Voters make voices heard at polls across LI

Challengers unseated incumbents in two Brookhaven communities in yesterday's village elections. Here are results for Long Island's contested elections:

Bellport

A pair of challengers, running as a team against a pair of incumbents, won trustee seats.

Alison L. Neumann, a retired insurance administrator, and Dorothy A. Terwilliger, a social worker, teamed up against one-term incumbent Ray Fell and four-year trustee Sherry Binnington and won.

Neumann and Terwilliger had accused the incumbents of failing to listen to the public during village meetings.

"Dorothy and I looked at each other and we were in awe. We've never done this before, we're really newbies," said Neumann.

Port Jefferson

Corporate real estate broker Lee Rosner and lawyer Jim Burke won seats, leaving incumbent trustee Carmine Dell Aquila off the board.

Burke is a former village planning board chairman and Rosner is the chairman of the village zoning board.

Village officials said turnout was better than average.

Muttontown

Mayor Julianne Beckerman's successful re-election bid against Kevin Spillane topped a busy election year in which six candidates also ran for three trustee seats.

Village officials said the election attracted record turnout.

Beckerman led the Concerned Taxpayers ticket with current trustees Carl Juul-Nielsen and Pat Miller and trustee challenger Salvatore Benisatto. The entire slate won.

Spillane headed the Muttontown 2010 ticket along with challengers Philip Colletta, Christina Wergiles and James Galante.

"A record number of voters came out. And it shows that the village wants change, because it was real tight," Spillane said.

Beckerman has been the mayor of the 3,400-resident village since 2006. Spillane is a current trustee who did not run for re-election.

Atlantic Beach

A former trustee failed in an attempt to unseat a 14-year mayor who was once a political ally.

Mayor Stephen R. Mahler beat Edward A. Radburn, who won a bid for trustee in 1996 on the same Good Government Party line as Mahler. Turnout was high, Radburn said.

Radburn, who served as a trustee until 2000, cited decaying infrastructure as a reason the waterfront village needed a new mayor.

Lawrence

Current Mayor C. Simon Felder made a successful bid for trustee as deputy mayor Martin Oliner ran unopposed for mayor. Six-year trustee Edward Klar also won a trustee spot.

Challengers David M. Stein, a lawyer and mediator, and Faye Lowinger, a lawyer and accountant, lost. Klar and Lowinger ran as a team.

Sag Harbor

Incumbent Robbie Stein won one of two open seats on the board of trustees.

Bruce Stafford, a youth league coach and chairman of the board of trustees of the United Methodist Church, also won a seat. Ryan Horn, a legislative aide for Southampton Town, lost.

Brightwaters

Incumbent trustees Charles Fischer and Mary Susan Belford will return to their seats, beating challenger Frank Maffucci.

Mayor Joseph A. McNulty ran unopposed.

Terms are for two years

Fischer, a trustee for 10 years and deputy mayor for four, touted the fact the village has not raised taxes in a decade.

Maffucci, who owns a business that installs security systems, said the village could do more to respond to the needs of young families. Belford agreed.