A mayoral candidate in the Greenport Village election Wednesday turned out for a SoutholdLOCAL debate last night at the Floyd Memorial Library marked by a lively discussion and thoughtful responses.
His opponent, however was missing: Julie Lillis, running for mayor against incumbent Deputy Mayor George Hubbard, said she was unable to attend due to a conflict prior commitment. Lillis had been scheduled to attend SoutholdLOCAL’s first scheduled debate date, which was postponed due to snow.
Friday marked the first time Hubbard has been able to share his views in a public forum and the crowd clapped as he spoke about his goals if elected. A lifelong village resident, Hubbard has served on the board as a trustee for eight years, working on the ballfield, skate park, and tree committee, as well as other initiatives.
Hubbard said he was “disappointed my opponent is not here. I think this is very important. In eight years on the board I’ve missed four meetings. This needs to be taken seriously. People need to show up when they are supposed to.”
Hubbard spoke knowledgeably on a series of questions, beginning with Mitchell Park. Hubbard said he hopes the moratorium can be lifted soon and, as for mass public assembly permits, perhaps those wishing to host an event can leave a $500 deposit, allowing the village to keep $250 of that in the coffers for maintenance and upkeep. He added allowing village-sponsored events is a good idea, but the board needed to define what constitutes a village-sponsored event.
On the issue of transparency, Hubbard said when he runs meetings, he allows the public to speak. “If you ask me a question, I’ll call you. I have no secrets. The mayor shouldn’t have to use a gavel, he shouldn’t say ‘you’re out of order’. Let’s be respectful and we can get some work done.”
Hubbard spoke of fixing a fence to make a field safe for kids and saving $80 on a tool by making his own. He said his family has pitched in to buy food and supplies for the skate park festival last year; the festival raised over $3,000, with funds going toward picnic tables for the facility.
On the issue of crumbling infrastructure, Hubbard said, “The roads are bad.”
Ideas for generating revenue beyond the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, or CHIPS, funding could include renting out the scavenger waste plant site; a possible peaker plant that could bring in $300,000 in rent; the village could once again look to sell Clark’s Beach, he said.
Cooperation is needed between the Business Improvement Program, or BID and the village board, Hubbard said. “There needs to be steady communication,” Hubbard said. “We need to find a common ground” between the needs of year-round residents while still striving for “thriving businesses.” Parking is an issue, he said. “It’s a problem. It’s been an issue for 50 years, even when my father was on the board.” The BID, he said, could enforce the issue of employees not parking in front of stores.
Reflecting on the Tall Ships event, Hubbard said the public has a right to know about the budget. “We need accountability on this. We need reports, profits and loss, expenses. When I am mayor, we will have those reports at the meetings. If I am mayor, you will have them.”
The event, he said, “is a big investment” and while he feels it will pay off, he believes the timing, over the Fourth of July weekend, is not ideal; however, it was the only time that the Hermione vessel was coming and the timing of the event was not in the hands of the village.
But, he said, “If it’s turning out that we have no money raised, the whole board will have to decide what to do with the project. The BID has committed $100,000.” While he said he hopes those funds are forthcoming, he said, “I have seen no report. I hope they uphold their end of it,” he said.
While some feel funds were left on the table during negotiations with Peconic Landing over sewage hookup, Hubbard said the $720,000 the village received will go toward upgrades on the pump station without a tax increase. He reminded that Peconic Landing wanted to offer a lower price of $510,000 but the village stood firm. “This is a quarter of a million dollars we didn’t have to spend to upgrade our pump station,” he said. “I think we got a good deal and the money will be used wisely, and only in the sewer department,” he said.
Speaking of the many residents railed about a lack of communication during last summer’s blackout, Hubbard said the village has “to do better at trying” to get information out. While he believes Twitter and other social media platforms should be used to communicate with the public, Hubbard said the village had no power.
The village lost power for 12 hours, he said. If elected, “I will communicate more with people. I have no secrets. If something goes wrong, I’ll let you know.” Of the outage, he said. “We’re still trying to get answers,” with A & F Electrical Testing hired to investigate. “I think $50,000 was a good investment .We spent $4 million. We need to be sure we spent it properly.” If evidence is found that the engineer who designed the system was at fault, the village will say, “‘You’re paying for it, not us,'” Hubbard said. “The ratepayer should not have to pay.”
With gang problems an escalating concern for some in the village, Hubbard said he attended the meeting with Guardian Angels at St. Agnes and said he welcomes any information and help to make streets safer, including the Guardian Angels and neighborhood watches. “If someone sees a a truck in the driveway that shouldn’t be there, they’ll know something’s not right,” he said.
Hubbard said he’s been trying to learn gang signals, with an eye toward identifying gang activity.
For Latinos in Greenport, Hubbard said, “As a village we need to make life better for people living in bad conditions.” While some are living in terror, not going to authorities out of fear of deportation, Hubbard said, “We need to be open about it, not have people hiding in the shadows.” Those people aware of possible gang activity need to feel safe reaching out. “If anybody has a problem, I hope they would call me,” he said. “It’s not an easy issue. Yes, they are scared, but if you talk to them you can try to make progress. We need to welcome them and do what we can for them.”
While Hubbard feels the idea of adding a $1 surcharge to North Ferry passengers won’t work due to the need to create a special district, he spoke about the potential expansion of the sewer treatment plant east and west.
If elected, Hubbard outlined his top three objectives. “Code enforcement is a big issue,” he said, with it imperative to make things “equal for everybody.”
Trying to build a deck was challenging, Hubbard said. He believes applicants to the building department should receive a packet with information that will facilitate the process and make it a fair playing ground for all.
Central Avenue, he said, needs to be paved. “It’s really bad,” he said, also discussing other projects that need to be addressed.
A new firehouse is something that “definitely needs to be done,” he said. One idea Hubbard had was to put up a building on Moore’s Lane for the fire department to use during construction of the new firehouse, then when that’s done, make the building a permanent road barn, selling the current road barn on Sixth Street to help pay for the new building.
Hubbard said he is always available to listen to constituents, helping an elderly neighbor with her absentee ballot and always willing to talk about the issues.
“I drive around the village,” he said, just as his father did before him, in his white truck and chatting with neigbhors. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
He added, “I care about this village — and I want to do a good job.”
A second story, covering the trustee candidates’ debate, will follow.
SoutholdLOCAL photo by Peter Blasl.
