Meet the candidates: North Shore BOE
By LUKE FEENEY lfeeney@liherald.com
The North Shore school district is preparing for its upcoming school budget vote and education board elections on May 20.
Four seats are up for election this year, all uncontested: incumbent Trustees Lisa Cashman, Jessica Dillon, and James Svendsen will be running for reelection. Brian Hanley, a newcomer, will be running for the first time to fill the open seat left by Richard Galati, who previously left the board last November. Here is a brief synopsis of each of the candidates:
Q: Why are you running?
Cashman: I think, looking at the history of the board and the longevity and some of the big decisions, I believe that after three years, I’m finally have my footing underneath me, and so it’s really for the good of the community and for the good of the board, I think it’s beneficial to serve two terms.
Dillon: As somebody with a background in higher education administration working with states and budgets and things like that, I thought that the board was kind of a natural progression for me. So I want to be able to bring my skills and talent to be able to help serve the community.
Hanley: I am running for Trustee because, after serving on the Legislative Action Committee for several years, I wanted to contribute more, and I recognized that my legal and financial background would be of even greater service as a board member. We are at a critical juncture and we need to meet the upcoming fiscal challenges head on.
Svendsen: I believe in helping the schools and helping the community, always been like that.
Q: If elected, what are your top priorities for the board?
Cashman: There’s a lot of utility projects coming down the pike that
could affect funding and safety. The decisions we make as a Board impact every child, and I take that responsibility seriously.
Dillon: Making sure that we keep the quality of the education in schools and really maintain what is that spirit of the North Shore education.
Hanley: The most pressing priorities involve keeping pace with a rapidly changing world, particularly the instructional implications of artificial intelligence, along with the focus and wellness implications of electronic devices and social media. From a budget perspective, our top priority needs to be to try to mitigate the fiscal cliff while ensuring the continued wellbeing of our students and staff. These are tough challenges, but I’ve been encouraged by the administration’s efforts so far.
Svendsen: To me, the biggest issue is, even though we have a two year reprieve, sort of with what we’re losing, there’s a chance that we have a significant cliff in two years that could, you know, truly affect our budget. So for me, I’m continually looking at how we can manage that,
you know, now, instead of waiting.
Q: What unique qualities do you have that you bring to the board?
Cashman: I really make a concerted effort to be present in the community, to be available to community members. I’m involved in a wide swath of different community based organizations, and it gives me access to different demographics within our community.
Dillon: I feel a lot of the skills that I have working at a state institution with budgets ais transferable. I think a lot of that knowledge, and having the perspective from higher education, bringing that to K-12, I think, is also valuable.
Hanley: I would say my greatest strength is my willingness and enthusiasm to do a “deep dive,” getting into the details and making sure we’re getting it right. I am here to do the work. I believe my legal training and compliance experience will prove useful for board oversight, and for engaging with authorities regarding funding and other matters.
Svendsen: I’m a former educator. I
About the candidates
Cashman: Occupation: Clinical dietitian through private practice, age: 52, residence: Sea Cliff
Dillon: Occupation: Assistant registrar, Suffolk County Community College, age: 42, residence: Glen Head
Hanley: Occupation: Financial services regulatory attorney Age: 47 Residence: Sea Cliff
Svendsen: Occupation: Founder of Svenducate Consulting Age: 59 Residence: Glenwood Landing
believe that my experience in education helps the board to give them a different perspective and perspective of someone who’s worked through, you know, in education.
Herald file photo
The vote for board of education candidates will take place on May 20 and will be held in the North Shore High School gymnasium.
Courtesy Lisa Cashman
Lisa Cashman will be running for her second term, and is prioritizing utility projects for her next term.
Courtesy Jessica Dillon
Jessica Dillon, who replaced former trustee Richard Galati, will be running for her first full term.
Courtesy Nroam Hanley
Brian Hanley, a financial services regulatory attorney, is on the ballot for the first time.
Courtesy James Svendsen James Svendsen, elected to the board last year, says his background in education and service will assist him.
Over 300 people attended the sold-out event on April 24 at the Swan Club in Roslyn, which was an attendance record, according to organizers.
Coalition celebrates 40 years of advocacy
ing the organization in meaningful ways for decades. Foundational board members, board members who served since the beginning or close to the beginning, Kay Bromberg, Beth and Skip LeBlang, Elizabeth Weinstein, Charlie Weinstein, Lynda Schroeder, and Serge and Karen Papasergiou were also recognized.
A five-minute video illustrating the coalition’s history followed the praise for the volunteers. The video, featuring current and founding members, volunteers, and initiatives undertaken by the coalition, concluded with a call for more people to join in the coalition’s efforts.
This year we said let’s go big. I think there is tremendous enthusiasm for the coalition. While we’ve cleaned up the harbor dramatically, there is always more work to be done.
NINO LUCIANO
Co-president, Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor
A live auction and a raffle selection were conducted to help raise funds with many local businesses and families contributing. The auction featured art by local artists, jewelry from local jewelers, experiences at Baron Floral, pieces by Frost Ceramics, and weekend getaways to the North Fork of Long Island and the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.
“Our 40th anniversary gala was not just our largest and most successful event ever — it was a tribute to the people who’ve fueled our work across generations.” Lisa Cashman, associate director of the coalition, said. “We’re profoundly grateful to our guests, donors, sponsors, and especially our volunteers for making the evening — and the past four decades — possible.”
The Hempstead Harbor on the northern coast of Long Island suffered from air, water, and land-based problems resulting from past industrial activities along its shores around the time the coalition was formed. Since its inception in 1986, the coalition worked on water quality, habitat restoration, policy and planning, and shoreline cleanups.
In 1995, the nine municipalities with jurisdiction over Hempstead Harbor formed the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, a municipal partnership, to
According to Nino Luciano, co-president of the coalition, it has hosted a gala every other year. The last few have been at the Sea Cliff Manor, but due to increasing attendance and support, the event had to move to a larger venue.
address the harbor’s water-quality problems using a watershed-management approach. The coalition joined the committee as a nonvoting member and technical adviser.
In 2006, the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee received a Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant to assume financial responsibility for the water-monitoring program.
The coalition’s Hempstead Harbor core water-monitoring program now encompasses weekly testing at up to 21 monitoring stations. It includes a winter-monitoring component that assesses the bacteria and nitrogen loading to Hempstead Harbor at key shoreline outfalls.
The coalition also focuses on the quality of life for aquatic species living in the water. It began by giving volunteers a chance to directly participate in restoring their local waters by raising oysters in cages; the program became harbor-wide following a fourth site at North Hempstead Beach Park in 2023.
For the program, volunteers meet biweekly from July through September to clean the cages and track the oysters’ growth. They learn about the benefits of a
healthy shellfish population and engage with their environment through hands-on community conservation work.
The coalition undertakes several political advocacy efforts including letter-writing campaigns, phone calls and visits to local public officials, and organizing or attending rallies and meetings intended to elicit support for environmental protection at both a local and regional level.
The oysters grown through the program are not for consumption or commercial purposes. Once large enough, they are released into a protected area where they can live and reproduce, adding to the local population and providing environmental benefits long after the season concludes.
The coalition regularly organizes cleanups around the Hempstead Harbor shoreline and Scudder’s Pond, with the first Hempstead Harbor-Wide cleanup in 2022.
Looking to the future, Luciano said the coalition is committed to continuing its work throughout the harbor and is focused on greater engagement from younger people.
“We are always trying to get younger people involved,” he said. “This is a legacy that we’ve inherited from the folks who started this 40 years ago. We’re the stewards for now, but soon, newer and younger people will be taking over.”
Photos courtesy Jordan Loftus
Guests were offered fresh oysters.
