Estates Residents Accept Nomination of John DeMaro for Village Trustee

On Jan. 18 at the Estates POA electors’ meeting, the Nominating Committee presented their nomination of John DeMaro of 84 Wellington Road as Estates trustee to serve on the village board for a two-year term. There were no challenges from the floor of the meeting by any Estates residents and the nomination was unanimously accepted.

After the Estates electors’ meeting, the following letter was received from DeMaro. The POA supports DeMaro and provides this letter to Garden City Patch as part of the announcement of the Estates trustee candidate.

Dear Neighbor:

Last night I was formally nominated by the Property Owners’ Association of Garden City Estates, Inc. (POA) to be its candidate for village trustee under the provisions of the Community Party Agreement.

My nomination followed a process, open to all residents of the Estates section, during which the 15-person nominating committee of Garden City Estates interviewed several individuals for the position of village trustee. I was selected to be the Estates POA candidate and I am writing to ask for your support in the village-wide election on March 15, 2011.

I am committed to the Village of Garden City and I believe that I can make a difference on the present board of trustees. I do not believe in “status quo” government. I believe it is now time for a dynamic, proactive, cost-cutting trustee and that I have the personal and professional skills and temperament to move our village forward. Every day I evaluate alternative courses of action, analyze the nuances of complicated litigated issues, structure and negotiate transactions and settlements, and, most importantly, advise clients on the financial impact of business deals while building consensus – each of these are directly applicable to the office of trustee.

In my current role as POA president, I diligently represent the interests of Estates residents. I will work equally hard to represent those interests and the interests of all village residents as village trustee and to achieve goals important to our entire community, including:

• Stopping all tax increases unless absolutely necessary to maintain vital services, and working with village departments to accomplish more with less;
• Insisting upon transparency in our village government and ensuring that residents have the information they need to formulate well-reasoned proposals for change; 
• Making our government process truly “of the people” by surveying residents and actively seeking their input on issues such as village spending and budget and ensuring that their input is taken into account;
• Aggressively negotiating all collective bargaining agreements, including offering creative solutions and insisting upon meaningful concessions in critical areas such as salaries and benefits;
• Encouraging the other trustees to continue listening to and further assisting the Citizens Budget Review and Advisory Committee in developing savings strategies for our village;
• Pushing our state representatives to overhaul the broken pension system and repeal the unfair MTA tax; and
• Promising you I will be conciliatory when dealing with residents and confrontational when dealing with the outside interests that seek to destroy the quality of life we all want to preserve!

You and I live in Garden City because we love all that our community offers to everyone from children to retirees. My top priority will be to maintain that superior quality of life by chipping away at costs, not services.

I hope you will support me and the other Community Agreement Party candidates in the village-wide election for trustee.

The election will take place on March 15, 2011 and is open to all village residents.  Please vote and encourage your neighbors to do the same. Thank you.                

Sincerely,

John A. DeMaro