Meet The Candidates: Barry Miller

Village elections will be held Tuesday, June 21. In the  three candidates are vying for .

Patch caught up with the candidates, and asked why they are running, what they think are the biggest concerns for the village, and they think they would make a difference in addressing these issues. 

This posting is part of a series, examining their take. Here's what they had to say.

Barry Miller is running for Village of Sands Point Trustee. 

Taxes in the Village of Sands Point will increase 9.1 percent this year over last year, an increase more than twice as great as the previous year. 
Compare this with the hard-won 3.95 percent increase in school taxes in Port Washington, and you have to ask yourself what we’re doing – or what we’re not doing – to keep our expenses in check. 

Drill down on the current budget, and you’ll see that over half of the increase is for work on the roads.

So at a recent Village budget meeting, I asked whether there was a better way to repair and maintain the roads, and whether there might be other ways to effect savings. My question was dismissed, as were the questions of others there that night, and the budget was passed unanimously. 

Stop Complaining And Do Something

So I decided that, rather than just complain, I would try to do something. 
Which is why I’m running for Trustee, and why I’m asking for your support and your vote on June 21.

Sands Point needs a change. 

Increases in Village taxes are unsustainable and, very soon, will depress our home values. Without fresh ideas and long-term thinking, balanced with an understanding of current economic and financial conditions, the Village will be unable to maintain the high quality and standards residents demand.

I understand how to do more with less. I understand the budgeting process. And I believe that I have the energy and the analytical skills that reflect what our terrific Mayor Wurzel said were critical for the Village’s continued success.

Daily Pressure

Currently, I work in New York City government, where I’m in charge of Private Equity for the Comptroller’s Office, and am responsible for advising some 275,000 employees on equity investing. My “clients” include New York City teachers, municipal workers, firefighters and police.

Talk about pressure, where every decision is analyzed and challenged, and where I need to justify every dollar of risk that I recommend.

So I know I can make an important difference in Village government, and that I can become your voice and your eyes and your ears as we decide how to use your money to keep Sands Point the best place to live on Long Island. 

My wife Tomm and our three children love living in Sands Point. and our children attend the and ECC. My wife Tomm grew up in Port Washington. 

In June of this year, I will be installed as a Trustee for the Community Synagogue and currently sit on the Tennis Committee. 

I also sit on the LP Advisory Council for SEO, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a national college preparatory program for underserved high school students, each year providing a broad range of educational and career development opportunities to hundreds of high school students, college students and young professionals.

I urge you to vote for Barry Miller on Tuesday, June 21. Polls will be open at the Village Hall from noon to 9 p.m.
 
Sands Point is ready for a change  The expenses of the village are too high and continued tax increases are unsustainable. If you go back to the most recent board minutes for the village, which are available on sandspoint.org, you will see that the mayor believes  "taxes are not high enough." That would be an endemic issue for all of the Trustees. I would look to reduce road repair expenditures and tactically repair roads where necessary and faze the project in over three years where possible in an effort to reduce the overall budget impact, visit the opportunity to reduce hours of operation for the Village Hall, revisit the water department finances, create a resource sharing program and joint purchasing program to help reduce overall expenditures. I would also look to utilize a more efficient use of building department resources in an effort to minimize there budgetary impact, i.e. look to allocate those expenses to residents who use the services. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.