JOHN A. ZACCARO, JR.
218 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012
(212) 226-1212
Fax (212) 925-7401

      I am running for one of two open trustee positions in the Village of Saltaire and I would like your support.

      Having grown up in Saltaire, I am blessed with great memories and many life long friends, but I also believe that the experience afforded me an understanding and appreciation of the Village's uniqueness and charm. My wife Anne and I bought our house in Saltaire in 1977 because we hope to provide our children with the same opportunities my sisters and I had.

      I am running for trustee and if elected I hope to be appointed maintenance trustee. I am a homeowner and a businessman and I am concerned about our current fiscal situation. Many of the upcoming expenditures have been expected for more than a decade but have never been properly addressed. As a result Saltaire is now faced with a series of difficult financial decisions that will impact us far into the future. We as a community must change our focus from billboards, bike racks and ill conceived Village Code changes that are unenforceable and a waste of everyone's time to resolving the tough issues. The Village must address it's infrastructure and must decide how to finance future upgrades.

      I have been involved in the Village on a volunteer basis for the last four years as an alternate Village prosecutor, a founding member of the Fire Island Wildlife Federation, and a member of the Dock Committee. Recently the Dock Committee was charged with providing recommendations to the Board of Trustees for its rebuilding. According to a September 1999 report, the life expectancy of both docks in their current condition is zero. This will be the third such report, the first was in 1970 by the H2M Group and the second in 1988 by the Saltaire Planning Commission. Though patching the docks was a cost effective remedy over the years, it is no longer possible to address the problem in this manner. The docks must be rebuilt and dock reconstruction will cost over a million and half-dollars ($1,500,000). I encourage you to read the H2M Group Rehabilitation of the Saltaire Marina report or go online to the Village website (www.saltaire.org) and read any of the other reports posted.

      Our water system needs upgrading. In certain locations, as evidenced by the 1999 fire on Navy Walk and Lighthouse, there is inadequate water pressure to fight fires in certain locations. The 2000 hydrology report by H2M Group recommends a water system upgrade totaling five hundred and eleven thousand dollars ($511,000) to the system and the Village wells.

      Then we have an upcoming beach replenishment expenditure that has been estimated at two million dollars ($2,000,000). Currently we are floating fifteen-year bonds to pay for sand that lasts only seven years. This approach saddles the Village with debt and does not even include the amount that will be required of the Village by the State or Federal governments to follow through on the Army Corp. of Engineers erosion recommendations.

      The Fire Department is in need of a new pumper. The current one is inadequate to address the needs of the Village. The cost, depending on the equipment included, is estimated to be two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). And then, of course, there is general maintenance, the cost of complete replacement, rather than patching, of Village walks on a cyclical basis as well as the costs of wetlands litigation and other potential unforeseen capital expenditures. It is time to have an open discussion on how these issues will be addressed and how this financing will impact our taxes.

      I am not saying that I can solve all of the Village's problems if I am elected, but I do believe that as a business man I can provide some fresh suggestions that will assist sound fiscal management. As a property manager, I am familiar with the maintenance and construction issues that confront Saltaire. As an attorney, I believe I can help address the legal issues that face the community on a regular basis and can provide input into our dealing with government regulatory agencies. As a developer who has negotiated contracts, applied for and received financing for major projects, I can aid in structuring our debt and budgeting for future obligations.

      For these reasons I believe I am uniquely qualified to serve as trustee. If elected I will work hard to make Saltaire the best that it can be for those of us who enjoy it today, with an ever watchful concern for those who will enjoy it in the future. I hope to see you at the candidate's forum on Saturday May 19, 2001.