Candidate for
Member, Board of Education; Ardsley Union Free School District

I bring an unusual and eclectic pool of talents to the table. I have chaired, co-chaired, or once moderated (when the new Superintendent first came here) the Citizen's Budget Committee (CBC) for the Ardsley School District. I've spent eight years on it and have been asked and elected to a leadership position every year I have been there. Being on the CBC has given me intimate knowledge over every penny the district spends, how it is spent, and why it is spent. Every year we write a presentation for the School Board. The School board then decides if they want to follow any of our recommendations. And every year, we are left feeling somewhat frustrated as many of these recommendations are not adopted.

As the only person running a Holography business (creating three dimensional images by manipulating laser light http://www.holographer.com) in New York City, I work on the cutting edge of technology. I am constantly asked to solve problems no one has ever encountered before. It has taught me to look at issues from a totally different perspective than most people with a recognition that there are always alternative solutions. And they just might be better and less expensive. I have been commissioned to make hologram portraits for Andy Warhol, Pierre Cardin, Prime Minister Edward Heath of the UK, Bill Clinton, Ed Koch, John Kenneth Galbraith, Phil Donahue, Sally Jesse Raphael, Billy Idol, and many others. I have created holographic projects for IBM, AT&T, Sony, TDK, The Philadelphia Stock Market, Tag Heuer, Singer, Mitsubishi, and the American Museum of Natural History, and many others.

While living in a brownstone in New York City, I was also the Superintendent for ten years of the two adjacent buildings I resided at. I learned all about how a building works, how heating and air conditioning operates, plumbing, electrical systems, and more or less every component of running buildings. There isn't much about fixing, buying, or operating a building that I haven't had to learn. Of course this has saved me tons as a home owner since I don't have to call in repairmen or contractors. And this knowledge will help me in making decisions about the choices the district makes in running the schools. Since I actually know how things work, I can help see that we do things the most efficient economical way.

Before I worked as a holographer, I ran a successful electrical engineering business, Sapan Engineering. When the phone company was assailed by an arsonist who had knocked out all phone service to Wall Street, I was awarded the contract through competitive bidding to install the security system for the building that housed their main billing computers. I linked an IBM System Seven mainframe to card entry security gates at their entrances. I designed and installed this entire system in a week, on time and under budget. I also created a fiber optics communications display for Bell Telephone Labs in which I transmitted color television signals across an optical fiber the diameter of a human hair. This was in 1973. Another project I designed and created was a microwave transmission demonstration.

I was fortunate to also have worked in recording engineering at the Record Plant in New York. At first I was just a lowly helper running sound cables, but in time I got to actually work one on one with people like John Lennon, Ray Charles, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Philharmonic, Roberta Flack, Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Tammy Wynette, and many others. Working with these people taught me a great deal. It helped shape my future since I realized that anyone can become their own best ideals if they truly believe in themselves.

Since 1976 I have taught classes in my field. For several years I worked at the School of Visual Arts. I've lectured at The Art Institute in Chicago, NYU, CCNY, the University of Vermont, Ohio State University, the Nantucket Island School of Art and Design, and others. I also have school groups come in to my studios for lectures.

I have owned a sailboat for over 20 years. On the high seas, you learn to solve your problems because its sink or swim.