As it gets closer to the June 20 election, the mayoral race in Bayville is heating up.

Eight-year Bayville resident, Margaret Marchand, a former teacher in the Syosset School District who is running for the Residents First Party, is giving current mayor, Victoria Siegel, a run for her money. Ms. Siegel, a 40-year resident of Bayville and member of the Taxpayers Party, has been mayor of Bayville for all but four years since 1982.

Ms. Marchand is stepping up to run for office because she says it's time for someone else to take over. "The government has been in office here for 23 years," she said. "I don't believe that's the way government is intended to run."

Ms. Siegel also doesn't see anything wrong with change, but said that a change should be for the better, not simply for the sake of change. "You change because you want something better," she said. "Here I don't see anything better."

The main issue of this election is the vision of Bayville. Ms. Marchand's campaign is based on her party's Master Plan for Bayville. It's a three-point platform that addresses business development and revitalization, community and civic programs and open government. Ms. Marchand said that once she's in office, these parts will all be put into place and orchestrated to meet the village's vision and future, with both short-term and long-term goals. She also said that the community will play a large part in providing the ideas for how these points will fit together. "The government needs the community," she said. "We're just laying the framework."

According to Ms. Marchand, Mayor Siegel should have put a well-documented Master Plan into place a long time ago. She said if such a plan had been developed, the village wouldn't need the massive business redevelopment it currently needs.

Mayor Siegel's plan is to maintain the small town atmosphere of Bayville but to enhance the things that she said need to be improved to ensure a better quality of life. "My opponent wants more development and crowds, things of that nature, things that a vast many people agree are not in keeping with a small town," she said.

Ms. Siegel said she had a Master Plan, that her government called Upzoning, in place as early as 1985. They raised the minimum lot size from 50' by 100' to 75' by 100'. This eliminated 250 sites for residential development. They also raised building heights from 28' to 35' and by switching zoning around, eliminated non-conformity in the business district caused by some businesses being built on properties zoned for residential. "Residents First has no history of the village," she said. "They think they're reinventing the wheel when the wheel has already been around for a while."

Residents First also maintains that the government of Bayville needs to be more open and approachable. Marchand is calling for the voting records of the trustees to be made public and for an easy to read and comprehensible copy of the budget be available for the average citizen so that they know exactly where their money is going. She feels that the village website could be better utilized to let the residents of Bayville know what is going on in the village.

Siegel feels that her administration is very open and approachable. She said that she is at Village Hall every day and there's a direct line to her office. "My office hours are 24/seven," she said. She said that even Marchand's husband has knocked on her door at 9:30 p.m. to discuss his concerns.

Another major issue in this election is the revitalization of the business districts. Marchand feels the government should do all it can to help the business district located on each end of town. She wants to put into place a chamber of commerce. She also wants to put together a team of residents to conduct an informal study to find out what's working and not working for local businesses. She wants to encourage the residents to start patronizing the local stores more.

Siegel called the business districts a "bone of contention." She said she's been working with the business districts for years and has established a chamber of commerce twice. But when the chamber of commerce was put into the hands of the businesses, she said, it failed. Now her goal is to use state grants to help businesses beautify the facades of their buildings. She's currently working with the strip of businesses located near Ransom Beach. She's using an $800,000 grant to help them afford new, and uniform, signage.

"Things are happening, just not as quickly as we'd like," she said. "We're getting it done. All we hear from [Residents First] is criticism. We never hear how they'd get anything done. They keep saying 'wait until we're in office and we'll show you,' but that doesn't cut it."