The new year will begin with a new political party in Roslyn that intends to challenge the Clock Tower Party's nominations for the Village of Roslyn Board of Trustees.

The Roslyn Community Party has already been formed, having nominated current Board of Trustee member Marshall Bernstein and Craig Westergard, chairman of the Historic District Board for the two trustee positions. The Community Party's president is Roslyn resident Andrea Kauffman.

In mid-December, the Clock Tower Party nominated incumbent trustee Louise McCann and Wayne Marr, currently a member of the Village's Zoning Board of Appeals. Trustee elections will take place March 21.

The Clock Tower Party's rejection of Marshall Bernstein to run on their ticket was the most important catalyst for making the new party a reality. Trustee Bernstein had a feeling he might not be nominated by the Clock Tower Party, but he was determined nonetheless to run for re-election on the ticket of a new party.

Mr. Westergard, as residents may recall, challenged Mayor Janet Galante in last spring's mayoral race. Mr. Westergard, with the help of local volunteers, launched a write-in campaign only a few weeks before the March 16 election. He finished with 94 votes, while Mayor Galante was re-elected with 140 votes. A 10-year resident of Roslyn, Mr. Westergard has been on the Historic District Board for the past seven years. In 1995, Mayor Galante appointed him as chairman of the HDB.

According to Alan Rosenberg, communications director for the Roslyn Community Party, the new political entity is "getting up and running [at] as high a speed as possible." He added that the new party is already receiving "a lot of interest" plus some volunteer help from local residents. Party officials will hold a "Meet The Candidates" forum at the Roslyn Chalet, 5 Railroad Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 22 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

"A theme of our campaign will be that every part of the Village should be represented," Mr. Rosenberg said. He added that Community Party members feel the Clock Tower Party's nominating process is being "influenced and controlled" by Mayor Galante. This echoes charges Trustee Bernstein made after being denied renomination by the Clock Tower Party.

In his resignation letter from the Clock Tower Party, Mr. Rosenberg said the attempts to "displace" Trustee Bernstein failed to show "a scintilla of gratitude for his fairness, tireless work and many accomplishments on behalf of all residents" of Roslyn.

Responding to Trustee Bernstein's earlier charges that the Clock Tower Party's nominating committee was "stacked" against him, party chair Carolyn Weber said such allegations were "hard to believe" in light of the fact that Trustee Bernstein's wife served on the same committee.

Concerning the Clock Tower Party's decision to deny a nomination to Trustee Bernstein, Ms. Weber said the committee was uncomfortable with his voting philosophy. Trustee Bernstein, according to Ms. Weber, "voted against anything that had legal potentiality" [i.e., the threat of a lawsuit] against the Village and also against any tax increases. The Clock Tower Party, Ms. Weber added, is not in favor of tax increases, but does want "free thinking" BOT members who will vote the right way concerning environmental and economic issues. Such free thinking BOT members are essential to the Village, Ms. Weber said, as Roslyn faces important decisions on commercial development in the downtown and waterfront areas.

Ms. Weber also charged that Trustee Bernstein had not "done one single thing" to enhance his chances of getting renominated by the Clock Tower Party, including having petitions signed by local residents and sent to the committee.

In addition, Ms. Weber defended the renomination of Trustee Louise McCann. Before the vote, certain residents, according to Ms. Weber, made several accusations against Trustee McCann, namely that she missed too many meetings and was a "puppet" of Mayor Galante on the BOT. After sharing Freedom of Information material on Trustee McCann's BOT record with other Clock Tower Party committee members, Ms. Weber said that other BOT members had missed more meetings than Trustee McCann and that accusations concerning her voting record were "totally false."

Mr. Rosenberg noted that Trustee Bernstein and other Community Party members originally supported Mayor Galante, only to become "disillusioned" by certain actions, including attempts to raise taxes, to extend BOT term limits from two to four years, and a pay raise for the mayor's office. Trustee Bernstein, along with other BOT members, voted against the 1999-2000 budget and also opposed the proposed term limit extension and mayoral pay raise.

The Clock Tower Party's rejection of a sitting BOT member is the first such action since late 1994. Then, with the Village embroiled in the Stop & Shop controversy, the party denied renomination to then-Mayor Joel Pasnik and Trustee Bob Abrams. A slate headed by then-Trustees Janet Galante and Marlene Freeman was swept into office. Trustee Bernstein was appointed by the mayor to the BOT following the death of longtime Trustee Dr. Roger Gerry in 1995. Trustee McCann was appointed to fill the vacancy left when then-Deputy Mayor Marlene Freeman relocated with her family to Manhattan.