1st Mastic Beach clerk campaigned against village
Bob DeBona, 64, a longtime resident of newly incorporated Mastic Beach, is the village's first clerk. Credit: Kathy Kmonicek
The first employee of Suffolk County's newest incorporated village is one of the residents who campaigned most actively against the creation of the new government.
Bob DeBona, 64, a longtime resident of newly incorporated Mastic Beach, has been appointed the village's first clerk, Brookhaven Town sources said Wednesday.
DeBona's first order of business is to pick a date for Mastic Beach's first election of a mayor and four trustees. He said a tentative date for the election is Nov. 23.
DeBona, who was appointed by Brookhaven Clerk Patricia Eddington, said he was surprised by the offer. Before the Sept. 1 election in which voters approved the new government, he had questioned the need for a village, saying he feared a potential tax raise.
Yesterday, DeBona said "there's no more fighting over the village," adding it was time to "get this done and let the new mayor and trustees move forward and do their job."
He said he was unsure whether he wanted to accept the post at first but decided it would be "an honor to oversee the first election."
DeBona, who will not draw a salary, said it will be up to Mastic Beach's mayor and trustees to appoint a permanent village clerk after their election. He said he has not decided if he's interested in remaining in the job after the election.
Eddington said she chose DeBona specifically because he is skeptical about the need for village government. "I thought the best thing to help provide for good government was to bring both sides together and make them work together," she said.
Some supporters of the new village were unhappy with Eddington's selection of DeBona. Paul Breschard, chairman of the village exploratory committee and an early candidate for mayor, said his group was "hoping for some neutral middle ground."
DeBona, who is president of the Mastic Beach Property Owners Association, has lived in the South Shore community for more than 60 years. Several members of his group campaigned against incorporation.
Maura Spery, a member of the property owners' group that opposed the village, said DeBona is "very qualified" for the post. She said it would be unrealistic to expect Eddington to appoint someone who hadn't taken a stand for or against the village.
"Someone nonpartisan would be someone who didn't know what was going on and didn't vote," she said.
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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.
