On March 15, Sea Cliff residents had the opportunity to listen to the slate of candidates for two open Village trustee seats. Incumbents Dina Epstein, and Jeff Vitale, who was appointed to the Board by Mayor Ed Lieberman in December, and Deb McDermott are vying for two seats as Trustee. Mayor Lieberman is running unopposed for Mayor.
We posed a simple question to all of the candidates. Would they ever vote to break the 2% NYS tax cap?
Mayor Liberman emphatically stated he would never break the 2% cap.
However we wish we could say the same for the trustee candidates.
Deb McDermott stated that circumstances may arise in which she would vote to break the cap. She went on to question the 2% rule. She stated the way the State calculated the cap it could vary and even drop to a negative value. She didn’t cite any specific instances of that actually happening.
Jeff Vitale echoed McDermott’s comments in that he could not promise to never break the 2% tax cap.
Dina Epstein also did not promise, if re-elected, to preserve the tax cap.
The Village Election is Tuesday March 21