(Editor’s Note: The following is a joint announcement submitted by the four Property Owners’ Associations of The Village of Garden City.)
In January, all four Garden City Property Owners’ Associations (POAs) announced their respective candidates for four trustees and a mayor. These candidates were endorsed by their respective POA Boards, Nominating Committees, Garden City Residents at the Electors’ Meetings, as well as fellow Board of Trustee members and Committees & Commissions. With the upcoming March 15, village-wide election approaching, the POAs remind all residents that each of these candidates will represent not only their respective sections of the village, but also will responsibly represent the village as a whole. These five well-respected gentlemen were chosen from a pool of candidates because they are the best qualified, experienced, and possess a wide variety of expertise, with varying levels of tenure on the board and in other areas of volunteer community service to the Village of Garden City.
Donald T. Brudie (Mayoral Candidate – 5 Cathedral Avenue) is a 34-year resident and was a director of the Central POA for 10 years. He currently serves as deputy mayor and has been on the Board of Trustees (BOT) for six years.
Andrew J. Cavanaugh (Central Trustee candidate – 14 Cathedral Avenue) is a 20-year resident and was a director of the Central POA for five years. He has been on the BOT for one term (two years).
John A. DeMaro (Estates Trustee candidate – 84 Wellington Road) is a 5-year resident and was a director of the Estates POA for four years. He was treasurer and is currently serving as president of the Estates POA. He is also the current chairperson of the Joint Conference Committee (JCC) of the four Property Owners’ Associations.
Dennis C. Donnelly (East Trustee candidate – 141 Meadow Street) is a 42-year resident and was a director of the East POA for seven years. He was president of the East POA, and served as the chairperson of the JCC. He has been on the BOT for one term (two years).
Laurence J. Quinn (Western Trustee candidate – 151 Tanners Pond Road) is a 16-year resident and was an active member of the Western POA for six years. He was Board of Education trustee for six years. He has been on the BOT for one term (two years).
These Community Agreement candidates bring the perfect blend of experience and change to the board. They will continue to use their professional expertise to work in concert with the experience on the board. These candidates will join fellow standing trustees, John Watras (Western), Brian Daughney (Estates), and Nicholas Episcopia (East) whose terms are not subject to election this year.
Donald Brudie
• Mr. Brudie and his wife, Barbara, are residents of the village for over 34 years. Trustee Brudie, a practicing attorney, has a career that includes work in both the private and public sectors. He has served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and in the New York Guard as a JAG officer. He is a member of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick in the City of New York, the Knights of Columbus, and the American Legion (National). In October of 2010, Mr. Brudie was elected to the Executive Board of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. In addition, Don has served as director on the boards of several charitable organizations for more than 10 years.
• As village trustee, he presently serves as first deputy mayor and as a member of the Finance Committee and Traffic Commission. Previously during his six years as a trustee, Mr. Brudie served as police commissioner, commissioner of Public Works, commissioner of Building and Planning, Traffic Commission chairman, chairman of the Environmental Advisory Board, and on the Executive Compensation and Public Information Committees. He served also as liaison officer to the Architectural Design Review Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Historical Society and the Board of Cultural and Recreation Affairs.
• The Brudies have four children (a lawyer, two investment bankers, and a physician), all of whom are graduates of St. Joseph’s School and the Garden City High School. Two of their children are Garden City residents, and they presently have four grandchildren, two of whom attend Regis High School and the Garden City Middle School.
Andrew Cavanaugh
• Andrew and his wife, Cathleen, live in the Central Section of Garden City. Their children Michael, Elizabeth, and William are students at, respectively, Fordham University, Manhattan College and Xavier High School. Andrew has been an active member of Cathedral of the Incarnation, where he served on the Cathedral Council and as Senior Warden. As an involved member of the Central POA, he chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on St. Paul’s. He was an active participant on the Parents’ Hiring Review Committees for the Garden City Schools. Andrew has earned a Juris Doctor Degree at the Boston University School of Law in Boston and, later, a Graduate Masters of Law Degree in Taxation at the New York University Graduate School of Law.
• Mr. Cavanaugh currently practices law in New York City. His experience as attorney in global employee relations and later as Human Resource Vice President includes past tenure at Equitable Life, and American Express. Andrew also worked at Paramount Pictures Corp. and Coopers & Lybrand. He served as senior vice president, administration overseeing Human Resources, facilities management and infrastructure support, and as senior consultant where he led client engagements combining technical and organizational business solutions.
• Andrew enjoyed 20 successful years in Human Resources at Estée Lauder. His experience included union and non-union negotiations. His career provided him with both national and international financial experience. Andrew was a driving force in senior management, integrating the efforts of the core sales, marketing and manufacturing functions with the Legal, Financial, Human Resources and the Technical areas of the group. On the management side, he was a fully engaged partner in general management as the enterprise grew from $1.5 billion to $6.3 billion annual revenue; he served as co-lead among management executives (with the CFO) through the company’s 1995 IPO, oversaw broadly deployed corporate security and office services operations, and acted as cabinet level advisor through 3 CEO, 3 COO successions. In Human Resources, he has a proven track record as the senior-most officer for the enterprise with 25,000 employees in 40 markets. He was also instrumental in maintaining a union free environment for the Company’s multi national, multi site manufacturing organization. Regarding the group’s Technical issues, he was integral to several complex financial structurings, including the 1991 U.S. revised pension formula, effecting cumulative expense reduction in excess of $100 million. Concurrently, he was responsible for prudent asset management of a $2 billion pension deployed in numerous trusts in over 10 multi-national jurisdictions. Andrew served as the primary interface with the Board of Directors for all executive compensation and succession issues, and developed, negotiated, wrote and secured Board approval for all meaningful executive engagements, globally.
John DeMaro
• John and his wife, Kim, along with their three children, Timothy (9), James (7), and Julia (5), live in the Estates section of Garden City. John is a partner at the law firm of Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, PC where he is chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group and a member of the Litigation Department. Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, PC is a 60 attorney, full service business law firm located in Uniondale. John has been at the firm for 18 years. He received his law school degree from St. John’s University School of Law. At St. John’s, he served as an editor of both the St. John’s Law Review and the New York International Law Review. John received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany with a major in political science and a minor in business administration. John’s continued professional education includes having taken postgraduate classes focusing on leadership and management at Harvard Business School.
• John supervises the firm’s international trademark practice and advises clients regarding worldwide intellectual property matters. As part of his professional skills and experience, John evaluates alternative courses of action. He builds consensus, and analyzes the nuances of complicated litigated issues. He also structures and negotiates transactions and settlements. John advises clients on the financial impact of business deals, and is experienced in compensation matters.
• He continues to serve on the ad hoc facilities committee commissioned by the Garden City Board of Education to assess school facility needs within the district. This ad hoc committee continues to meet in connection with related construction projects after the residents of Garden City passed the October 2009 school bond referendum. John is also on the board of directors of the Garden City High School Student Aid and Scholarship Fund. He has been involved in fundraising for several charities, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and has been awarded the National Multiple Sclerosis Leadership Award. John and his family are members of St. Anne’s parish.
Dennis Donnelly
• Dennis served as Centennial Soccer Coach and is a member of St. Joseph’s Church. He and his wife of 34 years, Nancy, have three children who have all attended Garden City schools. Tara is a third-grade teacher in Bellerose, Queens; Erin is currently working in international shipping, and Brian is a student at Nassau Community College. As an active member of the East POA for 10 years, Dennis served as director, then vice president, and most recently as president, as well as JCC chairperson. Among his numerous honors and service to several boards, Dennis most recently served on the Executive Committee of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the Pineapple Ball Committee and in 2008, he was honored with the Community Achievement Award.
• Mr. Donnelly is a retired executive from Verizon Communications where in 2004 he was Director of Government and Community Relations for the Long Island region. He was successful for 35 years at Verizon and its predecessor companies where he had numerous assignments, including operations management, process engineering, and public communications.
• Dennis served as chairman of the board of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corp., the Downtown Brooklyn Development Corp., Queens Festival Corp., Flushing Boys Club, the Flushing YMCA, Astoria Motion Picture foundation, and Flushing Council on Culture & the Arts. He also was a board member of numerous economic development corporations and Chambers of Commerce, and served as chairman of the board of the Queens County Overall Economic Development Corp. Mayors Lindsey, Beame, and Koch each appointed Mr. Donnelly to various ad hoc committees involving New York City operations. He also served in various capacities advising the borough presidents of both Brooklyn and Queens Counties.
Laurence Quinn
• Larry has lived in Garden City with his wife, Marianne, and two sons, Thomas and Brendan, since 1995. As village trustee, he serves as liaison to the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) and the Traffic Commission. Prior to his election to the village board of trustees, he served as a trustee of the Garden City Board of Education for six years. An active member of the Western POA, Mr. Quinn has served as the fire, traffic and safety director, and later as liaison director to the school board. He has participated on several nominating committees and regularly attends Western POA meetings. He is an active member of the Garden City Volunteer Fire Department since 1996. His community involvement has included: Boy Scout merit badge counselor, member of the Garden City Schools Scholarship and Loan Committee and over the years, coach for several GCAA and Centennials teams.
• Larry has been employed by the Sewanhaka Central High School District as a science teacher since 1986. For over 30 years he has been a facility director for municipal pools and parks with the Town of North Hempstead and the villages of Floral Park and Mineola. He has worked with the Nassau County Health Department as chief lifeguard examiner.
• Mr. Quinn received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, a masters from Adelphi and a professional diploma in administration from Fordham. Additional post-graduate work was completed at St. John’s University, the University of Vermont, and Teacher‘s College. Larry successfully utilizes and applies his “hands-on” experience along with his professional education to identify and resolve various important matters.
Your Community Agreement Candidates
Each candidate is more than uniquely qualified; they are well respected, experienced, and they bring their respective expertise and dedicated involvement to their leadership positions. Each candidate proudly volunteers to serve the Village of Garden City, which they love and call home. Their service throughout the varying years and levels of their involvement demonstrates and proves their ability to work together bringing new ideas to the board.
The four POAs (Central, Estates, East, and Western) ask that you please VOTE on March 15, from noon to 9 p.m. at Village Hall for your Community Agreement Candidates in support of the Community Agreement, and based on the candidates’ diverse and superior qualifications and experience. They were each recommended and accepted by your nominating committees and POA Boards. They possess and have demonstrated their dedication and respective leadership roles (in their careers and in the village). They will fairly and properly represent each section of the Village as well as the village as a whole. They have the personal and professional qualities to best manage, control, and resolve the myriad of issues and day-to-day matters that impact the Village of Garden City today and in the future.
The Boards of Directors and Nominating Committees of the:
Central Property Owners’ Association
Property Owners’ Association of Garden City Estates
East Property Owners’ Association
Western Property Owners’ Association
