of the village are not going to get a capital improvement and not going to see an improvement, I don't think we should be bonding for it. However, when you look at things that have been bonded for such as the pool, the firehouse, library and water tower, I think everyone would agree that we did get a benefit from that. Had we not bonded for those, I think we would have been looking at double digit tax increases for the next few years. It would have created an extreme hardship on some of our residents. What I don't agree with is bonding for operational expenses."

Linda Fairgrieve: "A few years ago, I was critical when there was no tax increase and we bonded for snow removal. You have to look at the balance. Of course, you only want to bond for capital projects. But, we explained the tax certiorari problem and to pay it all at once would be a burden to seniors and young families. You also have to look at the economy. In some situations, it's better to bond because the interest rate is so low. The only thing that we bonded for that didn't have to do with a capital project in the two years I have been on the board is the tax certioraris and we are trying to resolve that by gradually increasing the budget line. The village is in great financial shape. In Nassau County, the average home went up 9 percent; in the Village of Mineola, it went up 12 percent."

Jack Martins: "We bonded for a hockey rink. We have a hockey rink to show for it. We bonded for a pool. We have a residents-only pool to show for it, same with the library and the parks. We have excellent parks. As far as bonding for capital improvements, sure, absolutely, but only to that extent. Bonding for non-capital improvement, is it necessary? Not if the budget is done right. For tax certioraris, under the circumstances, do we need to bond? Probably. But we have to do it responsibly and not without first looking back at where this village spends its money."

The election is Tuesday, March 19. Polls close at 9 p.m.