Great Neck Library Trustee Scott Sontag is seeking re-election to the four-year position, running against three independent candidates, Sara Rivka Khodadadian, Chayim Mahgerefteh, and Aliza Reicher, all hailing from Great Neck.

Two nominating committee seats are up for election and are uncontested.

Library money usage, book banning and ongoing construction work have been issues of contention, along with the overall public view of the board after loud infighting and, most recently, the surprise resignation of Trustee Donald Panetta.

Sontag, who develops trading systems in the finance field, holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from SUNY Binghamton and an M.S. in computer science from NYU Polytechnic. His primary focus centers on enhancing technology within the board.

At the Meet the Candidates Night on Oct. 16 moderated by the League of Women Voters of Port Washington and Manhasset, Sontag said that previous vacant board seat litigation, related counterclaims and ongoing litigation with contractors who did unsatisfactory construction work on the main library has not drained the library finances.

“The library provides robust offerings to the community,” Sontag said, “And we’ve done a lot. My vision for our library is more than the programs and technology in the books. It’s a place where we should find peace and harmony.”

He stressed the importance of keeping the peace on the board but said the Great Neck Library is also like a “typical library today — politics, book banning, staff harassment have affected the majority of libraries in America. But that does not mean we should continue to tolerate it at ours. We can be better together.”

Sontag said there were limitations to adding Sunday hours at the branches since the staff is entitled to days off. He also mentioned he would maintain library budget stability and said would like to see more arts programming.His goal it to make the Great Neck Library the No. 1 library in the state.

Khodadadian, a recent college graduate and legislative aide with a B.S. from Touro University and a library patron for over two decades, pledged to fulfill board responsibilities and champion intellectual freedom. She has worked in the Village of Great Neck and for a state assemblywoman in Queens doing constituent casework.

“I may not be a lawyer or an accountant,” Khodadadian said, “but I could definitely commit to listening and trying my best to make good decisions for the library. I think it would be great to have a new voice on the board, and I encourage everyone to vote.”

Khodadadian said she would like to see a communication-based board that livestreams meetings, resolves frivolous spending and builds bridges in the community.

She said it was amazing that the library’s branches do not have any hours on Sunday and she would talk to Director Denise Corcoran about trying to see if expanding service was a possibility.

“If people have particular sensitivities towards books, that’s on you,” she said on the topic of book banning.  “The burden of parenting falls on a parent… but I will say that all people, especially young people. deserve to see themselves and the issues they’re struggling with represented in the books they’re reading.”

Mahgerefteh, a CPA who is also vying for Sontag’s seat, serves as a tax senior at the Deloitte accounting firm in the hedge fund group. He graduated with a B.S. from Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, majoring in accounting and minoring in finance.

Mahgerefteh was unable to attend the Meet the Candidates Night, but said he wanted to run because he loves Great Neck and has gained a lot from his time spent at the library and wanted to use his experience as a CPA to give back.

“Unfortunately, our taxpayer money has not been treated with care by the library,” Mahgerefteh wrote to Blank Slate Media. “For example, $500,000 was spent on legal fees for no benefit to the public. When I am elected, I promise to save our taxpayer money from being wasted on matters that don’t benefit the public.”

He said by using those savings he intends to have the “library open longer on Sundays and increasing tutoring services for students….Aside from supporting our youth, I would like for the library to engage more with our senior citizens. Great Neck has many nursing homes and the library can play a bigger role in serving them.”

He also said he’d like to see the library used as a center to bring the people of Great Neck together. “One way I intend on accomplishing that is by having a multicultural night so that people can become educated of the many cultures around them,” he wrote.

Saying he wanted the library to have more books that reflect Great Neck’s diversity, not fewer in response to book banning,  Mahgerefteh said: “Just a reminder that library trustees do not purchase books. That is the responsibility of library staff.”

Reicher, a bankruptcy attorney and legal writer and editor at Thomson Reuters Practical Law, holds a B.A. in political science from Barnard College, Columbia University, and a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

“It’s important that people who value the library and what the library provides don’t become complacent,” Reicher said. “The last few years have seen a major drain on the library’s finances, and it’s time to move forward with a cost-savings mentality.”

She said with some groups in the country poised to ban more books “we can’t let that happen. Access to information is the basis for lifelong learning and personal and professional growth. It’s crucial that the elected trustee be an ally against censorship. Our community is becoming more and more diverse, our library must be pushed to reflect that diversity, and be encouraged to elevate its offerings to welcome all library users.”

Turning to extending Sunday hours, she said “anything that increases time at the library is going to increase costs. We’re going have to have staff here, we’re going to have to have utilities.

Reicher said she would like to see where the board can cut spending, develop more programs for seniors as well as younger STEM programs and hire more staff.

Daniel Pitt Stoller is the sole candidate for the expiring term as chair of the nominating committee, a position currently occupied by Marietta DiCamillo.

Stoller is an English teacher at Schechter School of Long Island and previously served on the Great Neck Board Advisory Committee in 2023. He earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.F.A. from New York University.

Joanna Stolove is running for the expiring term of secretary on the nominating committee, the role currently held by Marianna Wohlegemuth.

Voting takes place at three different polling locations based off resident zip codes.

Residents in zip codes 11023, 11024, and 11363 will be voting at the Main Library at 159 Bayview Ave. while those in 11021 will vote at Great Neck Plaza Village Hall at 2 Gussack Plaza.

The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department Co. 5, situated at 21 78th Ave. in New Hyde Park, is designated for patrons who previously voted at the Parkville Branch and is for voters in zip codes 11020, 11030, 11040, and 11362.