Incumbents win elections in many Long Island villages

Incumbents won many of Tuesday’s village elections — including one trustee who was trying to retire from serving but was re-elected to his own seat as a write-in candidate, according to unofficial results.

In Roslyn Estates, Dr. Brian Feingold handily won his race as the only declared candidate for two open trustee spots.

For the other trustee seat, three candidates were write-in nominations — including trustee Sandy Joel Siff, who was trying to retire from the village board but was instead re-elected with 15 write-in votes.

“It’s obvious that some people want him back,” Roslyn Estates clerk Bryan Rivera said of Siff’s win. “It’s up to him whether he wants to go for another term or decline it.” Siff has 30 days to decide to accept the position. If he rejects it, Mayor Jeff Schwartzberg will appoint a trustee for an interim year’s term. Residents Allan Mendels and Boaz Benmoshe both got one write-in vote each.

“I’m happy to serve another term for the residents of the village,” Feingold said, who received 23 votes for his sixth term of two years. “I’m excited to enact measures in the next term to protect our roads, protect our village, and ensure safety to the village.”

Feingold said he was looking forward to serving with Siff again. “He’s been serving as long as I have on the board, he’s done a good job. I’m very happy he was elected again to serve the rest of the residents along with me and the rest of the trustees.”

Incumbent trustee Chris Siciliano won East Williston’s sole trustee seat up for election with 339 votes, defeating former Mayor Anthony Casella, who got 256 votes, and former school board president Ellen Ritz, who got 79 votes.

“I want to thank everyone for the support, I look forward to continuing my work with the mayor and the board over the next four years,” Siciliano said, adding that he wants to keep on working on village infrastructure and gaining a new public works truck.

In Northport, incumbents Damon McMullen and Jerry Maline won re-election to two trustee seats with four-year terms. McMullen had 914 votes, Maline had 694 votes, and challenger Joseph Sabia got 508 votes.

Patchogue incumbent trustees Lori Devlin, Thomas Ferb and Jack Krieger were re-elected for four-year terms, defeating challenger John Cucci Jr. Devlin received 628 votes, Ferb received 605 votes and Krieger got 593 votes, while Cucci had 145 votes. Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri ran unopposed for re-election, and trustee Susan Brinkman ran unopposed in a special election to complete the remainder of her appointed term.

In Head of the Harbor, Mayor Douglas Dahlgard won re-election with 187 votes over challenger John Lendino who got 128 votes. Incumbent trustees L. Gordon Van Vechten and Judith C. Ogden won re-election, with 211 votes and 196 votes respectively. Challenger John DePasquale lost his bid for trustee with 147 votes.

In East Hills, incumbents Deputy Mayor Emanuel Zuckerman and Clara Pomerantz won two trustee seats against challengers Neil Foster and Jana Goldenberg. In unofficial results, Pomerantz got 855 votes, Zuckerman got 765 votes, Foster got 461 votes and Goldenberg got 401 votes.

Zuckerman said of the results: “We’re very ecstatic and we’re very grateful. The village not only supports us but they realize we have a great village and we’re doing a fantastic job, and they came out and showed their support.”

In Mineola, incumbent trustees Paul Pereira and Paul Cusato won re-election over two former village mayors, John Colbert and Larry Werther, who sought trustee seats with four-year terms. Pereira got 911 votes, Cusato got 829 votes, Colbert got 733 votes, and Werther got 632 votes.

Lindenhurst voters returned Mayor Thomas Brennan with 1,685 votes over challenger Kenneth St. John, with 818 votes.

Incumbent trustees Michael Lavorata and Joan Masterson were returned with 1,788 and 1,558 votes over challenger Richard Renna.

Results were not available for Mastic Beach, where a contentious race for two trustee seats involving lawsuits and disputes over petitions pitted incumbent trustees Betty Manzella and Bruce Summa against challengers Joseph Johnson and Darrin Harsch.