Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Atlantic Beach residents Nathan Etrog, an incumbent, Laura Heller, Julia Herbert and Joseph Pierantoni are all running for the two open trustee seats for the village. In the open election, the two candidates with the most votes win the seats.
Trustee Patricia Beaumont will not be running for re-election after serving two terms. All terms are two years.
Etrog, 79, is running for his second two-year term as trustee. He was originally appointed in April 2023 to fill retired Trustee Andy Rubin’s position.
Etrog has lived in Atlantic Beach for almost 50 years and currently serves as a commissioner for the Atlantic Beach Fire Department and a chairman of the Village Parks Commission.
“A lot of my work as trustee and park commissioner has been in the area of drowning prevention and water safety and really talking about the importance of drowning prevention and water safety,” Etrog said.
He also has a degree in social work from Boston University and was a social worker and the vice president of psychiatry at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway for 30 years.
“Being a social worker has helped me in anything that I do because you learn to listen to people and learn to if necessary be a mediator and a good delegator,” Etrog added. “All those skills have helped me very much in my work with the village, in all the things I’ve done.”
Should he be re-elected, his primary focus would include — having transparency, accountability and integrity in government.
“One of the things we can do better at is transparency in government and letting the residents know exactly what we’re thinking and doing,” he said. “I’m also committed to help resolve the litigations and continuing to both rebuild and maintain the infrastructure.”
Laura Heller
Laura Heller, 47, has been a village resident for five years and visited frequently, she said since 2006. She is a trust and estates lawyer in the personal planning department at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP.
As a lawyer, who has experience in “fiduciary financeability” and “bringing diverse sets of people together to solve problems” she feels that makes her qualified to be a trustee.
“I feel like it’s my job to preserve what has been created already while looking to the future and representing the young families so the generations that come after us will find a beautiful and welcoming Atlantic Beach just like we found,” Heller said.
Her goals if elected are to — improve fiduciary responsibility, improve board transparency and work to build a stronger, unified village and continue to make it a beautiful community.
“I think that it’s really important to understand how the village board works and some of the issues they are tackling and to me more communicative to the residents who deserve to have that,” she said. “Our village has a lot of smart people and we can have different committees to help tackle some of the challenges we’re facing.”
Julia Herbert
Julia Herbert, 67, has been a resident for 20 years and worked in the brokerage and banking industry for 30 years. An auditor for many years, she is currently treasurer for her condo association in Florida.
“I’ve been very happy to just go along and let my neighbors volunteer their time to keep the village operating and now that I’m retired, I feel that my experience is relevant in the financial area to help out and step-up,” Herbert said.
If elected, she hopes to see more financial reporting on a monthly basis given to the community from the board and more transparency on what is going on.
“The first thing I want to do is come up to speed about what my role as trustee is and read through the village code,” she said. “I want to spend some time with the minutes from past meetings and to get some expertise and knowledge on how to transition my knowledge from businesses into the public sector before making plans.”
Joseph Pierantoni
Joseph Pierantoni, 42, has lived in Atlantic Beach his entire life. He is a financial director for a media planning and buying agency in New York.
“I’ve worked to compel more transparency from the board, particularly with the budget and the financial practices of the village,” Pierantoni said. “I have also begun to develop new stream of revenue to help alleviate the growing tax burden. I am trying to achieve more transparency around the budget and modernize the financial planning and management practices of the village as a whole.”
His major goals include — alleviating the tax burden, transparency, fiscal responsibility and accountability within the village.
“I want to restore those three areas and the confidence of our residents, I also want to engage the residents for their input and knowledge,” he said. “It’s more important than ever to make sure we are using the best practices and leveraging technology in this area. I really feel like revamping and modernizing these practices can put us on the right track going forward.
Voting is on Tuesday, June 17 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., at Village Hall, 65 The Plaza, in Atlantic Beach.
