Bissonette joins Mastic Beach trustees

Carol Bissonette, a former Brookhaven Town board member and deputy park commissioner, will fill a vacancy on the Mastic Beach village board of trustees.

Mayor Bill Biondi appointed Bissonette to the trustee board at a public meeting Wednesday.

Bissonette, who won a Brookhaven Town board seat as a Democrat in 2005 and lost a race for town tax receiver in 2007, fills a void created on the five-member board when Mayor Paul Breschard resigned Feb. 22. She opposed the formation of the village in 2010, saying it could result in a tax increase.

"Mayor Biondi and the Board of Trustees have held the line on taxes, while setting up a complete government and improving services to the residents of our community . . . They have impressed me; and there is much more work to be done," Bissonette said in a statement.

Bissonette, a clerk at the Suffolk County Board of Elections, was fired by Brookhaven, where she served as deputy parks commissioner for two years, including 2010 when the historic Mott House collapsed on her watch. She said then that she felt victimized by the political smear campaign of Brookhaven Democrats, as she was running for county legislator on the Republican line. She lost the election to Kate Browning (WF-Shirley).

As trustee, Bissonette will complete Breschard's term, which ends in March 2013, Biondi said. "I believe that Carol Bissonette has the qualifications, abilities and personality . . . needed to help our village come together and continue to move forward in a positive direction," Biondi said in a statement.

Alan Chasinov, who is running for trustee this month, said he does not think Bissonette's appointment affects his race. Chasinov and Gail Cappiello are running against trustees Robert Morrow and Kenneth Olivo for two seats. "Gail and I aren't running against her," he said.