It has been an absolute privilege and honor to serve on your City Council for the past eight years. I feel truly blessed to be part of the Glen Cove community. Although the outcome of the mayoral election wasn’t what I had hoped, I’m proud of the campaign that Team Glen Cove and I undertook.
I want to extend my sincere gratitude to the candidates who ran with me: Danielle Fugazy Scagliola, John Zozzaro, John Perrone, Theresa Moschetta, Carla Anastasio and Cathryn Harris-Marchesi. In addition, I appreciate the dedicated volunteers who contributed time and energy to our campaign, and the voters who believed in the vision we presented for the city. I congratulate all the winners — Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck and council members Fugazy Scagliola, Zozzaro, Perrone, Kevin Maccarone, Grady Farnan and Michael Ktistakis — and I wish Mayor Pam and the new administration the best in the 2026-27 term.
Public service has given me the very fulfilling opportunity to engage with and assist the residents and business owners of Glen Cove. While it was never something I thought I would aspire to, it has turned out to be the most rewarding experience of my life to date — one that I will greatly miss. When I was first elected to the City Council in 2017, my priority was to improve the city’s finances, and enhance programming wherever possible. I created the Finance Committee, with the support of Mayor Tim Tenke, proposing several policies aimed at greater fiscal discipline. I also partnered with labor unions to help enact legislation to promote safety measures on construction sites, expanded city programming for Women’s History Month and Pride Month that engaged high school students and encouraged them to participate in city government, and created the disability task force to provide accessibility and inclusion for everyone. Improving transparency, accountability and fairness in Glen Cove has been my mission throughout my tenure as an elected representative.
The positive public feedback on my dedication to these various initiatives makes me hopeful that they will continue, and that the ideas advanced in our campaign will be considered going forward. The key issues we raised were 1) striking the proper balance in development and protecting taxpayers from subsidizing future developments; 2) implementing robust long-term budgeting and planning to facilitate further infrastructure improvements and enable new public facilities; 3) revitalizing our downtown with a new approach that would provide options for people of all ages; and 4) updating the zoning code and strengthening code enforcement resources and capabilities.
In speaking to many in the community, as I often have the opportunity to do, here are some suggestions I’ve heard as to how to reform or potentially improve Glen Cove’s election process: establish longer terms, require term limits and stagger terms for the City Council. Staggering terms, and avoiding electing the entire board every two years, could promote stability, minimize voter fatigue and likely facilitate more bipartisan cooperation. The idea is to engage and motivate people to vote, not to overwhelm them every two years by asking them to choose from among at least 12 people running for the council.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all my colleagues in government in a bipartisan manner, to resolve issues and make improvements, always with a focus on fairness. Eight years on the council has taught me a great deal about how government functions and the constraints that can exist. I believe the give and take of proactive discussion gives rise to well-vetted results, and I invite members of the public to increase their participation, because that helps decision-makers understand what they want and need from their government.
By far the most important thing any of us can to is to participate in our government, and the basic minimum is to vote. As John Lewis said, “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in democracy.”
While none of us knows what the future holds, I intend to stay involved and engaged with our city, and I hope others do the same. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die” — emphasizing that life’s meaning is through service.
Best wishes to all for good health and happiness as we herald a new year, and may the blessings of the season touch everyone!
Marsha Silverman is a member of the Glen Cove City Council.
