RVC Mayoral Candidates Square Off in Debate

Part one of a series

Candidates running in the June 21 village election debated on Wednesday at a forum hosted at the Sandel Senior Center, answering questions posed by the community on topics like crime and parking ticket enforcement, to road work and their feelings on the proposed fire department bond.

Three questions were posed to mayoral candidate Fran Murray of the RVC United Party and incumbent Mayor Mary Bossart of the Concerned Citizens Party. Here's what they said:

On the $21 million Fire Department bond up for vote on June 21:

Mayor Mary Bossart said she will vote against it. She explained that it's too large an expense for the community to take on during tough financial times. Bossart agreed that the work needed on the two company houses (Headquarters and Eureka) is 50 years in the making, and their deterioration was due to "benign neglect." "We can't fix it immediately," Bossart said.

Challenger Fran Murray said that placing the bond up for referendum has "put a disconnect between the fire department and the residents." He said the two buildings need to be rebuilt, and to do so, one fire house needs to be shut down. He didn't specify which one, but said if the project can be chopped from $21 million to around $11 million, the village could qualify for Homeland Security funds to assist with the project.

On how they would handle a 2 percent tax cap:

Murray said he has some innovative ideas on how to save money and generate revenue for the village. He proposed merging the Department of Public Works with the water department. "We can save a lot there," he said.

He added that he'd have the village go paperless, so residents could pay their electric and water bills, as well as parking fines, online with credit cards. To generate revenue, Murray suggested adding local advertising on athletic field fences. The revenue, he said, could be used to keep the fields in good condition. He added that he would ask Mercy Medical Center and South Nassau Communities Hospital officials to "adopt" an entrance way into the village and beautify it.

Bossart said the village needs mandate relief in pension and health care costs pushed down by the state. These are expenses that continue to increase, she said, and without relief, the village can't do a lot of the things Murray proposed. "If you don't have the money, you won't be able to do any of them," she said.

On parking ticket enforcement in the downtown:

Bossart said the idea the village is ticketing more than it has in the past is untrue. "This is one example of false evidence appearing as real," she said. "They want you to believe that a ticket blitz is going on."

She said the village has handed out 15,000 less tickets this year than in the final year of Eugene Murray's administration. Bossart added that she has discussed the idea of a creating a quarterly parking pass for part-time employees of village businesses that hire more staff during busy shopping seasons. A parking study needs to be conducted to assess the village's parking situation, she added, considering that the last one was done more than a decade ago.

Bossart also mentioned the idea of a "Dining Pass," where people eating in the downtown wouldn't have to feed parking meters after 6 p.m. if they had the pass.

Murray said he didn't believe Bossart that less tickets were given out this year than in 2007, and that aggressive ticketing has driven businesses and customers out of the village. "Residents are up in arms about this," he said. Murray explained that 25 minutes for one quarter is not enough time to get lunch or a haircut, and that it should be increased to 30 minutes. He was also against the idea of conducting another parking study.

"I don't see why we need to spend more taxpayer money for another study," he said. "Figure it out. We can do this ourselves. We don't need fiscal irresponsibility."

Check back today at 4 p.m. for what trustee candidates debated at the forum.