Sanitary District 1 Election: Vilardi looks ahead

Appointed in 2005 to a seat vacated by then Commissioner Chester Cafasso and elected in 2007, Commissioner James Vilardi is running unopposed for reelection in the upcoming Sanitary District One election. Despite the fact that he faces no challenger, Villardi is looking forward to constituents coming to the polls on Monday night July 9 to vote.

Embarking on his second five year term. Villardi currently serves alongside four other Sanitary Commissioners, Lino Viola, Frank Argento, Irving Kaminetsky and Harry Beltrani who as a cohesive body are constantly striving to strike a balance between budgetary constraints and improving the delivery of services. Vilardi and colleagues at the District are cognizant of meeting the needs of the community and make special note of the District’s efforts in addressing increased demand prior to the Passover holiday. “Ask any community leader about Passover collections, we went over and above. There was a policy in place that Mayor Parise, and former Mayor Jack Levenbrown of Lawrence established at train stations and we expanded on that. We mobilized to meet the needs of the community. We had trucks out till 6 p.m. that evening. We are very proud to deliver that level of service to accommodate constituents.”

Villardi, who describes himself as someone who is energized by what local government provides, is very proud of the management of District one. Currently, the district is projecting its budget for the next twenty-five years. “We are evaluating what the payroll is going to be. The district has older, higher paid sanitation workers aging out and younger workers are filling the vacancies earning lower salaries. There is an ability here to evaluate how much money is available for future capital projects.” Additionally, under Villardi’s tenure the District recently identified savings of $4,000 per worker for new hirees with the introduction of a revised health plan. The District’s audit committee which is under Vilardi’s purview recently scaled back the life insurance benefit policy for Commissioner’s, including himself.

The 53 year old Hewlett resident who by day manages a real estate development company, and serves on the Nassau County Bridge Authority, strives to run the District like it’s a small business. “We utilize zero based budgeting. We look at every line item in the budget. We ask ourselves, do we really need it? How can we do this more cost effective? How can we do it better? Every line item is evaluated so we don’t have to raise taxes while at the same time we look at measures to improve service. “ Specifically Vilardi highlights the District’s cost effective management and realized savings by comparing 2011 $18M budget with the current 2012 $17.9M budgeted total.

On the service side, the District engages a management roundtable, comprised of two commissioners, Superintendent Phil Mistero, Deputy Superintendent George Pappas, two union officials, and two rank and file sanitation workers with the prime purpose of increasing communication to improve service.

The District just recently invested in a $ 7,500 customized computer software mapping system that can monitor the delivery of services in real time. “Often elected officials receive problematic constituent calls, and our response time is generally within the hour, “ noted Vilardi.

The district continues to focus on recycling and improving efforts to comply with the Department of Environmental Conservation’s source separation mandate. In the coming months an E-waste program will be rolled out. Sanitary District One is located at 2 Bay Boulevard in Lawrence, behind Costco. Polls are open between 6 p. m. and 10 p.m.