On March 20, residents of the Village of Mineola will decide whether they like the direction Mineola is going in. With the mayor's position as well as two trustee positions up for election, Mayor Jack M. Martins and Trustees Larry Werther and John DaVanzo are all running for re-election, hoping residents will give them a vote of confidence in the job they have done.

Mayor Jack M. Martins

Since Martins became mayor in 2003, there were a lot of changes instituted. For one, there was an adoption of a debt management plan instituted to get a handle on the $33 million in debt he inherited. The village has managed to pay down $6 million of debt in the last four years while not incurring any more long-term debt.

Getting a handle on the village's finances and passing balanced village budgets is something the 39-year-old Martins, who has a wife, Paula, and three daughters, takes pride in but he also realizes the need to expand the tax base to relieve a suffocating tax burden from Mineola taxpayers. Mayor Martins is planning on pursuing residential development of Old Country Road south of the railroad tracks as a way to expand the tax base and provide additional housing.

Trustee Larry Werther

On board with him is his deputy mayor, Trustee Werther, and Trustee DaVanzo, who joined the Martins team two years ago. Werther, who has a wife, Fran, and two sons, is also proud of the accomplishments the New Line Party made four years ago when it assumed the leadership of the village. Werther points out that the New Line Party followed through on its promises of creating a more open government devoid of any backroom deals and stabilizing the village's finances with financially sound budgets that no longer rely on borrowing.

Trustee John DaVanzo

Trustee DaVanzo, who, along with Bob Hinck and Candi Maia, had a busy 2006 organizing the village centennial celebration, has been part of the New Line Party team for the last two years. DaVanzo praises Martins' vision for bringing in more tax revenue. "We don't want to do anything to raise taxes if we can help it," said the board veteran who points out that the village hasn't incurred any long term debt under the Martins administration and has fully funded tax certiorari payments out of the budget rather than borrowing for them.

Martins believes that large amounts of debt were incurred by the previous administration in the conference room of village hall without the public's awareness. Another of his initiatives was open government reform. The New Line Party leadership brought the meetings out in the public meeting room and used the village's television equipment to televise the meetings. Mayor Martins administration also brought about the institution of a village website, where meeting minutes and the village code can be accessed.

One criticism of the Hometown Party, the New Line Party's opposition in the election, is that the police department issue has created dissention among village residents. Holding the police referendum isn't something Martins considers a bad thing. He points out that multiple hearings were held and residents were able to exercise their rights and vote on an important issue. Now that the vast majority of residents have spoken against the creation of a police force, the issue is now over. "I wish we could have had hearings on the debt," he said at Meet the Candidates Night.

He points to the Hometown Party campaign of criticizing the televising of public meetings and the village website, saying that four years ago the Hometown Party could not have run the campaign it is currently running because there was no website, village work sessions were held in a conference room and there was no televising of public meetings. "Where were they four years ago?" he asked of the Hometown Party.

Voting will take place on March 20 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at your designated polling place. You will be asked to vote for a mayor and two trustees. The candidates for mayor are Jack Martins and Linda Fairgrieve and the candidates for trustee are Larry Werther, John DaVanzo and Peggy May.