Hempstead Village gets new mayor as Don Ryan defeats Wayne Hall

Hempstead Village Trustee Don Ryan upset three-term Mayor Wayne Hall Sr. on Tuesday night, running on a platform against overdevelopment in the village.

Hall, 70, who had served as mayor for 12 years, was defeated along with incumbent trustees Luis Figueroa and Waylyn Hobbs Jr.

Ryan, 74, led a ticket with newly elected trustees LaMont Johnson and Charles Renfroe.

The mayor and trustee terms are for four years. The mayor’s position comes with a $133,904 salary; trustees are paid $28,560, according to the village clerk.

In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Hall said he does not plan to challenge the results. The new mayor and trustees will be sworn in on April 3 at noon.

“I did 12 years and I think I’m leaving the village in better shape than I found it,” Hall said. “Maybe the people didn’t think I was doing anything for them, but I really was.”

Hall, who underwent a kidney transplant in August, said he plans to retire. “The transition of power will be as smooth as possible,” he said.

Ryan said Wednesday that he’ll appoint Perry Pettus, a current trustee who was not up for re-election on Tuesday, as his deputy mayor. Ryan said he has not chosen a replacement for his trustee seat; the appointment must be approved by the board and will serve for a year.

“We are looking forward to doing what’s right for the Village of Hempstead,” Ryan said at a Wednesday news conference outside Village Hall.

During the campaign, Ryan led a charge against a $2.5 billion downtown redevelopment project that Hall had promoted with Plainview-based developer Renaissance Downtowns. Ryan said he supports some development, including a mixed-use residential and commercial project along North Main Street, but he opposed tax breaks for an apartment building on Front Street. A judge recently dismissed his lawsuit against the tax breaks.

In other village elections where results were not available Tuesday night:

Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy was re-elected, defeating former Mayor Andrew Hardwick and attorney Stephen Drummond, Village Clerk Pamela Walsh Boening said on Wednesday morning.

Two open trustees seats were won by Kennedy’s running mates, Carmen Piñeyro and Ronald Ellerbe, in a race against Juana Prado, Frank Grossman, Phillip Prestamo and Angel Vargas.

In Sea Cliff, challenger Deb McDermott was the top vote-getter among the three candidates vying for two trustee seats, according to Village Clerk Marianne Lennon. Incumbent trustee Dina Epstein won a second term while Jeffrey Vitale, whom Mayor Edward Lieberman appointed to the board in December to fill Lieberman’s slot when he became mayor, failed to win a seat.

In Mastic Beach, which is to dissolve as a village at the end of the year, Robert A. Miller was elected mayor for the duration of the village’s existence over Christopher Anderson, officials reported. Fred Krage and Victor Viola were elected to the two vacant trustee positions over candidates Christopher A. Ricciardi and Diana M. Soldano

In Greenport, Julia Robins and Mary Bess Phillips were elected to the board of trustees, defeating candidate Paul Kreiling and Mary Given, who had withdrawn from the race.

With David Olson, Deon J. Hampton and Jean-Paul Salamanca