by Carolyn James

Tom Gargiulo, R

Coach Tom Gargiulo remembers one of his most dramatic victories of his career. His basketball team was up against Floral Park, a major force with a long winning streak. The most he could do, he said was to prepare his team making them believe in themselves.

"I told them that we were going into the Lions Den but that if we worked hard and gave 110 percent, anything was possible.

By the end of the third quarter Gargiulo’s team was down by two, the closest Floral Park had ever allowed a team to get. In the final quarter they were down by a point and Gargiulo had a player steal the ball and score the basket. With seconds left, Floral Park tried to get the ball in bounds but the basket went to Gargiulo’s team—the buzzer sounded, his team won and the fans went crazy.

In some ways, Gargiulo, the Republican candidate for Babylon Town Board, believes he’s in the final quarter up against a formidable candidate but that with preparation and hard work he can win.

Carol Quirk, D

While three candidates are running for two seats on the Babylon Town Board in an at-large election, the race really comes down to two candidates:  Gargiulo and the incumbent Democrat Carol Quirk. The head-to-head challenge is the result of the third candidate, incumbent Lindsay Henry’s political fortune. He’s running on the Republican, Democratic, Conservative and Independence party lines.

Quirk doesn’t see it that way. "People today are much more independent in the way they vote than they were 20 years ago," she said. "That’s why no candidate should take anything for granted."

Quirk is running on the Democratic, Independent, Working families and No Tax Increase lines for her second, four year term. She chairs the Town’s Committee on Parks and Recreation, works with the Babylon Historical Commission, senior citizens and veterans. She says she’s also proud of her work in bringing the Town into the 21st Century with an interactive website that makes it easier for residents to navigate local government.

"This is the kind of a job that gives you an opportunity to help someone every day," she said.

Lindsay Henry, R,D

With major improvements to the town’s pools, beaches, and athletic fields, Quirk says she and her counterparts on the board, including Supervisor Steve Bellone, have been able to give residents the kind of facilities that they can enjoy and be proud of. "That is one of the roles of government in our lives," she said.

Quirk also works with Town beautification projects and points to the work done to many of the downtown areas including West Babylon, Copiague, Deer Park and Wyandanch. If reelected, she said she’d like to establish a moratorium on Big Box stores and consider a resolution limiting them in the Town. "It is counterproductive to work on revitalizing our downtown areas and allowing these large stores to come in," said Quirk.

Gargiulo is working to tell voters they have a choice.

"I am out walking every day and have a good team of people around me," said Gargiulo, a resident of Babylon Village and an athletic coach for 30 years. "A lot of people know me because of the work I have done over the years coaching kids, but now I tell them I want to be their voice on the Town Board.

With the exception of Henry, a registered Independence Party candidate who ran last time with Independence and Republican support, the Town Board is made up of Democrats including Supervisor Steve Bellone, and councilmen Wayne Horsley, Ellen McVeety and Quirk.

"We need someone else on the board who will be independent and who is not afraid to speak up on behalf of residents."

Gargiulo said that he has visited many different parts of the Town and finds that some are neglected.

"There are a lot of empty lots that are unkept and roads that need to be fixed up," he said. "People have told me that they call the Town to complain about them and they get no response."

Quirk said that at least one of the areas Gargiulo points to is damaged due to an auto accident involving a school bus. "I told him that this simply was not our responsibility," she said.

As for constituents questions and concerns, Quirk said she not only responds to every call, but follows it up with letters and phone calls. Pointing to a drawer full of phone messages and a pile of folders on her desk, she said she views that as one of her most important jobs.

"I not only refer the complaint to the proper department, but follow it up with a letter and ask that I be notified of whatever the outcome is," said Quirk. "And I make sure that I keep the resident informed throughout the process."

If elected, Gargiulo said he would make it a priority to respond to every resident who takes the time to call and would work in partnership with civic groups, scouts and the schools to develop programs to clean up unsightly areas and improve the quality of life in the Town.

He also wants to develop athletic programs for special education and disabled youngsters in the Town and believes it can be done at a minimal cost. "I have spent a good part of my adult life volunteering my time to help kids and I am more willing to do it as a public official," he said.

"We’d welcome his help and his ideas," said Quirk. "But my question to him is that if he has so many ideas and is so willing to help, where has he been?"

One of the issues Gargiulo directly confronts his opponent on is the development of 81 acres for a retail Tanger Outlet on Grand Boulevard off of Commack Road in Deer Park. Quirk, a resident of Deer Park has taken some heat from a large number of residents who vehemently oppose the site and have turned to Gargiulo for support.

"I don’t see how they even think of putting something that large in that area with all of the traffic," said Gargiulo. "If I am elected, I will be the voice of those people in Deer Park who have no voice now."

The project, which has been scaled back since first being formally introduced to the Towns Planning Board at a public hearing in March, would include a 92,000 square foot retail outlet center, generating, said residents, a high volume of vehicles and commercial traffic in an area whose roadways are already burdened.

Quirk said she agrees that traffic is a major problem, not only in the future when something is built there, but now. That’s why she said she was pleased that the Planning Board, which has the final word on the project, has ordered new and more expansive traffic studies. She was also glad to hear this week that the county is also conducting a major traffic study of the entire area, which includes two other major projects for the Pilgrim State site.

"What people have to understand is that this is private property and that something is going to be built there," she said. "What we have to do is decide what will work best."

For her part, Quirk said she supports mixed use of the property, including some retail, some office space—and, she quickly adds—some kind of park or athletic field for the children. "I think that makes the most sense," she said.

The election is Tuesday, November 8. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.