Meet the Candidates: Trustee Bailey Looks to Build On First Term Accomplishments

Eliminating wasteful spending, improving village services and keeping taxes under control, are among the accomplishments that Trustee Michael Bailey says he and the current administration have achieved over the past four years.

And he’s only getting started. 

Bailey, who was first elected to the village board in 2007, is seeking a second term. His is one of two trustee seats up for grabs in the general election on March 15.

The Floral Park native, who has lived in Malverne with his wife, Annie, a lifelong Malvernite, since 1987, has been active in the village ever since. 

His involvement in community affairs began when his two daughters, Megan and Mary Kate, now in their twenties, were enrolled in Maurice W. Downing and Howard T. Herber Middle Schools. He served on the Parent-Teacher Association, and worked with three different school superintendents and various board of education members over the years to help craft the budget for District 12.

In the early 1990s, he played an influential role in youth sports as a soccer and basketball coach, and an executive board member of the Our Lady of Lourdes Youth Advisory Council - Catholic Youth Organization (YAC-CYO) for 15 years, serving as president for four.

 During this time, he also co-founded the Malverne Education and Fitness Foundation, which has raised funds to replace the track and scoreboard at the high school and provide grants for teachers.

 His transition into village politics began in 1995 when Mayor Joseph Canzoneri invited him to join his budget committee. A graduate of St. John’s University, where he received his business degree and began his master's, Bailey embraced the opportunity to sink his teeth into the village’s finances and look for ways to save taxpayers money.

 “From 1995 to 1999, we had two zero percent tax increases and one tax reduction,” Bailey said.

 Bailey also helped recoup over $200,000 from Cablevision that was owed to the village in 1996.

Aside from this business sense, another key factor that has propelled Bailey to the village board is his passion for preserving the quality of life and charm of Malverne, something that he shares with his fellow Independent Party running mates, Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald and Trustee/Deputy Mayor James Callahan, who are also both seeking re-election.

 What some may not know is that the former pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Fr. Donald Baier, had made a push to tear down the church and replace it with a more modern building, Bailey explained. Bailey was a big part of the resistance to this, speaking out at meetings with the zoning board and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

 “Ultimately, it ended when the bishop, after meeting with us, replaced Fr. [Donald] Baier with Fr. Frank [Parisi]” Bailey said.

This persistence and commitment to keeping the character of Malverne intact played an influential role during his first term in office too. Among the biggest accomplishments of the current administration, according to Bailey, is the preservation of Grossmann’s Farm.

 “We’re very proud of it,” said Bailey, who explained that the board worked closely with the Grossmann family, attorney Bill Ward, former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and his successor Ed Mangano.

Had the farm land sold to one of the developers looking to build a big-box store or apartment complex, it could have drastically altered the character of the village.

“It’s been a lot of work,” he added.

 Another major focus of the last four years, has been improving the village’s finances.

 When Bailey came into office, he said “We were on the verge of insolvency. There was almost no surplus.” Malverne’s bond rating was poor and he said there was no process in place to manage spending.

 Now, he explains, the bond rating has improved to a AA plus, there is a 10 percent surplus and “we have protocols in place to make sure we’re staying financially sound.”

As a result, tax increases have remained low, around 2 to 3 percent.

“We recovered from the past administration,” he said. “Part of it was working out contracts.”

 This included contracts that the village signed with Verizon and Cablevision that will bring in $100,000 annually in revenue for the next 15 years.

 Bailey pointed out that while the current administration has kept spending down, they have also made significant improvements to the infrastructure of the village.

“We started the road project without raising taxes,” Bailey said. They also made structural repairs to Village Hall, the library, the Department of Public Works headquarters and the fire house, where a leak was costing the village money in energy and repair bills, he explained.

During this time, he also pointed out that the administration started work on the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps' new building by securing a grant from Nassau County Legs. Fran Becker (R-Lynbrook).

“We’ve fixed things up and put the books pack in order,” Bailey said.

A big part of overhauling the village’s finances, he said, was eliminating wasteful spending. This was most out of control in Malverne’s Police Department, where the village was spending over $500,000 on overtime.

 Shortly after taking office, the current administration hired a consultant to look into this issue.  They soon learned that the police officers were being paid overtime for working what Bailey described as “non-existent holidays,” including Rosa Parks Day, Mother’s Day and over 20 others. This had been going on for two years.

 “We put a stop to it, recouped the money and put into place new management,” Bailey said, explaining that they appointed two new lieutenants and elevated four sergeants.

“They brought new discipline and productivity…and restored the professionalism to the police department,” Bailey said. “The police department is the single biggest expense in the village. Let’s get it right.”

 Another area where Bailey and his colleagues saw their was room to save was in the area of waste management. When the village’s agreement with the Town of Hempstead, which had managed its solid waste, was up for renewal, the board balked at the expensive rate the Town was asking for.  They joined together with officials from Rockville Centre, Lynbook, Floral Park, Valley Stream, Island Park, East Rockaway and Freeport to collectively explore other options.

 They received proposals from a variety of organizations, including the Town of Hempstead, and ultimately selected a private company in Babylon in a deal that is estimated to save $100,000 year.

 “It’s been very exciting,” Bailey said of the past four years, but he is not ready to end his time on the board yet.

 He wants to “keep improving finances so we stay affordable without cutting or diminishing services we need and expect,” Bailey said.

 Building upon the savings from the solid waste agreement, he also wants to see the village adopt a cardboard recycling program that was recently launched. The programs aims to reduce the amount of garbage that Malverne dumps (and pays for) in landfills, while also creating more revenue by selling the cardboard.

He also wants to see the half acre of land that the village acquired in the sale of Grossmann’s Farm used to create a space that will be beneficial for the youth and seniors of the community.

 “We have the challenge of making it useful for the people of our community,” Bailey said. He’d like to see the board work on developing a plan to finance the construction of a community center there.

 Plus, he says that the administration needs to continue to make management and infrastructure improvements, and “finish the modernization of village government,” by making itself more accessible through the use of  its Website, voicemail and e-mail alerts.

“Village government is the most efficient form of government,” Bailey said. “This is what the founding fathers wanted – strong local government.”

The village elections will be held March 15 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Malverne fire house.

UP NEXT: Patch interviews Deputy Mayor and Trustee James Callahan