If we haven’t met, let me introduce myself. My name us Leonard Katz. I am running for the mayor position in The Village of Great Neck Plaza.

I’ve lived in Great Neck since 1971, raised my three children. Great Neck was a wonderful place for me to raise my family, but today when I look around, I see a different trend, the continuous downhill slide of our village.

While using “experience” as the campaign slogan, the present set of incumbents has no real record of accomplishment. Well, looking around, we all can clearly see what their “experience” had brought us.

Fiscal responsibility and transparency are the vital concern for me and my team for  preserving a bright future for our village. The village taxes have significantly increased, more that any surrounding villages on the peninsula. The financial statements of Great Neck Plaza are not available on line. It shall be my priority to post all financial statements online for the public.

The infrastructure in Great Neck Plaza is in need of repairs and upgrades. Flooding streets during storms, the uneven sidewalks, loose bricks and crumbling curbsides, and the bridges’ safety are the leading issues to get fixed.

The traffic and safety in our village are of fundamental concerns. By far, we have the worst traffic connections on the peninsula. Unfortunately, we have the worst pedestrian accidents in Nassau County. Instead of ticketing double-parking, our current administration has fundamentally focused on expired meters. The traffic lights are not adequately sequenced.

Regulations forbid valet parking and only because of the COVID-19 issue has the board acquiesced to a six-months “trial” period of allowing restaurants to use an outside delivery service, such as Grub Hub and Uber Eats.

There are 26 vacant storefronts. The entrepreneurial spirit has been suffocated by unpredictable, micromanaged over-regulations, e.g., petty issues like the typeface on storefront awnings displeases a board member to the extent that a store owner needs to go through several cycles of back-to-the-drawing-board for redesigns to exhaustion and give up, while the original designs had met all the requirements of the village code.

I’ve assembled a terrific team to work with me on the board to assure that changes will be made. Jason Hertz is a licensed civil engineer with an MBA degree. He certainly is a unique talent and clearly a major asset in the evaluation of our infrastructurissues.

Ruomei (Margaret) Hu is an experienced accountant who has worked for not-for-profit organizations and could help the village. She undoubtedly is an asset to our campaign and hopefully, if elected, an “asset keeper” for our village.

If I get the honor of getting your vote of confidence, I shall be serving you to the best of  my ability to upgrade our village and preserve our wealth.

The incumbent party has been in control of our village for over two decades and look where we are now.

The time for a change is long overdue. Vote for the Revive Great Neck Plaza slate to revitalize Great Neck Plaza.

Candidates: Leonard Katz, Mayor; Jason Hertz, Trustee; Ruomei Hu, Trustee

Vote on Tuesday, March 15, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. at the Village Hall, 2 Gussack Plaza.

Leonard N. Katz

Village of Great Neck Plaza