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Word on the street: Happy with PJ election
Unify is job No. 1
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Many residents and business owners in Port Jefferson Village were smiling the morning after Tuesday's village election in which three first-time officeseekers — Margot Garant, Adrienne Kessel and Leslea Snyder — won the mayorship and two trustee seats, respectively.
Joseph Kazlau, a Port Jefferson resident for 45 years, said he is "very happy" with the results. "Everybody I voted for won," Kazlau said, noting that the newly-elected officials must now "run the government the way it used to be run." Board members in the recent past had "too many problems of their own," he said, but the new board would get the village "back on track."
Lifelong village resident Dan Tessler, who campaigned for the new mayor, said he believes Garant will be "the best mayor the village has ever had." Tessler, owner of A Gift of Faith on Main Street, said the new board members should focus on addressing parking, infrastructure and quality-of-life issues in the village.
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| | | Jodi Mooney of Chantilly Lace wants to see the parking issue addressed. Photo by Jennifer Choi. (click for larger version) | |
The owner of Elegant Affairs, who declined to give his name, said the newly elected officials must help the residents and businesses in the village work together rather than pitting them against one another. "They both have to survive in the village," he said.
Jodi Mooney, who has owned Chantilly Lace on Main Street for 14 years, agreed. A "huge animosity" has developed over the years between the residents and the business community, Mooney said, and added she is "glad Margot won."
Mooney, a Mount Sinai resident, said she also hopes the board will address the existing parking issues because there is still a lack of space. "Putting up the meters didn't fix the problem," she said.
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