Incumbent village trustees Brian Daughney and Nick Episcopia are being challenged this election season. Their challengers, Michele Harrington and Jon Segerdahl, respectively, will run against them in run-offs Jan. 31 in the Estates and East.
Here's a closer look at the current village trustees:
Brian Daughney
Brian Daughney has served as Estates trustee since May 2010. At the Jan. 17 Estates Property Owners' Association (Estates POA) resident electors' meeting, the nominating committee placed Daughney into nomination to serve a two-year term on the village board effective April 1.
Trustee Daughney has lived in Garden City's Estates section for approximately 11 years with his wife, Jacqueline Goode. They have two pre-school age children.
Professionally, Daughney is a corporate and securities lawyer and is a partner in the New York office of Becker Poliakoff, LLP. With 23 years of corporate and securities law experience, Daughney has represented entrepreneurs, startups, small cap and middle market companies through the various stages of their development.
Daughney is a former Estates POA president and director. He also served on the association's nominating committee and Bylaws Committee while serving as a director.
As trustee, he has served on the Finance Committee, Traffic Commission and the Insurance Review sub-committee. He currently serves as trustee liaison to the Cultural and Recreation Commission, the Architectural Design Review Board and the Board of Appeals and Planning Commission.
A run-off election in the Estates will take place in the Stratford School lobby Jan. 31 from 4:30-9 p.m.
Nick Episcopia
Nick Episcopia, first elected a village trustee representing the East in 2005, is Garden City's current second deputy mayor.
At the Jan. 17 Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) resident electors' meeting, the nominating committee unanimously placed Episcopia into nomination to serve a new two-year term as village trustee effective April 1.
Trustee Episcopia and his wife, Dorothy, have lived in the village for 38 years, raising two children here. Their daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren also live in the East.
He served on the EPOA board as vice president and later president from 1998 to 2005.
While a village trustee, he has served as fire commissioner, building commissioner, public works commissioner, liaison to the business community and library board, chair of the vacancy committee and chair of the Environmental Advisory Board. He also serves on the Mayor’s Committee on St. Paul’s, the finance and compensation committees and the public information committee.
“I firmly believe in taking a pro-active stance in such matters as labor negotiations; taxation, budget and finances; building, zoning and planning; and the pressures from outside of the Village of Garden City that affect the health of our business community and our quality of life,” Episcopia said. “My professional expertise in real estate and major construction lending enable me to ask direct, on-point and probing questions regarding any potential development of the St. Paul’s building, the HUB, and sites within the village, as well as our village administration’s method of reporting to the board of trustees."
A run-off election in the East will take place Jan. 31 at Stewart School from 4:30-9 p.m.
No, I'm not Nick Episcopia, just a concerned citizen of the East. I have shared enough biographic detail on this site before, all of which is true, to confirm this. So let's deal with your claims, nice and slow, and see if you can follow: Jon has no credibility precisely BECAUSE of his prior time as trustee, which was a disaster. He was Peter Negri's puppet, pushed an asinine proposal to turn St. Paul's into a library (at a cost of $40 million) and, at the end, was rejected by his own POA because he did not represent their interests, he represented Peter Negri's. Nothing has changed. He has presented no credible plan for St. Paul's. He has said he would save the building at any cost. To do so would SWAMP the Village's budget. He has had literally NO involvement with the many issues of the day in the Village since he left the BOT, even though there are dozens of different ways he could have volunteered or contributed. He didn't even go to this week's budget session. If he can't make a show of caring about issues beyond Peter Negri's monument to fiscal stupidity, why should we believe he will care about these issues if elected?
1. What contributions have you made to the Village since 2005, when you were thrown out as trustee by your own POA? I have yet to meet a person who has seen you at a meeting anywhere. 2. How much are you willing to spend to save St. Paul's? A dollar amount, please, so we all understand. $50 million? More? 3. How much has Peter Negri personally spent on your campaign? How much has the CSSP spent? Should citizens expect that there will be a quid pro quo for that support?
In response to your last, I was going to ask how Mr. Segerdahl proposed to restore St. Paul's at any cost while not raising taxes, but then I saw that you spoke to him PERSONALLY. I know, I know: The FEIS says a restoration of the St. Paul's building will cost approximately $50 million, and the entire village budget is only $53 million annually. And no one, not even the CSSP or Jon Segerdahl, has ever proposed a use of the entire building to justify the expenditure. But you spoke with him PERSONALLY.
As Nick himself said at the most recent EPOA public meeting (the public meeting where the police department came to discuss crime in the East!), this is a priority for him, for Dennis Donnelly and for the other trustees. He has pushed for increased police presence in the East, which we are receiving. This is a county-wide problem that the police department, with the trustees full support, are attacking. To say otherwise is DUMB. But since I have you, Mark, I have a question for you: How much do you think the VIllage should be willing to pay to restore St. Paul's? Remember, our annual budget is $53 million. How much would you pay?
Mark and his wife founded the Eastern Property Owners to Save St. Paul's. As if the CSSP wasn't enough. So answer your own question as to how much he would be willing to spend on St. Paul's. He sites crime, which is up and needs to be addressed as affecting property values and he is correct. But his support is for the underlying issue to save the building at any cost as long as everyone shares in that cost.
GCTaxpayer: while I have you, how much are you willing to spend to save the building? Please, dollars and cents. Not "any amount." And remember, the entire Village budget is $53 million per year.
When you cite statistics you should correctly state that there were 2 additional burglary year over year in the east not some crime wave.
First off, I would like to thank all of you for posting YOUR comment and thoughts. But I will say this, I as at that meeting and do not recall anyone standing and saying they would do anything to help stop the crime in the East. Yes the PD did say that it is a county wide problem, but people, please stop with all these %%%"s everyone is up in arm, because of the number, when there is only 42 Break-ins (yes 1 is too many) of course a slight increase will look big. When Former Gov. Huntsman (Spelling???) gave up on the bid for his party, he said one thing, which I believe should be thought upon as you ALL are writting your remarks. ***THIS IS NOT A DIRECT QUOTE***In this day in age of politic, candidate care more about bashing their opponent, than delivering their message. ***THIS IS NOT A DIRECT QUOTE*** I did not grow up in the village, so I do not have the attachment that alot of you have for St. Pauls. But with all the construction that I see going on in the village, I think that maybedropping that building and building a new St. Pauls might be an option that needs to be visited.
While I personally would like to see the building saved, in the economic environment we are in, I don't see it happening. Also, saving it in it's current form is a waste, it must be modified or restructured to accommodate an end use that serves the entire community, not just a select few personal agendas.
I also think it tracks closely to what trustees Episcopia, Daughney, DeMaro, Donnelly and Quinn have said: That while saving the building is a laudable goal, the CSSP plan is the wrong way to go. It would cost millions, preserve a tiny portion of the building and provide for no end game, financially or otherwise. Nick Episcopia has advocated studying shrinking the building while preserving the facade. Trustees Daughney and DeMaro have asked for a survey of Village residents to explore a rec center on the site. Truth is, a modern rec center attached to the facade of St. Paul's might be a solution we can all get behind. If we can afford it.
9) There ARE OTHER OPTIONS that will not increase taxes drastically and preserve St. Pauls. Nick just doesn’t want to listen to ANY of them which is why this is such a frustrating issue. 10) The reality of the situation (and I don’t mean any disrespect to Mr. Epscopia) is that a trustee needs to have a clear vision that speaks for what the village wants, comes up with economic solutions that preserve our landmarks and raise our property values in the future, for our children. To restore things that make GC beautiful and different then other town in LI. That’s why I moved to GC. 11) If taxes are going to be raised drastically for residents, Jon Segerdahl will NOT do it. He is a tax payer himself with family members (also tax payers) living in this town. Jon will work well with others and come up with other solutions. That’s the difference. 12) Nick Epscopia has NO vision, NO leadership, NO direction, DOES NOT bring people together and DOES NOT listen to anything the people want.
14) Jon Segerdahl would never do these things. He is by far the best candidate I sat down with. 15) We need a change for the better. Our town deserves all that keeps it great now and for the future. VOTE FOR JON SEGERDAHL.
2) St. Paul’s is one of the most amazing landmarks ever built and we are lucky to have it in our town. No other town on LI has St. Paul’s, the Cathedral, Historical Society, etc. 3) We have a right to preserve them and to try everything we can to preserve them. This will ABSOUTLEY increase our property values. 4) Jon Segerdahl and many other trustees understand we need to preserve the building because of point 1. 5) Jon Segerdahl, other trustees and villagers have many plans, ideas, suggestions. There is NO one set plan. These are complicated issues. 6) Saying Jon is going to preserve St. Paul’s for ANY COST is NOT TRUE AT ALL. This is not about a blank check. That statement is absurd. 7) Jon will work with others to come up with SOLUTIONS to move this village forward and not just St. Pauls.