Meet the Candidates: Deputy Mayor Callahan Wants to Keep Government That Works

With elections in Malverne only days away, Patch sat down with Deputy Mayor James Callahan who is running for his fourth term as trustee.

Deputy Mayor and Trustee James Callahan is all about keeping the polarizing politics out of local government and getting things done.

Callahan, who is pursuing his fourth term in office, is one of three candidates vying for two trustee seats in the Malverne’s village election on March 15. 

When he first emerged onto the village board 12 years ago, Callahan, a former village prosecutor, said the scene was much different than it is today.  Fighting among board members led to tense and ineffective meetings, he says.

“Stuff wasn’t necessarily getting done – even things you wouldn’t expect,” Callahan recalled during a recent interview with Patch. The last four years, with Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald at the helm, have been a pleasant change for him.

“We work very well together,” Callahan said, referring to McDonald and Trustee Michael Bailey, both Independent Party members like himself who are also up for re-election, as well as Trustees Joseph Hennessy and Jack O’ Brien.

“We disagree and have our different opinions….sometimes it’s a compromise, but everyone does what they think is best for the village,” Callahan said. “It’s unusual to have cooperation at this level of government.”

Callahan credits this teamwork and commitment to putting the village’s interests first to the various projects that the current administration has successfully executed while also keeping taxes low and maintaining the character and services of the village.

Citing Grossmann’s Farm as an example, Callahan said that the board not only had to work together, but they also had to deal with a change in leadership at the County level when County Executive Tom Suozzi passed the torch to Ed Mangano.

“We needed people who worked well with Democrats and Republicans, either of whom could’ve thrown a monkey wrench into [the deal],” Callahan said.

He said that everyone on the board approached the farm situation with an open mind, but ultimately decided it was best to preserve the land and Malverne’s agricultural ties. Plus, after speaking with residents, they learned that many were strongly against the idea of building apartment houses on the land, which developers had proposed.

“Had that land been developed it would have dramatically changed the character of Malverne,” he said.

Callahan bought his home in Malverne 16 years ago with his wife, Patricia Canzoneri, a Malverne native and daughter to former Mayor Joseph Canzoneri. The two had met while studying law at St. Johns University and today,  have four children: Thomas, 12, Katherine, 9, Elizabeth, 6, and Christina, 3.

As a family man, Callahan is excited about the potential he sees in the half acre plot of land, worth approximately a half of million dollars, that was donated to the village by Nassau County when it purchased the farm.

Callahan supports the idea of using this space to finally bring a recreation center into the village that kids, as well as seniors and adults, can enjoy. While he admits this would be a challenging undertaking in these difficult economic times, he advocates putting a committee together to research different possibilities and explore ways to make the facility self-sustaining such as renting space out for kids parties or charging nominal gym memberships.

He envisions a committee comprised of about eight active coaches, seniors, residents and a craft person to look at what’s feasible and then present it to the board. If you start planning then perhaps, he says, when the economy turns around or the village is able to acquire funds, they’ll be able to move forward.

“I believe the mayor is on board with that,” he said.

Another major goal that he would like to continue working on along with the rest of the board is maintaining the progress they have made with the village’s financial status.

"We’ve taken the village from having high tax rates to lower tax rates,” he said. “We average about a 2 percent increase.” He compared this to the previous administration, which he says averaged an 8 percent tax increase or higher.

“We’re doing this while improving the roadways and infrastructure, building a headquarters for the ambulance corps and still giving the service and events that make Malverne Malverne.”

He explained that the last time the village’s roadways were paved, in 1986, taxes went up 25 percent. With the current Roadway Improvement project underway, Callahan said the current administration is doing the work in piecemeal.

 “We’re doing 10 percent every year, so that in 10 years all the roads will be repaved without a huge tax increase,” he said.

Callahan also pointed out that under McDonald’s leadership, the board has cracked down overtime overspending in the village’s police force, bringing to end the practice of officers being paid extra for working fake holidays.

“They started taking every day that Congress made a proclamation for a day off,” said Callahan.

What started as a few days grew to 20 by the time the McDonald administration was sworn in and they soon spotted the abuse.

“They got greedy,” he said. “ When we caught them and went toe-to-toe, it was unpopular politically, but at that point something had to be done. The savings has been tremendous…about $100,000 a year.”

To further weed out wasteful spending, the current administration has also introduced purchasing guidelines and more oversight for village departments. Callahan explained that when a department makes a purchasing request, the village clerk will research to get the lowest price.

 They’ve also focused on getting as much grant money as possible for beautification, road maintenance and other projects. “We send a lot of federal money in income taxes to Washington and we want to get back as much as we can,” he said.

 Today, Callahan serves as Commissioner of Emergency Management for Nassau County, but before he was appointed to this role in 2006, he focused on creating Malverne’s own OEM.

Back then, pre-9-11, emergency management wasn’t a big concern for village governments, but a recent tornado that touched down on Long Island, prompted Callahan to take action. He soon learned that Malverne’s emergency management plan consisted of a single sheet of paper with phone numbers listed, many of which were outdated. His first step was pulling together all the department heads from police, fire and ambulance to the department of public works and building.

"We looked at what our risks were,” Callahan said, and then worked on putting plans into place.

They were put to the test in early 2000 when Maurice W. Downing School caught fire and students needed to quickly evacuate the building, many without taking their jackets, on a cold afternoon.

“The school district was going to march them over to the middle school,” Callahan said, but…we had a plan in place to use the library basement.” All the students filed into the building, were signed in, arranged by class – all according to the plan – while they waited for police to escort them out to the buses that had been arranged to take them home. 

“It made the fire chief’s job easier, because he just had to take care of the fire,” he said.

OEM has been key to not only keep residents safe but also bringing state and federal money into the village. In 2003, when the village experienced a major blackout and a blizzard, Callahan said, “we had a plan and a team in place and were able to get money back.”

Through a grant from Sen. Dean Skelos, he was able to purchase light towers and generators that were used during the blackout to keep main roads lit. He added, “Right now all of our buildings are backed up by generators.”

In his first term as Fire Commissioner, he also secured a grant from for $130,000 to replace the radio system and add an antenea to improve communication among the village’s police, fire and ambulance corps.

Even this year, Malverne will be able to receive $100,000 from the state as reimbursement for expenses related to the major snowstorms the village experienced. Without OEM it would be much more difficult to recoup the funds, said Callahan, who was named New York State Emergency Manager of the Year in 2005.

In his past three terms in office, Callahan has written over 30 laws to update the village code, including a provision that protects trees around the neighborhood and a sex offender regulation that prevents these convicts from living within 1,000 feet of a park, playground or school.

“We have stopped three people from moving in,” he said.

Callahan also responded to some of criticisms of the administration made by Dr. John Hassett, who is also running for trustee.

He explained that Hassett’s attack on elected officials who receive lifetime health insurance for only five years of service is misleading.

 The state comptroller sets these rules, he said, but explained that elected officials only receive credit for six months of service each year, so they would have to serve 10 years to meet the 5-year requirement. (For those elected after Jan. 1, this criteria has been doubled.) He also pointed out that these benefits do not kick in until the official retires at 62.

"There are only two elected officials receiving this right now and they each have over 20 years of service,” he said.

He also said that while Hassett is correct that the village did purchase a Dodge Charger recently, he overlooked the fact that the village does not pay retail prices. It takes advantage of state bids so the car only cost $16,000, $4,000 less than a Smart Car.

And he pointed out that the Village Hall parking lot is full because commuters who use the Long Island Rail Road park here. It isn’t a reflection of how many staff work in the building.

 Lastly, Callahan explained that the reason why the board does not conduct work session in public is because they must flip-flop between talking about personnel issues, which must be done in executive session, and money concerns, which must take place in work session.

He also added that at one time the board did open up their budget work sessions to residents and no one showed up.

“We don’t want to waste time- we’re here to do the work of everyone,” he said. “I’m just there to get the job done.”