Sands Point residents will have to make a choice between incumbent mayor Peter Forman and newcomer Jeremiah Bosgang, along with two incumbent trustees, on Tuesday, June 17.
Mayoral candidate Jeremiah Bosgang held a town hall meeting at the Landmark on Main Street on Monday, June 9, for residents to get to know him.
Bosgang started his meeting by admitting that he had never held public office before, but he said that did not mean that he wasn’t involved in the village.
“I want to do it because I love the village and I believe I can make the village more efficient, and I can make it more productive, and I can make it the kind of place where we want to live, where we want to raise our kids,” said Bosgang.
Incumbent mayor Peter Forman, who has served as mayor since 2019 following years as deputy mayor, trustee, and treasurer, is seeking re-election with the support of the full Board of Trustees.
“I’m running because we’ve done a lot of fixes in the village and we’re looking to continue. We’ve made a lot of improvements and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Forman said.
Bosgang is currently the executive director of the Sands Point Preserve, with previous roles held in the TV/film industry as program director at the Preserve.
Bosgang described an experience while working for the Sands Point Preserve when a car accident took place after a wedding at the Preserve involving a resident and a Sands Point police car, injuring the officer.
He said in his role as executive director of the Sand Point Preserve, he and his team responded to the accident by installing speed bumps, stop signs, and more, but Forman wanted to conduct an investigation into the staff at the Sand Point Preserve.
Bosgang said that he hired a lawyer before agreeing to an investigation at the request of the Sands Point Preserve’s board of directors. He said that after Forman received this news, Forman retracted his investigation.
“I don’t know if you remember the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ but I feel like it’s a metaphor. How Mr. Potter was so frustrated with the savings alone, it was the one thing in the town he couldn’t control and he was always looking for a way to get control of the savings alone. I don’t think the analogy is dissimilar with the attitude between the current administration and the Preserve,” said Bosgang.
Forman said the information shared at the meeting about a car accident at the Sands Point Preserve was correct and that the “village appropriately investigated.”
Bosgang said his management style involves finding the best people and empowering them to make decisions and take responsibility for their work. He claimed that he did not know everything. He said he has led teams all his life, and his love for Sands Point will shine through his work.
Also addressed were claims that he ran a business out of his home, which is illegal under the village code.
Bosgang said that during COVID, with not much work in the TV/film industry at the Preserve, he started fixing motorcycles in his home. He would pick up the motorcycle, bring it home, fix it, and drop it off, but Bosgang said he did not advertise this business. Instead, someone would have to call his phone and ask about it.
“I did it to try to put bread on the table for my family. As soon as COVID ended, I closed the business,” said Bosgang.
Forman said running Sands Point is like running “a small city.” But despite threatened downgrades by Moody’s credit rating, he was acknowledged for strong fiscal leadership in regards to their budgets and department management.
Trustees Jeffrey Moslow and Elena Karabatos are also up for re-election.
Moslow currently serves as trustee, deputy mayor, finance commissioner and deputy police commissioner. Before joining the Village Board in 2019, he was previously deputy chairman on the Board of Zoning Appeals, and worked closely with residents and general environmental issues. Moslow is a private investor and a retired partner of Goldman Sachs & Co.
At Goldman Sachs, Moslow was a member of the Investment Banking Division Operating Committee. He also served on the commitments committee that had oversight responsibility for global underwriting. He retired from Goldman Sachs in 2013.
Karabatos currently serves as trustee, road commissioner and deputy police commissioner. She was previously a member of the Sands Point planning board. Karabatos is a partner in the matrimonial firm of Schlissel Ostrow Karabatos, PLLC, and was previously president of the Nassau County Bar Association and of the New York Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
She was also a member of the Nassau County Bar Association Delegation for the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates from 2009 to 1012. She is a diplomat of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers and a member of the Attorney for the Children Advisory Committee for the Tenth Judicial District.
