Wiener and Johanson Honored at Village Event

(March 10, 2003) Though the campaign for two Village Trustee seats is in its final days, candidates Mike Wiener, a current Trustee, and Phil Johanson, a member of the Budget Committee and the Flint Park Conservancy, are showing no signs of slowing down. At a March 7th reception in their honor at the home of Joanne and Sam Jensen, Mike and Phil got a warm welcome from Republicans and Democrats who expressed gratitude at all the work the two Larchmont natives have done on behalf of the Village over the past several years. Mike also received a lengthy round of applause for his endorsement that morning from The Journal News and The Times.

The crowd included a large contingent of Chatsworth School parents who know Mike well from his three-year stint as Fire Chief. Several remarked that Mike had responded to fire alarms at their homes, while Phil Johanson has coached many of their kids in Little League, basketball and soccer.

The hottest topic of the evening was the impending county and school tax increases, which gave both Mike and Phil the opportunity to explain how the Village continues to be in strong financial shape. “No amount of snow this winter will threaten our current budget,” Trustee Wiener said emphatically. “We are a few thousand dollars over our estimate for the year, in a $10 million budget. It would have to snow like this for a thousand years before we lost our surplus.” As for any Village tax increase this year, Mike added, “Mayor Bialo has said publicly that our goal is to keep any increase under 5%. That would be a big relief to those who hear that our opponents would accept a double digit increase.”

Phil Johanson didn’t hide his enthusiasm when asked about the progress with the Flint Park Expansion project. “Some terrific ideas have been put forward by the Little League, Soccer League, Flint Park Conservancy, Parks and Trees Committee, Recreation Committee and the Environmental Committee.” Johanson reported. “The consultants working on the project have prepared some preliminary schematics highlighting some exciting possibilities. We will undoubtedly see many iterations of this as we continue to gather public feedback and incorporate this into a final design.”

Joanne Jensen was delighted to host the evening, and summed up her enthusiasm by stressing, “Mike and Phil have demonstrated that the Village can provide top notch services to its residents while keeping the lid on taxes. I couldn’t be prouder to lend my name to their campaign.”