Freeport village's deputy mayor steps down
Deputy Mayor Carmen Julia Pineyro announced her resignation at a Freeport restaurant. (May 13, 2011) Credit: Danielle Finkelstein
Freeport Village Trustee Carmen J. Piñeyro has resigned from her position as the village's deputy mayor.
She announced the resignation of the post, which she's held for about a year, at a news conference Friday at La Mia Restaurant on South Main Street in Freeport.
"I think it's time for me to . . . make more decisions for myself," said Piñeyro, who became deputy mayor in April 2010.
In a statement, Mayor Andrew Hardwick said: "Although Trustee Piñeyro's time served as deputy mayor was relatively brief, her contributions are much appreciated and I respect her decision to relinquish this position. Fortunately, she still remains an important member of the village board and I look forward to continue working with her in representing the residents of Freeport."
"She finally stepped to the plate" and decided to stand up for herself and not just follow the mayor's lead, said Freeport resident Jeremy Impellizeri, co-founder of Protecting Freeport Coalition.
In April 2009, Piñeyro, the mayor and two trustees voted to boost their annual salaries from $19,500 to $25,000. The next year, the four trustees voted to reduce their salaries to $23,850 for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Piñeyro, whose family is from the Dominican Republic and who came to Freeport as a child, became in April 2009 the first Latina to serve as a village trustee.
The Democrat also has been a longtime Freeport school board member. She became the Freeport district's first Hispanic school board member in 2002. Her term on that board will end June 30.
Piñeyro will remain on the village board as a trustee until 2013 and the mayor will have to appoint another trustee as deputy mayor.
"I have already initiated the process of appointing a new deputy mayor and expect to have an announcement regarding this matter in the near future," Hardwick said in a statement to Newsday.
As a trustee, Piñeyro wants to review the village code, which hasn't been updated since 1966, she said. "I am not here to stop progress. I am here to move things forward."
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
