Two Vie for Commissioner Spot in Mattituck Park District

Voting for the  Commissioner takes place on Thursday, and, like in previous years, it's a hotly contested race due to financial and construction issues.

The Former Park District Commissioner Gerard Goehringer is challenging incumbent Nick Deegan for this year's leadership position in the district.

Since 1941, the Mattituck Park District has maintained and enhanced nine properties in Mattituck — beaches, athletic fields, a boat ramp and nature preserves — a total of 73 acres. The properties are private to residents of the park district, which includes parts of Laurel.

Voting takes place on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at in Mattituck.

Nick Deegan — A carpenter by trade, incumbent Deegan has been on the board since October 2008 and focuses on the transparency and community relation aspects of the board.

"To me, it's all about the community," he said. "The park district is about recreation. Some people may not use the soccer fields but they use the beaches and the tennis courts."

Deegan said that he has made the community aware of park district programs and to get them involved with the process. Deegan said many residents have come onboard to volunteer time and services in the last two years. He also claimed prior to his election that only about 15 residents would vote on the budget and 25 to 40 would come out for a commissioner's election. Today, Deegan said about 90 people will vote on the park district budget and about 600 will vote in the commissioner's election.

The park district's 2011 budget is approximately $567,000 of which $432,000 will be raised by taxes, which Deegan said the district lowered by about 10% in the last two years. The rest of the budget will be raised by income and surplus funds. Deegan instituted policies for procurement, investment, guest workers, and use of park district vehicles, have lowered expenditures. In particular, the commissioner's gas cards were eliminated and park district vehicles are checked in and out with every use to track mileage. An external 2009 audit found deficiencies in the district's record keeping and Deegan said the commissioners have worked to improve how records are kept.

"We want to run the park district like a business and make it more responsible to the taxpayers," said Deegan.

The next major project Deegan said would like to see finished is the conversion of the storage facility at Veterans Memorial Park to a community center that could be rented out for parties. Much of the work has been completed and is on schedule to be opened in 2011. Deegan said next year will be a time of beautification for many of the facilities.

Gerard Goehringer — A park commissioner for 31 years, Goehringer said he chose not to run for another term in 2007 so he could spend time with his grandchildren. Now retired, Goehringer said has the time to devote to the district again. He is also the vice-chairperson of the Southold Town Zoning Board of Appeals.

During his tenure as park commissioner, Goehringer claimed the district had "real-time" budgets with low surpluses. Under his leadership, the district also acquired property on Aldrich lane and built a soccer field, built the storage building on Aldrich Lane, fixed the infrastructure at Breakwater Beach Park, rebuilt the exterior of the Boy Scouts lodge at Bailie Beach Park, built a $167,000 playground for $92,000 and added a multipurpose building at Veterans Memorial park, and received many of the permits for projects the park district is now working on.

As a former operational auditor for Suffolk County Comptroller's office, Goehringer admitted that there were financial oversights in the district in 2009 which were found by auditors. But he said he led a "pretty open life" as a commissioner and said he is running again in part because he did not care for the way some commissioners were conducting district business. In addition, he said he didn't feel like he had accomplished everything he wanted to accomplish as a commissioner.

"I left some things up in the air when I chose not to run again," Goehringer said. "I look at our residents with animals and dogs are not allowed on our beaches. I would like to make a dog run somewhere in the area of the Sound beaches."