Babylon has opening for a new village attorney, names replacement for departing trustee

Babylon Village Board trustee Tony Davida and village attorney Gerard Glass have announced they will be leaving their positions in the village.

Davida will resign effective Dec. 31, while Glass will stay on until a replacement is found. The announcements were made Tuesday during a trustee meeting.

Anthony Cardali, a past president of the Suffolk County Fire Marshals Association, will replace Davida, who will leave after nearly two decades on the board.

"I served 18 years as a village trustee and I just feel it’s time to say ‘Thank you so much,’ " Davida said during the trustee meeting via Zoom. "I walk out with my head up high. I think I served the community good and I wish all of you the best, and I will always support you."

Davida, a longtime Babylon firefighter and former chief, joined the board in 2002 at the request of then-Mayor Ralph Scordino. Davida, who was paid an annual salary of $7,500, reminisced that he and Scordino, who died in October, were "like brothers."

Village trustee Dominic Bencivenga thanked Davida for his service, which included overseeing the village pool. Bencivenga said it was badly damaged after Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. Davida said the pool reopened July 4, 2013.

Glass, who has an office in the village and practices estate planning and real estate law, said it was the right time to leave.

"For me, I was looking for more time to devote to my private clients," he said.

Glass, who was appointed village attorney in February 2018, said he is proud to have helped carve out several pieces of village legislation, including allowing impounding of bicycles and an accompanying fine of $100. Last month, Suffolk County Legis. Rudy Sunderman (R-Shirley) introduced a similar bill that would permit violators who disobey traffic laws and intimidate motorists to face the impounding of their bikes and receive up to $250 in fines. Sunderman’s office said Thursday that legislators would consider the bill Tuesday.

Cardali was not present during the trustee meeting and could not be reached for comment.

A special election will be held in March to fill the rest of the mayor’s term, which ends in 2023, along with the four-year terms of former trustee Mary Adams, who now serves as mayor and whose seat is held by Frank Seibert, and Bencivenga, who replaced trustee Kevin Muldowney after his retirement from the board in September.