MEET THE CANDIDATES

In October 2023, The Long Beach Chamber Of Commerce interviewed the candidates running in our upcoming local elections for City Council and Nassau County Legislative District 4.

The Chamber has no political affiliation.  Our goal with these videos is to inform our Long Beach business owners and other community members on who is running to be our elected representatives. We hope, through this process, you will get to know more about the candidates from both parties and this, in turn, will help you make informed decisions on Election Day. 

The candidates were asked the same set of questions, with the set respectively different for those running for City Council and those for County Legislature. Click the images below to watch each candidate's video interview, and also see below for the written questions.

 

Long Beach City Council Candidates

Brendan Finn from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

Elizabeth Treston from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

James Hodge from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

Michael Reinhart from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

Tina Posterli from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

Nassau County Legislator District 4 Candidates

 

Alexis Pace from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

Patrick Mullaney from Orson Entertainment Ltd on Vimeo.

Chamber of Commerce “Meet the Candidates” Questions
November 2023  

Long Beach City Council Candidate Questions 

1. Why are you running for a seat on the City Council? What makes you uniquely suited to be successful in the position? What, in your opinion, are the top 3 areas of greatest concern facing the City of Long Beach and what will you do to address them if elected?
 
2. What role should the business community have with relation to the City’s government? What steps could the City take to attract new businesses to our area? What supports could be put in place to ensure the success of new and existing businesses? (Current council: During your tenure, what have you done to communicate with the business community?) 

3. Businesses pay a disproportionate share of taxes. Can you explain how the commercial tax rates are determined? Should input from the business community be considered with regards to how these tax rates are determined and how tax revenues are spent? 

4. A recent poll generated by the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce indicates that the City’s proposed Parking Meter plan is one that’s not supported by the majority of business owners. Other communities on Long Island feature well-planned, and less costly, app-based systems that are actually helpful to the business community and taxpayers. Would you support proposals/ideas from other Parking Meter companies and, if warranted, the issuance of a new RFP to ensure that the bidding is open, competitive and in our best interest? 

5. Aside from the settled judgement totaling $150 million (includes principal and financing) that the City will be paying over 30 years, there are other areas of concern that affect the ever-increasing budget and diminishing taxpayer’s pockets. They include: 
- City departments going way over budget -City personnel overtime costs 
- Employment contracts for upper city management 
- An Acting City Manager wishing to continue in his current dual role as Police Commissioner (at what cost in productivity, additional staffing and coverage?) 
If elected, how would you handle current and future situations highlighted above, reduce future spending, and ensure oversight and control of city departments and the budget? 

6. City of Long Beach “assets” include our beaches and boardwalk. This year, there was no budget ear-marked for the purposes of promoting the Beach Park season or for supporting fairs or various community activities. What ideas do you have for raising additional revenue and supporting year-round marketing and promotion of the City’s assets and businesses? Would you back a line- item to support community event costs, i.e., policing for street fairs? 

7. Would you support a new road traffic plan to limit thru traffic to make our city more pedestrian, biking and walking friendly? 

8. Air B&B’s, and short-term rentals throughout the City of Long Beach have become the norm, while offering no benefit to the City coffers. How does this impact the community? Would you support the creation of a fee/tax and registration for these rentals, and what would the management of such a program look like? Would you earmark a percentage to support arts and cultural programs and year- round marketing of businesses, similar to those in many coastal communities, and support/grants generated by Nassau County’s Hotel/Motel tax revenue? 

County Legislature Questions:

Can  you tell us what you're running for and can you tell us a little about yourself?

What does a Legislator do?

Why are you running for office?

What experience do you have that you believe makes you the most qualified to represent our district?

What do you think your major challenges will be?

Denise Ford was always very active and attentive to Long Beach our specific challenges (like support after Sandy)
With the large district you cover, how will you relate and engage with all your communities and specifically Long Beach?

As a coastal community LB has big infrastructure issues  and we are having trouble keeping up. How can you help LB take advantage of grants or DOT opportunities to fix our infrastructure?

How would you help to improve public safety in your district?

If you were to leave voters one one thing to remember, what would it be?