Community Corner

Another Look at the Candidates

Know who you're voting for before heading to the polls Tuesday.

Three of the four property owners' associations are holding run-off elections Tuesday. Residents will head to the polls to vote for a trustee in the East, a trustee in the Estates and a mayor in the West.

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Here's another look at the candidates:

EAST

Dennis Donnelly: Incumbent trustee Dennis Donnelly is seeking another two-year term. He was first elected to the seat in 2009. Prior to his service on the village board, Donnelly served as president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) and chairman of the Joint Conference Committee (JCC). The Garden City Chamber of Commerce honored Dennis with its Community Achievement Award back in 2008. He and his wife, Nancy, have lived in the village for 45 years. They have three grown children: Tara, Erin and Brian.

Francine Ryan: Francine Ryan is seeking public office for the first time. She is hoping to serve the East as village trustee, a two-year term beginning in April. Ryan said her priorities are three-fold: reduce village taxes, improve communication from village government and ensure representation for every resident and business. This working mother of three children is a member of the Garden City Historical Society and Cherry Valley Club. She has been a resident of Garden City's East end for 27 years.


ESTATES

John DeMaro: Incumbent trustee John DeMaro, nominee of the Estates Property Owners' Association, is seeking another two-year term. A partner in the law firm of Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, PC, where he is chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group and a member of the Litigation Department, DeMaro received his law school degree from St. John's University School of Law. He is current board liaison to the Garden City School District. He and his wife, Kim, and their three children, Timothy (11), James (9), and Julia (7) live in the Estates section.

Gregory Blair: Challenger Gregory Blair is seeking village office for the first time. He is a 15-year resident of the village and the founder and president of National Public Energy, Inc. Blair said he has spent his professional career in industrial management, international energy project development in the USA, India, Pakistan and the Caribbean. Blair is a graduate of St. Anne’s School, Holy Cross High School and Fairfield University. He and his wife, Rene, raised two sons and three daughters in Garden City. He currently resides on Oxford Blvd.


WEST


John Watras: Deputy mayor John Watras resigned from his trusteeship to run for mayor of Garden City, a two-year term beginning in April. (Robert Bolebruch will serve the remaining one-year of the village trustee seat vacated by Watra; he is not being challenged.) During his nine-year service on the village board, Watras has held numerous positions, including trustee liaison to the Garden City police and fire departments, the Garden City Historical Society, the Garden City Public Library and the Environmental Advisory Board among others. He proposed and helped establish the volunteer Citizens Budget Review Committee. He and his wife, Beth, moved to Garden City in 1994. They have two children, Jonathan and Melissa.

Laurence Quinn: Trustee Laurence Quinn, whose term ends in April, threw his hat into the mayoral race when he challenged his property owners' association's nomination of John Watras. He said he's challenging the "Old Guard candidate for mayor" for many reasons, including the "endless delays caused by the influence of a vocal minority that insists on maintaining a decaying structure for which no plan for full use presently exists have essentially side-tracked progress within the village." Prior to his election to the village board, Quinn served on the Board of Education as trustee for six years. He is currently serving his second two-year term as village trustee representing the West. He has resided in the village for more than 16 years, currently living on Tanners Pond Road.

THE RUN-OFFS

  • The election in the Estates section will be held at Stratford School between 4:30 and 9 p.m.
  • The election in the West will take place at Homestead School between 4:30 and 9 p.m.
  • The election in the Estates will take place at Stewart School between 4:30 and 9 p.m.
  • There will not be a run-off election in the Central section because no one challenged the Central Property Owners' Association's selection of Richard Silver for village trustee.


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