Jack Martins, who lives and practices law in Mineola, was elected to the board of trustees in 2002 after forming the New Line Party which states it prides itself on honesty, integrity and accountability. Prior to being elected, Martins was president of the library board for four years. He is also a former member of the Corpus Christi School Board and has served on various committees at Corpus Christi Church. He is also a charter member of the Lions Club.

As far as the village finances go, Martins believes there are places in the village budget where cuts can be made and the management of the village finances will require tough decisions such as re-evaluating how and where the village spends its money.

"The village is currently indebted to the level of $33 million. To keep the $33 million in perspective, I think it's very important to understand where we are in relation to other villages similarly situated to ours," he said. "We can talk about all the improvements that we've done over the course of the last seven or eight years. But if you add all those up, it's only $18 million. There's a tremendous amount of spending that's been done and a tremendous amount of debt that's been accumulated in relation to our own ability to repay that debt. The last thing we built was the library. That was done a few years ago. We haven't actually started paying that down yet."

Martins is in favor of implementing a plan to pay down the village debt.

If elected mayor, Martins said he would like to make the village government more open to the people by utilizing a cable television channel. "People need to know what's happening. They cannot and should not be caught by surprise."

Martins is also in favor of explaining the decisions of the mayor and the board to the public. "We have to make more of an effort," he said. "We must include the community in every decision we make."

"I understand what it is to be a Mineolean. I have the educational background. I have ties to the community. I have the commitment to hard work and a commitment to understanding the issues that are necessary to tackle. I have a commitment to the people of this village that all of our decisions and all of my decisions in particular will be made conscientiously with their best interest in mind - first, foremost and always. My commitment to the people of Mineola and to the residents of this village is to work and to dedicate myself to tackling the tough issues, making the tough decisions and keeping the best interests of the residents of this village first and foremost always." "We keep addressing it in the same way. We have to think of new and creative ways to address the problem of illegal housing. We need to coordinate with other municipal entities, in this case, the school district to attack the problem. The problem is here. I think everyone is aware that it's here, but we need to look at new ways of getting to the root of that problem. The times of $250 and $500 fines are behind us. People are being fined thousands of dollars for violations as they should. If you are receiving $1,000 or $1,500 a month in rent, where is the disincentive if you're only getting slapped on the wrist and a $250 fine?" "These meetings that are held in the back are convenient, convenient not for you, but for the elected officials. I think it's appropriate when a decision is made and when it is debated among your elected officials, trustees and mayor, you should have the opportunity to sit there and listen as to how the decision was arrived at - who proposed it, who seconded it and what each board member stands for when it comes to making a decision that is important to the residents of this village. The room in the back is small and it doesn't invite too many people to come and participate. There is no way a decision should be made without people's participation directly or indirectly." "There has been a tremendous amount of work and improvements to the infrastructure of the village during the last nine years. But there also has been a tremendous amount of spending over and above those items. In 1994, there was $6 or $7 million in debt. Now, we're at approximately $32 million. There was an eight or nine year spending spree. It's approximately $3 million a year every year for all of those years. We also heard about an A2 rating. It sounds great, but just to put it in perspective, when it was given, it was back in 1998. Back when it was given, we had $12 million in debt. One of the cornerstones of Moody's decision to give us an A2 rating was that we had moderate debt levels. We're now at $32 million."

John Colbert has been the mayor of Mineola for the past nine years. In that time, Colbert takes pride in his administration's ability to improve the infrastructure of the village while keeping tax increases to a minimum. Colbert points to a new village hall, renovated pool, renovated library and firehouse, a new roller hockey rink, as well as improvements to the water system as important, capital improvements that were made under his tenure as mayor. He also points to the village's A2 bond rating as proof of the village's financial stability.

In response to his critics who are concerned about the village's $32 million bonding debt, Colbert points out the village is paying off that debt each year while managing to keep tax increases at a minimum. He points out that during his tenure as mayor, which spans from 1994 to the present, the average tax increase for the General Fund was 1.4 percent and totally, just over 4 percent.

"We have several things that still have to be completed. We have the Mineola Boulevard bridge. We have the Roslyn Road project. I want to complete the Master Plan. We have undertaken this and we've received a grant for over $500,000 to do this process," he said. "We want to have a village green which would be for concerts and community gatherings down by the EAB building. We only want to do the renovation of the central business area, which we started on Main Street and we're also going to be completing on Mineola Boulevard, Willis Avenue and Jericho Turnpike. We are a first class village. We want to have residents participate in this master plan. We're going to get input from the residents as to what they want in the future of this village. We want to complete this operation by possibly 2006."

Colbert looks to the future of Mineola to be bright. He looks around Mineola and sees a top notch village with top notch services to its residents. He hopes to continue to serve as mayor another two years. "I want to have what you want. I want to be able to have the ability to finish what I have started," he said. "I want this to be a community which everybody wants to be in."

"For nine years, I have served as your mayor and been honored to do so. I would like to continue what we have started in this village.

We have done many things in this village to make us a first rate village. I am a manager of 150 full time employees and during the summer we have over 200 people working for this village. This is a business of $18 million a year. I hope that I have fulfilled this obligation to you. You also have to be able, as mayor, which I feel I am capable of doing as mayor, to talk with the credit agencies. I've also been able to work with the state. You need to manage the people, work with the state, but you also have to deal with a multitude of finances. Yes, we did borrow over $32 million, but we're financing that in the process of BANS and Bonds. We are saving people hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every year."

"You have illegal housing throughout the county of Nassau. This is a terrible situation in which we have greedy landlords taking money from residents. Two weeks ago, we went again to 101 Jackson Avenue. We were able to get 59 summonses in the same area. We continually go out during our process of trying to locate illegal families. We're doing this through the courts and we're doing this through the village attorney. The court system and the increase in fines have been able to secure some, but I know that the state attorney general is going to work very hard on this with us." "I am absolutely in favor of open government and I really believe we do have open government. If everybody here would come to the back room, there is no way possible we could have a meeting back there. I wished there were more people that would come to the village meetings. Is it easier to do the meetings in the back when there are five to six people that come who want to hear what happening? Absolutely. But if you the people came to our village meetings, there is no way we could have it in the back. We would have it in the front. As far as what happens in the meetings, it is open. All you have to do is ask the clerk for the minutes of the meetings. If you want us to be open to you, all you have to do is ask. We're there." "We continued to look out where we needed to improve ourselves for our community efforts. When you look at the finances, it was brought out regarding $32 million. Everybody can go out there and touch that $32 million, except for $5 million, which is for tax certs. You can touch your garbage truck. You can touch your fire engine. You can see the improvements that we have made in our water and parks. It's being paid by you, the taxpayers. We also have $5 million in other revenues that we receive. No, we're not in financial trouble. There's old debt that is being taken away and new debt coming on. The BANS served the purpose of being able to save money for the taxpayers. No, we're not going to fall into debt. Everything is being paid off. There is nothing that is not being paid off."

Maryanne Warnecke, who works as a registered nurse, said she formed the party "Mineola First" in hopes of putting the residents of the village before politics. A former trustee, having served for over 10 years, she was first appointed to the board by former mayor Robert Hinck and was subsequently elected to five two-year terms. As trustee, she was liaison to almost every department in the village. In 1991, Warnecke initiated the first village-sponsored flu shot program for senior citizens. She has proposed and always supported a larger tax exemption for senior citizens. In an effort to battle illegal housing, she proposed local laws to restrict the number of electrical and gas meters on houses. She also points out that as a trustee, she advocated the acquisition of much needed equipment for the department of public works, a new ambulance for the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps, upgraded equipment for the Mineola Volunteer Fire Department as well as supporting a new village hall, renovations to the library, pool and firehouse and the construction of a roller hockey rink at Wilson Park and a new playground at Memorial Park.

As far as the village finances go, Warnecke believes the board needs to check and recheck any major expense while eliminating all frivolous and wasteful spending in this time when the economy is not at its optimum condition. If elected, she vows to manage the village's money tightly.

If elected mayor, Warnecke pledges to make government more open to the people by creating a village website and utilizing $60,000 worth of television equipment for a village cable channel.

She also plans on cracking down on illegal housing and creating a village beautification committee that would add beauty and culture to the surroundings. Festive flowers could be planted in desolate areas and areas that would otherwise remain barren, she says.

"The Village of Mineola is at a crossroads. This election is about the future, not my future, but the future of our village. The current administration has been unwilling to open up government to the people it governs and end the secrecy and political dealings. If elected, I will open Pandora's Box. I will stop the Nassau County-style budget games of the current administration and the one-time revenue shots such as selling village property to pay election bills," she said. "Historically low interest rates will lead me to refinance the current village debt. I would restore open government in Mineola by ending the secrecy and political deal making that benefit the few in power at the expense of the taxpayers and residents. I will improve the village services by downsizing government and cutting wasteful spending on political and patronage jobs. I believe the current administration has been in power long enough and it is time for a change. It is time to put Mineola first."

"I know this village inside and out. I love this village. I served on the board for 11 years. I've worked hard. I've been liaison to just about every department in this village. I know the issues. I can deal with people. I know their concerns. I can care for them. I think with my dedication and caring, that is the main issue. It doesn't take a mayor, big politician to do this. The main part of this job is caring about the residents, allowing this village to grow and expand into the 21st century in the fashion we would all like to be in." "The surveillance and vigilance of this cause has diminished to just about zero. When I was on the board, I sponsored the local law that limits the number of electric meters on houses. I will fight with renewed vigor, to fight this battle and increase their fines. We need to work with the school district in hopes of locating and prosecuting the landlords of these dwellings. It has gotten out of control and frankly, with the economy the way it is, more than ever we cannot afford to ignore this problem." "I will build a village website that would post the minutes of the village board meeting, the village codes and the calendar of events. You shouldn't have to ask for the minutes. This is your village. You shouldn't have to file anything. If you come to village hall, they should be laying on the counter. What is there to hide? You should be able to click on your computer. It should be posted. You may forget when the meeting is. Why should you even have to make a telephone call? This information should be readily available at your fingertips. This is the year 2003. There are modern times. Information was kept from me as a trustee. If information was kept from you, how is this information ever going to be given to you? I was actually even given the wrong time for a meeting one day so I could show up late. If, as an elected official, I was given the wrong information and information was being kept from me, what is being done to you?" "We have bonding. Bonding itself is not the enemy. It has helped pay for all the renovations that were done when I was in office - the pool, library, village hall, etc. All these renovations needed to be done and have been the biggest factor in the skyrocketing property values in Mineola. They could not and should not have been paid for outright. My issue is also simply that the mayor and board are not bonding for [capital improvement] projects but rather for short term needs. These budget games, just like one-shot revenues, are what got Nassau County into trouble. Our mayor has brought Nassau County budget games to Mineola. This must stop. If they cut all the political patronage jobs that are paying as much as $110,000 in salary to one individual employee with no defined job responsibilities, they would not have to borrow. It is time we stop the political deals woven into the budget and finances of the village. We cannot tax ourselves into oblivion."