Local mental health and substance abuse advocate Jeffrey Stone is vying for a seat on Manorhaven’s Board of Trustees, challenging incumbents Vincent Costa and Khristine Shahipour, who are also running for the two seats.

Manorhaven will host an election June 20 when residents will be voting for two trustees and a village justice.

Stone is a licensed real estate agent specializing in working with older homeowners, a member of Kiwanis Club of Manhasset-Port Washington and co-founder of Project HELP Long Island.

Project HELP Long Island is a group of professionals and clinicians who specialize in offering services for suicide prevention and substance abuse awareness. The organization provides educational resources and seminars for individuals to learn about the issues at hand.

As an active member of the Port Washington community and a 16-year resident of Manorhaven, Stone said he wants to take his service to another level by serving as a trustee.

Stone said he hopes to bring “sunlight to what’s going on in village hall,” allowing for public involvement and discussion at board meetings that he said has been missing.

“I want to bring into focus my expertise, my experience in getting the job done and doing it right and doing it quickly,” Stone said. “I believe in actions, not words.”

He said the community work he engages in already is for the community members, and he would bring that same purpose to his service for the residents of Manorhaven if elected to the village’s board.

Stone said he was inspired to run for trustee after multiple community members came forward to ask him if he would seek out the position. He said he discussed the possibility with the community members, talked it over with his wife and came to the conclusion that this would be an opportunity for him to extend his service to the community.

Stone said he enjoys collaborative work as it is beneficial in working towards a common goal. While he may not always have the answers, he said he is one to rely on others for inputs and ideas to come up with the best solutions. This action is what he would like to bring to the board.

He said residents have reached out to him with their concerns about the actions of the village board and its efficiency.

Stone said if he were elected to the board, he would want to bring transparency and initiative, establish respectful decorum, listen to community input and establish a balanced, on-time budget with sensible spending.

“That’s the way to run government – treat people with respect,” Stone said. “I’m not a magician, but I know what’s right and wrong and I bring some common sense into the equation. What comes out of it is something that could be a real beautiful thing.”

He said that if elected, he would work hard to serve the residents and would not quit.

“Manorhaven needs to be revisioned, needs new, fresh ideas,” Stone said.

Stone is challenging incumbents Costa and Shahipour as the three vie for the two trustee seats up for election.

Costa is finishing his one-year term as deputy mayor which he started in July 2022. Shahipour was brought onto the board in July 2022 to serve a one-year term.

Efforts to contact Costa and Shahipour were unavailing.

The village will also be voting for a village justice, with incumbent William Bodkin the only candidate running for the seat.

Bodkin was appointed as the village justice in February to fill a vacancy.

The Manorhaven election will be held from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. on June 20 at Village Hall at 33 Manorhaven Blvd.

Sands Point will also be holding an election in June, with only incumbents running unopposed.

Sands Point Mayor Peter Forman, Deputy Mayor Jeffrey Moslow and Trustee Elena Karabatos will all be running for re-election.

Efforts to contact the three candidates were unavailing.

The three incumbents are running on the Citizens Party line.

Forman was elected as mayor in 2021, moving up from the village’s deputy mayor position. Moslow was appointed as a trustee to the village’s board in 2019. Karabatos was elected in 2021.

Sands Point’s elections will be held from noon until 9 p.m. on June 20 at village hall at 26 Tibbits Lane.