In Lawrence, it’s a contest

Incumbent Trustee Michael Fragin and Unity Party candidates Alex Edelman and David Seidemann are competing for two Village of Lawrence board seats that are up for election on June 18. The two candidates with the most votes will win the at-large election. The trustee positions have two-year terms.

It is the first contested trustee race since 2010, and only the second one since 2003. Current Trustee Joel Mael is not seeking re-election.

Fragin, 39, a political consultant, is running for his third full term under the Good Government Party banner. Edelman, 64, who owns health care, transportation and real estate businesses, and Seidemann, 53, a matrimonial lawyer, have been endorsed by the Lawrence Association, the community’s civic organization.

As Lawrence continues to deal with the impact of Hurricane Sandy, Fragin said that the village must improve its emergency plans. “More planning with Nassau County and its Office of Emergency Management needs to be done,” he said. “The emergency evacuation route is unusable, the 878 reversal doesn’t work and there is a constant bottleneck at Rockaway Turnpike and Peninsula Boulevard.”

Seidemann said that if elected, he would focus on improving the way the village governs and delivers services. “The way we govern needs to be overhauled,” he said. “The village needs to embrace people, not elbow them out of the way.” He also said he would hold Sanitary District 1 accountable for its trash pickup and recyclables collection.

Edelman said that there are sections of Lawrence that have unresolved problems. He asked why the Harborview section is still relying on generators to power streetlights more than seven months after Sandy. “There is no reason for the village to take so long,” he said.

All three candidates described the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club as a village asset. “We must continue with efficiencies and keep up membership,” Fragin said. The village hired Valley Crest Maintenance last year to maintain the golf course after laying off several employees in December 2011. To date, Lawrence has saved more than $300,000, according to Village Administrator Dave Smollett. Membership, which declined two years ago, has risen steadily with the offering of varying packages for weekday and weekend golf.

“It is a tremendous asset to the village, but needs to be self-sustaining,” Edelman said of the club. In the wake of the drop in membership, the village has used money from its fund balance to sustain the club.

“Absolutely a help to the community if it is run correctly,” said Seidemann, who seeks increased trustee oversight of the club.

Recurring flooding is an issue in parts of Lawrence. Fragin said that a more consistent village code is needed. “The Board of Zoning Appeals considers each [building] application on its own — we need to look at it strategically,” he said, adding that more property needs to be preserved to absorb water, and catch basins need to be cleaned out more frequently.

Seidemann is calling for a comprehensive study of the problem, with the understanding that flooding is exacerbated by construction. “People do build, and that causes an upset of the grading issues of the houses in that neighborhood,” he said, adding that replanting trees and cleaning out the catch basins could also help.

Edelman is also in favor of a study, to be conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “The bulkheading should be looked at,” he said of the areas near the water.

With no tax increase in the past six years, the village budget’s fund balance, which has been used to cover increasing expenses while revenues have decreased, has shrunk from approximately $12 million to an estimated $4.7 million. Fragin and Edelman agreed that there is no reason to have that much money in reserve, and that it should be used for village improvements. Seidemann said he wants to know more about how the money is spent.

In making their cases for why they should be elected, all three candidates are banking on their accumulated knowledge. “I think I have a lot of experience, a strong record of public service and earned the trust of the community,” Fragin said.

“I cut to the chase,” Seidemann said. “I have the ability to listen and I bring people together.”

“As a business owner,” Edelman said, “I have been part of the decision-making process and have experience in fiscal management.”