After attending the informative Meet the Candidate’s Night at the Great Neck Library, I now encourage everyone to vote for Jessica Hughes and Christina Rusu for the two trustee seats.
Jessica currently serves as the co-president of the PTO in one of our public schools. Her background in law and expertise in negotiations makes her a viable candidate to add to our Board.
She seemed well-versed on the issues facing our library and provided suggestions to enhance the library’s current offerings.
As the mother of special-needs children, she spoke passionately about creating programming that will appeal to kids like her own. Inclusivity is of paramount importance to me, and I was happy to hear all of what she had to say.
Christina is a criminal analyst for the NYPD. With such a background, she will make a great addition to our board as we need trustees who possess critical thinking skills and persistence.
During the meeting, she spoke about the need to organize programs at times that work for working parents. There are many programs available at the library for all ages. But as she explained, their timing is usually at odds with a working- mom’s schedule.
She also spoke to her love of public libraries, specifically as an immigrant from a communist country. When asked a question about book censorship, she was quick to speak up and state why she is so vehemently anti-censorship.
In this election, voters will also have the opportunity to fill one open seat on the nominating committee. Sara Khodadadian is a preschool teacher’s assistant in a local school. She’s attended almost every library board meeting this year, and now has a solid understanding of the role of trustees.
She mentioned that she worked with the library director to start an ‘Intro to Farsi class’, a language she had always wanted to learn. Sara seemed appreciative of all that our library offers, invested in the state of affairs, and most qualified to serve on the nominating committee.
I implore everyone to vote on Oct. 31 and cast their ballots for Jessica, Christina, and Sara.
Michelle Cohen
Great Neck