Glen Cove Mayor Reginald Spinello pushes council appointment

Glen Cove Mayor Reginald Spinello may schedule a special meeting on July 15 to again propose an appointment to the City Council, in a bid to overcome objections from board members and fill the seat before the November election.

Council members said Spinello had called for the meeting to be held Tuesday, but the mayor said in an email that he would try to hold it next week.

Spinello, an Independence Party member, faced opposition from four of five council members in a heated meeting last week, when he tried to appoint Republican Joseph Capobianco to the spot made vacant by the death of Nicholas DiLeo, a Democrat. The council tabled the appointment that would have given Republicans a majority.

Spinello has argued that the city charter obligates the council to appoint someone to the post.

But Republican Councilman Anthony Gallo Jr. said all candidates should be interviewed by the council before they're voted on, and Republican Efraim Spagnoletti said the seat should be left open until November. In an email to council members obtained by Newsday last week, Spinello said they can suggest candidates and interview them on their own.

Councilwoman Pamela Panzenbeck, a Republican, is the only council member to support Capobianco's appointment.

"We have a wonderful candidate," Panzenbeck said. "Joe Cap is actually someone who can work with everyone."

Councilman Timothy Tenke, a Democrat, said he will not vote for Capobianco's appointment.

"We can't in good conscience support a Republican candidate when the seat was held by a Democrat, a good friend of ours, Nick DiLeo," Tenke said. "Out of respect to him and the party, and the people who elected him, a Democrat should at least fill the seat until November."

Democrats have chosen insurance executive Theresa Moschetta to run for the seat in November.