Dems have North Hempstead council nom

North Hempstead Democrats Tuesday night nominated newcomer Anna M. Kaplan to run for the town's 4th District council seat in November.

The seat, which includes communities in Great Neck, Roslyn and Manhasset, is being vacated by Maria-Christina Poons, who is not seeking re-election.

Kaplan, 45, of Kensington, serves on the town's board of zoning and appeals and is vice president of the Great Neck Library Board.

"I'm honored, because I would be the first Persian-American who would be running for an office like this," she told Newsday before she received the nomination. "I'm running as a person for the whole community, not just an American Persian person. I've already reached out to a lot of ethnic groups who live in this area."

Kaplan's family fled after the 1979 revolution in their native Iran, leaving in 1980 and eventually settling in Great Neck two decades ago. They were drawn there by "its wonderful schools, parks, libraries," she said. "I come from a family that really values education."

After studying law, Kaplan said, she stayed at home to raise her children and got involved with parent-teacher associations.

Kaplan said she is the second Persian-American woman to serve on the Great Neck Library Board.

Great Neck resident and attorney Raymond Iryami, who has been involved in local Democratic politics, said Kaplan's nomination was "a reflection of how far the Iranian-American community has come over the past 25 years."

Poons was the first Hispanic to serve as a town council member.

In April 2007, she was appointed to fill the remaining six months of the seat vacated by Wayne Wink Jr., who was elected a Nassau legislator. Poons won a term in November 2007. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

At the nomination convention at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, town Democrats also designated incumbents Supervisor Jon Kaiman, receiver of taxes Charles Berman, and Councilmen Thomas Dwyer and Fred Pollack to run for re-election.

North Hempstead Republican officials said their slate would be finalized Wednesday.