TRANSPARENCY ON CITY AFFAIRS - Marsha Silverman addresses concerns regarding notice of Glen Cove City Council plans to vote on critical matters without first giving proper notice to residents.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY - Marsha Silverman addresses concerns regarding the City of Glen Cove budgeting practices.
I will propose creating a reciprocal education liason between the Glen Cove City Government and Glen Cove Schools to support our schools and promote educational programs and the achievements of our teachers, administrators and students.
I will propose a restriction on City contractors making campaign contributions to Glen Cove political candidates. I will be a watchdog for the granting of city contracts and city jobs.
I will enforce the SEQR requirement set forth by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for any major projects proposed in Glen Cove. This includes exploring alternative uses for any project within the City of Glen Cove.
I promise to challenge any financial transactions that are not in the interest of Glen Cove residents and make every effort to end the practice of City balance-sheet manipulation. I will fight for a long-term approach to budgeting and financial management.
I will fight for our small businesses, and propose a small business assistance resource to help our businesses gain access to loans, grants and business resources essential to sustaining the small business culture of Glen Cove. This includes support for the growing Latino community of business owners that are becoming a major part of our City's growth.
Our existing small businesses are entitled to the same support we give large developers who come from outside the City.
Glen Cove is a diverse City and our residents have equally diverse needs. I will propose that the we create a community committee to provide the City Council with feedback and input from the various and diverse areas of Glen Cove to ensure that all interests are represented.
I support legal two-family housing within the current zoning provisions. However, the growth in illegal multi-family rentals is a sign of a larger problem facing Glen Cove residents, namely financial hardship. In particular, we have a shortage of low-cost housing for young families, low-income families and the elderly.
We must distinguish between absentee landlord/speculators who rent single family homes and owner-occupied families who rent a portion of their home to make ends meet.
I will introduce legislation that will offer relaxed regulation for owner-occupied multi-family dwellings.