Board of Trustee elections in the Roslyn area were held last week with incumbents facing no challengers. However, that did not stop the Village of East Hills from having a huge turnout, one that village officials said saw “the largest numbers ever recorded in an uncontested election” in the village.
Residents overwhelmingly supported Mayor Michael Koblenz with 448 votes, Mitchell Studley for Village Justice with 444 votes, Brian Meyerson for trustee with 441 votes and Stacey Siegel for trustee with 432 votes. With the resounding showing of support, Mayor Koblenz said “Both I and the members of my team are very grateful to each and every voter who went to the polls and lent us their support,” said Koblenz. “We know our voters want us to continue to keep taxes down, while at the same time, continuing to offer the finest services and facilities. This a challenge we gratefully accept as we will pass a budget that for the fifth year in a row has no increase in taxes. I congratulate my fine and talented running mates who I am proud to serve with for our wonderful community.”
Koblenz is entering his second decade as village mayor. During that time, he has been the author of the Park at East Hills. The village bought over 50 acres of property in East Hills from the Air National Guard for only $3.1 million. The land the village owns is, according to village officials, now valued at over $60 million. According to major real estate agents in the area, the Park has been a major attraction to new homeowners, has kept home values at record highs and has made the community extremely desirable. For that and other accomplishments, Koblenz faced no opposition.
Koblenz is joined on the board by Mitchell Studley, who has been a village prosecutor for 17 years.
Brian Meyerson, who replaced Peter Zuckerman when the latter was appointed as councilman to the Town of North Hempstead board, won his first election on March 18. Prior to holding this office, Meyerson was a successful village prosecutor for three years.
Stacey Siegel also won her first election to the board. Siegel helped to plan, formulate and launch the Kids in the Park program to involve children in unique activities in the village.
During the election, Koblenz laid out his priorities for the next four years. He said he would continue to vigorously oppose excessive airline congestion, noise and pollution.
His administration would make every effort to stop commercial projects, whether in East Hills, or elsewhere that would lead to over congestion from traffic caused by
deliveries and shipments. Koblenz also pledged to embrace new ideas, such as the recently installed
generator to power Village Hall and Theatre during electrical outages.
He wants to implement new concepts like the Instant Access Program on the state-of-the-art website that invites questions or suggestions as well as providing answers around the clock. As another priority, he said he would continue to strongly support the village committees that are holding events for kids, seniors and families.
“As importantly, we must continue to ensure that the pool, the park and the services remain the finest,” Koblenz said. “We must also continue to infuse great excitement in East Hills, so that our residents remain proud of the fine reputation our community enjoys.”
Both the Villages of Roslyn and Roslyn Estates held elections last week, also. Incumbents in those villages faced no opposition either. In Roslyn, Mayor John Durkin was re-elected, as were trustees Marta Genovese and Sarah Oral. In Roslyn Estates, Jeffrey Schwartzberg, was re-elected mayor. Jeffrey Lindenbaum and Rodney Khazzam will join the mayor as board of trustee members.
