Darrell Conway, Village Unity Party line candidate for Village Trustee Backed by a group of key supporters, Babylon resident and attorney Darrell Conway has announced that he will be seeking a seat on the Babylon Village Board. A member of the Village Unity Party, Conway squares off against incumbent Village Trustees Alice Vanderveldt and Kevin Muldowney. The two candidates who get the most votes will be seated in the at-large election to be held in March.

Conway, currently a trustee on the Babylon School Board, a post he will step down from if elected to the Village Board, said he is running because he believes the public should have an alternative to the one-party government. Currently, all members of the Babylon Village Board, including Mayor Ralph Scordino, are members of one party, the Better Babylon Party.

"Since I would not be part of the one party control, I would be more open to residents to listen to their ideas and concerns and be able to bring them to the board," said Conway. "We should have a better dialogue with residents and an exchange of ideas and I don't think that is as available right now as it should be."

Conway points to some issues he would like to work on. First, he said, he believes the Village must look at finding ways to eliminate expenses and that the first suggestion he would make would be to eliminate the gasoline provided trustees and ask that they contribute to their health insurance premiums. In addition, he said that in these times, it is also important for the Village to consider eliminating the cost of the Mayor's 8-cylinder Suburban. "It is too expensive and presents the wrong image," said Conway. "Everyone else is downsizing, and we should too."

Conway has been a member of the Babylon School Board for 6 years and served as its president and vice president. He operates a private law practice and as part of the school board voted to change the format of the meeting to provide the public with input to the agenda before the board voted on each item. That's something he said he'd like to bring to Village government. "Voting on resolutions and not allowing the public to ask questions or speak about them first is close minded and does not give the image of open government," said Conway. "At the very least, residents should be able to ask questions about what the board is voting on, and who knows, they may even be able to provide some insight that could change the way the board was voting on the resolution."

Conway has lived in the Village since 1986. He has two children, a daughter who is currently in law school at UCONN and a son, a freshman in Manhattan College. Both are graduates of Babylon High School. He is a member of the Babylon Little League, serving as president for 5 years and coach for 17 years.