Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, with election results still up in the air, talks of possible transition

Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto reached out to opponent John Mangelli Tuesday to discuss a government transition even as the race remains undecided a week after Election Day.

Mangelli's election night lead shrank by eight votes to 60 yesterday after 51 emergency ballots were counted, a Nassau County Board of Elections official said. Emergency ballots are cast when voting machines malfunction.

The board of elections had received 1,780 absentee ballots at the end of the deadline yesterday, the official said. Also in play are about 200 affidavit ballots cast when residents are not on the list of the polling place where they vote.

"We probably won't know the outcome for a few weeks," Venditto said at yesterday's board meeting. But Venditto, a nine-term Republican incumbent, said the two should meet.

"John Mangelli and I are working together to make sure that in the event a transition is necessary it will be done smoothly and he and his staff will have all the same resources that I've enjoyed as town supervisor," Venditto said.

Mangelli, who is unaffiliated but ran on the Democratic line, said he appreciated Venditto's call but thought a meeting was premature.

"My gut is to wait until the absentee ballots are counted," Mangelli said. "I think they'll be done by next Wednesday. At that point I would be more inclined to meet."

Both sides have assembled legal teams for the fight over issues such as absentee ballots, which are expected to begin being counted Thursday or Friday. John Ciampoli, former Nassau County attorney, represents the Republicans, and Keith Corbett of Uniondale-based Harris Beach PLLC is the Democrats' lawyer, according to Corbett. Both men faced each other on the absentee count in 2009 when Ed Mangano narrowly defeated Tom Suozzi for county executive.

Venditto said he didn't read anything into the close election results that followed his landslide victories of recent years. "I don't try to figure out what they mean," Venditto said at the meeting. "I don't try to guess at any messages."

Venditto, whose administration has been rocked by scandal this year, declined to take questions before or after the meeting. Mangelli said "the town could use the change, a fresh start for everybody."

Mangelli said if he wins, he wants to hold night meetings with live webcasts.

Tuesday the board announced that next year it will start holding Internet events for residents to chat live with officials and will hold informal meetings in the town's Massapequa office.

Board of elections data showed that Mangelli's support was strongest in Plainview, Woodbury, Jericho and Sea Cliff, while Venditto's was strongest in Massapequa, North Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Upper Brookville, Brookville and Old Brookville.