Development high on list for mayor, trustee candidates in Valley Stream

Mayor Edwin A. Fare is being challenged in his bid for a second term by Martin Peter Zirpolo, and four candidates are vying for two at-large trustee seats in the Village of Valley Stream.

The election is March 18. All of the positions are for four years.

Fare, 52, is a lifelong resident of the village and is a technology teacher in the Valley Stream Central High School District. A Republican, Fare is running on the United Community Party ticket with incumbent trustees Vincent M. Grasso and Dermond Thomas, both Democrats.

The mayor said he wants to "continue to stabilize the tax base, continue smart, strategically planned housing to revitalize the business district; and continue the strategic plan to maintain and improve our infrastructure and public spaces."

Grasso, 42, is executive director of the Nassau County Bridge Authority and has lived in the village for 17 years. He is running for his second full term after being appointed to the board in 2010 to fill the unexpired term of Guido Cirenza, who died in 2009.

"The big challenge is moving the village into the 21st century of the Long Island suburb," Grasso said. He added that new housing needs to be constructed near the three local train stations to accommodate the needs of young, middle-aged and older commuters.

Thomas, 38, is a corporate transactions attorney who is running for a second term as trustee. He has lived in Valley Stream for seven years.

"There's a real desire on my part to have a recreation center," Thomas said.

Zirpolo, 61, has lived in the village for 47 years and is running for mayor as a Neighborhood Party candidate with fellow Democrats and trustee hopefuls Ingrid Izaguirre and Johanna David-Young. Zirpolo is the security director for the Allied Barton security firm's New York City office.

He said his priorities as mayor would be attracting more business to the village.

"I would also love to see a road [improvement] program done with corporate sponsorship, using corporate dollars to repair the roads instead of taxpayer dollars," Zirpolo said.

Izaguirre, 44, has been a Valley Stream resident for nine years. She is an outreach specialist for a managed long-term care program in East Hills.

David-Young, 30, is an attorney with the Connors & Sullivan PLLC law firm in Brooklyn and has lived in Valley Stream for two years.

Ellen Ingber, a campaign manager for the Neighborhood Party candidates, said the trustee contenders are "opposed to the proliferation of high-density buildings here in Valley Stream, and they're for the revitalization of the business district."

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at these polling places:

Shaw Avenue School; Clear Stream Avenue School; Valley Stream Memorial Junior High School; Valley Stream Central High School; Valley Stream Village Hall; Wheeler Avenue School; Bethlehem Assembly of God Church; Monica Senior Village; Robert W. Carbonaro School; Engine Co. 3 Firehouse; Brooklyn Avenue School; and William L. Buck School.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of years that Ingrid Izaguirre, who is running for a trustee seat, has lived in Valley Stream.