Incumbents Beat Back Challengers

Written by Joe Scotchie: jscotchie@antonnews.com Friday, 30 March 2012 00:00

Trustees re-elected in Roslyn, East Hills

In the March 20 elections, all of the incumbents in both the Village of Roslyn and the Village of East Hills were re-elected to another term on their village’s respective board of trustees.

But it wasn’t easy. In East Hills, the two incumbents, Clara Pomerantz and Manny Zuckerman were re-elected with 891 and 814 votes, respectively. Matthew Weiss, who challenged Michael R. Koblenz for the mayor’s job in 2010, came up short again, scoring 759 votes. Mitchell Winn, in his first run for public office, had 149 votes.

In Roslyn, Deputy Mayor Marshall Bernstein was the leading vote getter with 190 votes, with Craig Westergard receiving 179 votes. Wayne Marr challenged the incumbents on the Clock Tower Party ticket, scoring 124 votes.

After their win, both Mr. Zuckerman and Ms. Pomerantz delivered a joint statement.

“We are genuinely appreciative to the many friends and residents who have re-elected us to continue to serve our next term for East Hills,” the statement read. “Our promise is to keep East Hills one of the best communities in America, and to ensure the quality of life remains unsurpassed. The campaign allowed us to talk with many new friends and neighbors, some who recently moved into East Hills. It was an excellent opportunity to reach out to our community for new ideas and changes, which will make East Hills even better. Further improvement is not an easy task, for we have a wonderful community, but we are excited to accept the responsibility and meet head-on the challenges of the future.”

In Roslyn, both Marshall Bernstein and Craig Westergard also issued a joint statement.

“We thank the electorate for their interest in our Village government as indicated by the remarkably large turnout on election day and for their support,” the statement read. “We intend to continue to seek to improve the Village’s financial condition, to assure that our local laws are reasonable and fair and justly enforced, that Village services are promptly and efficiently provided and that all who deal with Village personnel are treated with courtesy and respect. We also salute Wayne Marr on running a good campaign and hope that he will continue his interest in Village affairs.”

During the campaign, the incumbents listed their achievements as reason for re-election. Clara Pomerantz cited programs for young people at The Park at East Hills, along with the inauguration of an Environmental Green Day. Manny Zuckerman noted his work with security matters and setting up an emergency response program to deal with any complications of a future hurricane. Both incumbents also championed the zero tax increase in last year’s budget, the high rating the village has received from Moody’s and the decision to stay with the 2 percent property tax cap in formulating future budgets.

In Roslyn, Marshall Bernstein touted the village’s ability to keep its finances in shape despite litigation resulting from an aborted residential development and tax certiorari proceedings. Craig Westergard’s campaign highlighted his expertise with building and planning projects, including restorations to the Village Clock Tower as well as planning for the proposed new sports field and parking lot at the end of Skillman Street.