The Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, now in its second year, has elected a new board of directors.
Mary Eisenstein, founder of the MLCA, was re-elected president. Eisenstein lives in Mattituck with her husband, Mel Morris. She said she came up with the idea for the civic association, which formed February 2015, when she was running for office in Southold and attended a meeting of the East Marion Civic Association.
She envisioned the association to be “the voice for Mattituck and Laurel.”
Susan Palmer Austin was elected vice president. Austin has lived in Laurel for 30 years, where she and her husband Carl have raised four children. She is a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley and is president of LIFT, a women’s advocacy council.
Austin said she believes in supporting the local community. She served as president of Mattituck’s PTSA , served on the Mattituck Laurel Library Board and is currently a member of the North Fork Schools Business Advisory Board.
Mary Ellen Tomaszewski, a 39-year resident of Laurel, is now secretary of the organization. A self-published author whose work background is in education, she said she’d “like to do [her] small part to keep Mattituck and Laurel attractive hamlets to live in and visit.”
Charles Gueli is the association’s treasurer. He’s lived in Laurel for 13 years. He has served as president of a Rotary club and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
John Carter, the board’s at-large member, is a communication and public affairs professional for the U.S. Department of Energy at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Meryl Kramer, his wife, and he moved to the North Fork in 1993 and are raising their two sons here.
In its first year, the civic association has made strides in beautifying the Mattituck-Laurel community. They’ve held forums and workshops on what the future of the hamlets should look like.
One of the biggest steps it has taken was forming the Image of Mattituck committee, devoted to making sure Mattituck’s beauty is always on display. The committee works with local businesses and volunteers to improve the town’s curb appeal, planting trees and flowers and, most recently, forming a litter patrol.
The first meeting of the new board will be on August 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Mattituck American Legion. The topic of discussion will be affordable housing.
