Starkie
(Photo courtesy of George “Butch” Starkie)
George “Butch” Starkie
Farmingdale native Starkie is the sole owner and operator of Starkie Brothers Garden Center and has a number of other businesses in the horticultural field. He was mayor of the Village of Farmingdale from 2008-12 before he stepped down to spend more time with his family and help his business recover from the recession. His decision to run for his old position arose from his view that the current administration has been stepping away from the tenets of a master plan for redeveloping the village’s downtown that was codified during his time in office.
Q: Why are you running for mayor again?
George “Butch” Starkie: When I was in office, we did a four-year study. We had a committee of residents. I had Sustainable Long Island do community outreach so that every resident’s voice was heard and we could get a document that we could all agree to at the time. It was signed, sealed and delivered. It was a painstaking process—find out what people were willing to tolerate in order to revitalize Farmingdale and not cross the line. Every time we hit that third rail, we’d back up a little bit. We came up with a phenomenal document that was clear and concise. It was worth every dime that we spent on it at the time. Then we created a code based on that document and the only reason I’m running is that the master plan and the code has been hijacked. There are things in the master plan that were clearly not followed.
Q: Like what?
GBS: No development on Route 109. There were two townhouse developments of 16 units that had gotten approval prior to the master plan being adopted and our code being changed. So in all fairness to those people, we let them make the cut. Then what happened is that those were hijacked. It wasn’t 16 units anymore—it turned into 24 units. Also, any developer asking for bonus density has to [submit] a 10-year pro forma. You have to tell us how much extra money you’re going to make and how much you’re going to give the village. Not one development that took place in the Village of Farmingdale had one developer issue a pro forma—and it’s in the code. Am I the only one that’s upset about this?
Q: What are your plans if you’re reelected?
GBS: I just want to bring transparency to the process and I want to get back to whatever loopholes they found and obviously close them up. I’m not against developers or development as long as the community is involved. Twice, when we were down there, the mayor publicly said the only people who come down to village meetings are complainers. I guess I’m a complainer then. It’s seriously my only issue.
Visit www.bringbackbutch.com to find out more about Starkie’s platform.
Ralph Ekstrand
Ekstrand is running for his third term as mayor. He was elected in 2012 and reelected in 2016. Previously he served as a village trustee from 2008-12. Ekstrand is celebrating his 40th year as supervising pharmacist and principal of Moby Drugs. Ekstrand is looking to serve a third term to “restore normalcy to the village. The coronavirus happened on my watch and I feel obligated to restore what was damaged.”
Q: What are the proudest accomplishments that occurred during your two terms?
Ralph Ekstrand: The revitalization of the downtown, the filling up of the empty stores and the increase in bringing youth to our population base. Those are all things that the team, and not just me, has accomplished. I was elected in 2008 with Cheryl [Parisi] and Bill [Barrett] and the three of us are still there. So three of the five of us have been there since the beginning.
Q: You’re running against George Starkie. I wanted to get your comment about the master plan that was put in place while he was in office for that one term.
RE: I was on the revitalization committee for the master plan before he was mayor. I ran with the team against Mr. Starkie in 2008. I ran with then-Mayor George Graf and Deputy Mayor Rosell with me running for trustee. I won and the [other] two lost. Mr. Starkie kept me on the revitalization committee, so I was part of the plan from its get-go. So I’m very familiar with it. He was part of the master plan, as was Cheryl and Bill, the two trustees who have been with me since 2008. So the three of us on the board have been there since the start of the master plan to what we now see as its fruition. He has different memories or aspects of the master plan than I do.
Q: George Starkie said the master plan has a portion in it requiring developers to provide a 10-year pro forma. What do you have to say about that?
RE: What we did was sit down with the developers in public hearings—this was all done in public. Nothing was done behind closed doors. And we talked about the benefit [of their projects] to them and what the benefit was to us. We hashed it out and never put it in writing. We agreed orally. He is complaining that there are no written pro formas. Well, yeah. But it was all discussed in open public—the pros, the cons and the money. If he wanted to make a complaint about it, why didn’t he make a complaint during all the public hearings?
Visit www.farmingdalevillageparty.com to find out more about Ekstrand’s platform.
The Trustee Race
In addition to the mayor’s race, two trustee seats are up for grabs. Deputy Mayor William Barnett and trustee Walter Priestley, who are both up for reelection, are running unopposed and are running on the Farmingdale Village Party ticket with Ekstrand.
The election will be held Sept. 15 at St. Kilian Auditorium, located on 50 Cherry St. in Farmingdale. Polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Visit www.farmingdalevillage.com for more information on how to register or how to submit an absentee ballot.
