News

TOVILL18

Lattingtown returned to its routine quiet Wednesday after the excitement of Tuesday's rare contested mayoral election that brought out 10 times the usual number of voters. 
 The 44-year incumbent, Clarence F. Michalis, 91, the longest-serving mayor in state history, won another two years in the unpaid position with 376 votes. His challenger, 23-year-old pharmaceutical salesman Nicholas Della Fera, got 87 votes. 
 The election in the affluent North Shore village drew a record 463 voters, about a quarter of the total population of 1,800. Many had never voted in a local election before. 
 "A lot of people came out and that's great," village clerk-treasurer Kathleen Picoli said. In her 26 years, she said, the highest previous turnout was about 200 in a contested election for village justice about 20 years ago. 
 Despite the loss, first-time candidate Della Fera was elated. "It was phenomenal," he said of the turnout. His primary campaign theme had been to make a dent in voter apathy. "So win or lose," he said, "it was a victory for me because I got the end-result of a huge voter turnout for both sides." 
 Michalis agreed "there has been a lot of apathy," but the retired corporate finance executive added, "Don't confuse apathy with satisfaction. If people are satisfied, they say 'What . . . do I want to go out and vote for? I'm happy with what I've got." 
 He said Della Fera was hurt by the fact that "he never voted in the village, his family had never voted in the village, he's never been to a public meeting." 
 Resident and attorney Jeffrey Forchelli's comments echoed most of those who talked about the election. "I think it's a good thing for Lattingtown because it gives everyone a chance to really focus on how the village is being run." 
 Michalis had not faced an opponent in four decades. The campaign this year attracted so many voters to village hall that three employees were needed to direct traffic, and there were lines of a dozen or more waiting to get to the two voting machines after the polls opened at noon. 
 Della Fera's aggressive campaign led to the unusual sight in the village of campaign signs on lawns, ads by both candidates in the local weekly newspaper and the unprecedented appearance of a billboard truck touting Della Fera making the rounds. 
 Despite the loss, Della Fera said, "I'll definitely get involved" in village government. Michalis wants that, too -- preferably Della Fera starting with a seat on the local zoning or planning board, as did Michalis and other board members. 
 He said when Della Fera called him Wednesday morning to congratulate him, "I said, 'Nick, don't give up on public service. We need young people like you. If you want to come around to the village and learn something about it, I'll be happy to show you the ropes.'"

TOLATT20

Rare Lattingtown mayoral race sparks record turnout

Clarence Michalis cropped

The longest-serving mayor in New York State history emerged victorious from especially heavy turnout to fend off a challenge from a young candidate in the village of Lattingtown's first contested election in four decades. 
 Lattingtown was one of dozens of villages across Long Island to hold elections Tuesday. Eight others were contested -- not including a surprise coordinated write-in campaign in an otherwise uncontested election in Great Neck that posed a threat to the mayor and two trustees. 
 LATTINGTOWN 
 Clarence Michalis, 91, who has served as Lattingtown's mayor for 44 years, defeated Nicholas Della Fera, 23, a pharmaceutical salesman who graduated from college last year. 
 Voters poured into Village Hall when polls opened at noon, with as many people voting in the first half-hour polls were open as normally do in a typical nine-hour election day in the village. 
 Phebon Kontulis, who has lived in the village for 33 years, and his wife, Marilyn, were the first to vote. 
 Kontulis said he thought turnout was high because voters wanted to keep Michalis in office. He voted for Michalis, saying Della Fera was too inexperienced. "You have a 23-year-old running," he said. "It doesn't make any sense at all. He doesn't have the experience for the office." 
 "This is phenomenal," Della Fera said of the early turnout that saw lines leading to the two voting machines. "I told people it's an election and you haven't had one in a while. I just wanted residents to have to make a decision." 
 GREAT NECK 
 The mayor, three trustees, one of whom was running for village justice, won election, foiling a surprise write-in campaign in Great Neck that brought lines of people out the door at the polling place at Great Neck House. There, physician Pedram Bral made an effort to unseat Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, who was running unopposed on the ballot. 
 Kreitzman said, "Obviously, I'm honored by the support of our community," but said that he was "really very disappointed our opposition ran a secret, write-in candidate which deprived the community of an opportunity to focus on their issues." 
 "You always worry about a write-in, but I didn't expect the magnitude of this," he said, after the votes were all counted 1:30 Wednesday morning. 
 He criticized the opposition for their tactics. "These people never communicated with the public, or us," he said. 
 Bral, who garnered 232 votes, compared to Kreitzman's 325, said he was encouraged by the result. "I feel very good, we had an amazing turnout, we did 3.5 days of campaigning." 
 Joining Bral were Christine Campbell and Anne Mendelson as write-ins for the trustee positions held by Mitchell B. Beckerman and Jeffrey L. Bass, and Kambiz Akhavan as a write-in for village justice. Trustee Mark D. Birnbaum had been running unopposed for that position. 
 Bral said the write-in effort came together about 2 1/2 weeks ago. He said he wanted to make the village friendlier to its residents, citing fines given out for generators and cutting trees. 
 “This was to show that people are fed up,” Bral said. 
 Kreitzman, who stood in the hall at Great Neck House, would only say, “It’s interesting.” 
 But North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman, who lives in the village, openly clashed with Bral in the parking lot of Great Neck House before polls closed. 
 “That’s a disgrace,” Kaiman said to Bral. “You share with the community that you want to run. . . . That’s a real shame for our community.” 
 Meanwhile, voting was slow going, as voters who had been in line before polls closed at 9 p.m. were still waiting to vote an hour later, while those who arrived after 9 p.m. were turned away by police officers. 
 “This is not expected,” said clerk-treasurer Joe Gill. “We had an uncontested election, so we thought.” 
 Officials were counting hundreds of machine and write-in ballots until after 1 a.m. 
 BRIGHTWATERS 
 In Brightwaters, where tensions have flared in recent months over an alleged illegal ambulance-company contract and lack of transparency, John E. Lawlor and structural iron worker Joe McDermott won two seats, beating out incumbent Robert W. Fischer. 
 SAG HARBOR 
 Incumbent Mayor Brian Gilbride narrowly won re-election, beating out former mayor Pierce W. Hance, former village clerk Sandra L. Schroeder and political newcomer Michael Bruce Tait, who runs a yacht-brokerage firm. 
 Former mayor and trustee Edward T. Deyermond and restaurateur Ken O'Donnell won trustee seats, beating incumbent trustee Edward Gregory and former trustee Bruce A. Stafford. 
 NORTH HAVEN 
 In the tiny village of North Haven, where deer control and shoreline erosion are concerns, incumbent trustee Jeffrey Sander and Arthur "Jim" Laspesa, an architect, won the two available trustee seats, garnering more votes than political newcomer and attorney Mary Whelan. 
 BELLPORT 
 Former trustee Raymond Fell defeated Janine Roe, an administrator, and trustee James Vaughan in the race to replace retiring mayor Will Veitch. Retired veterinarian Michael Ferrigno and retired lawyer Robert Rosenberg won trustee seats over ferry executive Fred Hall and incumbent Kenneth Budny. 
 ROCKVILLE CENTRE 
 In Rockville Centre, where parking and taxes dominated the campaign, unofficial results show that lawyer Emilio F. Grillo received 1,102 votes, incumbent Edward Oppenheimer received 1,054 votes, incumbent Kevin R. Glynn received 1,047 votes and retired lawyer Marc Wieman got 355 votes for two trustee seats. 
 Since the results for the top three were so close, Nassau County will impound the machines and conduct a recount. 
 MANORHAVEN 
 In Manorhaven, incumbent trustee Dorit Zeevi-Farrington emerged victorious in her bid to keep her seat, beating a challenge from former trustee James M. Avena. 
 LAWRENCE 
 Post-Sandy recovery has been chief among the election concerns in Lawrence, where three candidates ran for two trustee positions. Incumbent Michael A. Fragin and business owner Alex H. Edelman won, receiving more votes than lawyer David J. Seidemann. 
 WOODSBURGH 
 In Woodsburgh, Lee A. Israel defeated fellow trustee Ed Mukamal for the mayoral spot that will be vacated because current Mayor Susan Schlaff is moving away from the village. 
 Incumbent Gary Goffner and accountant Jake Harman won two trustee seats. Incumbent Carl Cayne was not re-elected.

TOELEX19

Lattingtown's longtime mayor Clarence Michalis, 91, wins re-election

toLATT

In the first contested mayoral race in four decades in the village of Lattingtown, turnout was extremely heavy when the polls opened Tuesday at noon. 
 About a dozen people already were waiting to vote a few minutes after an initial problem with the two voting machines was resolved. Within the first half-hour about 40 people had voted -- about the average for the entire nine hours of voting in a typical uncontested election. 
 Several voters said they were voting for the incumbent, 91-year-old Clarence Michalis, who has been mayor for 44 years and is the longest-serving mayor in New York State history. 
 But everybody who agreed to be interviewed by a reporter said they liked the fact that there was competition and that the election was generating interest in village affairs. 
 Many were first-time voters. 
 Mayoral challenger Nicholas DellaFera, 23, voted early and was thrilled with heavy turnout. 
 "I've done my job" of overcoming apathy, he said. 
 The election in Lattingtown is one of dozens of village elections being contested across Long Island on Tuesday. Other villages holding contested elections include: Bellport, Brightwaters, Lawrence, Manorhaven, North Haven, Rockville Centre, Sag Harbor and Woodsburgh. 
 Most polls close at 9 p.m.

TOLATT19

Heavy turnout in Lattingtown election

lattingtown mayor - crop

A good sign there has been vigorous debate at village hall: Streets in Westhampton Beach are checkered with competing campaign placards in front of houses and businesses. 
 The Village of Westhampton Beach has had a tumultuous 12 months, stemming from questions about village finances, which led to an outside audit. The audit found overpayments to village employees and expenditures approved by the mayor without other village trustees' knowledge. 
 Two incumbents who pushed for the audit and tighter spending controls in the village -- Hank Tucker and Patricia DiBenedetto -- are up for re-election. 
 DiBenedetto, 51, said some staff told trustees everything was fine with the finances. But the audit showed "there were indeed problems in Mayberry," she said. 
 On the other side is former village trustee Toni-Jo Birk, who lost her re-election bid last year by two votes. She's being supported by Mayor Conrad Teller, who's currently in the minority. 
 Birk called the problems "an error in payroll. . . . There's been a lot of negativity and dissension, unnecessarily so." 
 Tucker and DiBenedetto have taken a more critical view of the expenditures, which included a buyback of vacation time from the village police chief and six months of sick leave granted to a village employee, both approved by the mayor. 
 Tucker, 52, owner of Holey Moses Cheesecake, said the audit found village employees were overpaid $79,000. Teller, the mayor, said the correct figure is closer to $22,000 and maintains he had authority to approve the expenditures. The audit was not available last week. 
 Tucker said village trustees now have put in place checks and balances on payments. "We identified unauthorized payments of taxpayer dollars, without trustees' knowledge or approval," he said. "As a team, we took measures to recoup the money." 
 The additional approval now required for many village expenditures, Teller said, "doesn't matter to me. It just slows down government, which is slow enough as it is." 
 He said the audit found only minor problems, not unusual for any payroll system. 
 "They're making a mountain out of a molehill," Teller said. "It happens. With payrolls, in the heat of making up the budget, everything changes. An error was made. There's not usually made a big to-do about." 
 The village has had a budget surplus for four consecutive years, he said. 
 Tucker, though, said that for a year trustees were told there were no overpayments and no need for an audit. Birk "was deputy mayor while a lot of financial discrepancies took place. A lot of this was under her watch." 
 Birk, 53, a former real estate agent who works for the family business Bike 'N Kite in Westhampton, said she wanted to move forward and work with all sides. 
 Birk, who was on the board from 2006 until 2012, said that while dealing with personal issues during the past year, she has gotten a new perspective on the job. "I'm not the same woman I was a year ago," she said. "I'm a better person. My priorities are clear." 
 DiBenedetto, who first won a seat two years ago, said the board has been effective at putting in controls, and she wants to take further steps to formalize rules that govern the village. 
 "We're trying to keep it on an upswing," she said. "We're trying to go forward. We don't want to go backward." 
 Voting is Friday from noon to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 165 Mill Rd.

TOWEST17

Expenditures shape Westhampton Beach trustee vote

hlWESTH16 -- cropped

The field of candidates in the village of Sag Harbor is deep -- four people are running for mayor and four for two seats on the board of trustees. 
 There is plenty of experience from which to choose. Among the candidates are the incumbent mayor, a former mayor, a former village clerk, an incumbent trustee, a former trustee and another former trustee who previously was a mayor. 
 At a two-hour debate Sunday, the candidates agreed the environment is a top issue, saying the village should be proactive in dealing with pollution and flooding. And everyone agreed Long Wharf should be improved, if money could be found. They disagreed on whether some parking should be removed. 
 The biggest recurring debate in Sag Harbor, one of the oldest villages on Long Island, is about the future of its small village police department. 
 The village, which has a population of 2,169 according to the 2010 census, has been trying to figure out how to keep it at full strength while controlling costs. Staffing is now at 10 officers compared with the original 12. 
 Two incumbents, Mayor Brian Gilbride and trustee Edward Gregory, are running together on the Sag Harbor Party line. All the other candidates have their own lines. 
 MAYOR 
 Gilbride, 65, has been on the village board 19 years and has been mayor for the past four. He says the village's biggest problem is the cost of the police department, which he says accounts for half of a resident's tax bill when one includes retirement funds, equipment costs and the expense of operating a police department building. "If your tax bill is $2,200 -- that's for a house worth $800,000 -- $1,146 goes to support the police department," he said. 
 "Do we have affluent residents? Certainly," Gilbride said. "But I also see people who struggle between paying taxes and buying fuel oil and medicine." 
 Pierce W. Hance, 68, was mayor from 1993 to 1999. He says the current board discusses important issues in private, then holds public meetings only when it has to. He complained that Gilbride supported expanding the police department two years ago, and now wants to cut it back to save money. "The confrontation with the police union has been going on for two years . . . It's a ridiculously vitriolic confrontation." 
 Hance said the village's waterfront revitalization plan is a good document, but needs to be enforced. While he favors improving the business district, Hance says the residential community in Sag Harbor is its most important asset. 
 Sandra L. Schroeder, 56, a former village clerk, worked in Village Hall for more than 20 years and has lived in Sag Harbor all her life. Her grandfather was a village police officer. As village clerk-administrator for eight years, she says she knows the nuts and bolts of everything from how to get a building permit to what it takes to get a sidewalk repaired. 
 A first-time candidate, she said it is hard to meet people and ask them to vote for you. But, she added, "I've been seeing a lot of my old friends. It's been fun." 
 Michael Bruce Tait, 61, is making his first run for public office. Tait, who runs a yacht brokerage firm on Bay Street, said the board should have at least one local business owner on it. He has been on the village's Harbor Committee for more than a dozen years, chairman for the last seven. The committee oversees implementation of the state-mandated Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan. 
 He said the village has not taken steps to protect the waterfront, such as stopping the use of fertilizer within 200 feet of the shoreline. 
 Tait said negotiations with the village police union have not been done in good faith, and that traffic through the village must be slowed so Sag Harbor is no longer a bypass for drivers who want to escape traffic on Montauk Highway. He added that while the village has some complex problems -- such as figuring out how to maintain and use Long Wharf -- it also is failing to take simple but important steps such as maintaining storm drains. 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
 Edward T. Deyermond, 60, has lived in Sag Harbor for more than 40 years. He was mayor for three years and a village trustee for six, served as town assessor in both East Hampton and Southampton, and was the North Haven village clerk for three years. 
 He said, "I pretty much know what's happening and how things should go." 
 He said an improving economy over the next few years should make Sag Harbor's financial problems easier to resolve. 
 Incumbent Edward Gregory, 67, is seeking his 13th term. The owner of Gregory Electric in Bridgehampton, he is active in the village fire department. Like Gilbride, his running mate, he said he wants to finish work on restoring Havens Beach, settle the village police contract, and come up with a plan for Long Wharf. 
 Ken O'Donnell, 45, is making his first run for elected office. He sold his Manhattan intellectual property firm, moved to Sag Harbor in 1999, and now runs the La Superica Mexican restaurant on Main Street. He agreed with Tait that the board should have someone with business experience on it. 
 He said his biggest asset is that he is an independent, adding, "I don't owe anybody anything . . . I have an open mind." He said getting rid of the village police force is a bad idea, and that a new contract could be worked out with more cooperation from both sides. 
 Bruce A. Stafford, 55, owns a landscaping company, and previously served one term on the village board. He is active in the village fire department. He said village police deserve a raise -- the contract is now in arbitration -- but that they should wait until village residents can better afford to pay for it. He also said last year's trial run of a ferry to Greenport showed there is a demand for the service. 
 Voting is Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m. in the firehouse on Brick Kiln Road.

TOSAG14

8 candidates run for 3 posts in Sag Harbor

With a population hovering around 2,000 people, the village of Bellport maintains a vibrant presence on the South Shore of Suffolk County. 
 But behind the village's picturesque Main Street and scenic waterfront lie serious issues of revitalization, economic woes and storm recovery, say candidates for the village's board of trustees. 
 As Mayor Will Veitch prepares to leave office this year, three candidates are running to replace him, and four are vying for two trustee seats. 
 The village's economic situation is each candidate's top priority. 
 "We're getting less and less for our taxes and some of us are not from very wealthy positions," said Janine Roe, who is running for mayor. 
 Roe, 53, an administrator, grew up in Bellport and ran the Ho Hum beach concession for 11 seasons. An unsuccessful trustee candidate in 2009, she also has served as a volunteer firefighter. 
 "I think we're failing on creating a village that is full of life and vitality and young people," she said, adding her work as a "community organizer and activist" will help her to revitalize the village's faltering downtown. "I think we need a good manager." 
 Raymond Fell, 67, was superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford school district before retiring in 2001. A former trustee, he served one term and lost a re-election bid in 2009. He's a supporter of the Boys and Girls Club of Bellport, and active in the Bellport Village Program Fund beautification group. 
 Fell said the village hasn't effectively marketed its amenities, which include the golf course, marina, Ho Hum beach on Fire Island and a bay beach. "The village golf course has been losing money over the last three or four years," he said. "A new plan has to be developed." 
 He also mourned the state of the village's commercial area. "The downtown area is in a depressed state right now," he said. Fell said with his background of winning several grants for the village as trustee, he could reach out to "landlords and business owners, help them to do what they need to do to improve their business." 
 The third mayoral candidate is trustee James Vaughan, 64, a retired Brookhaven Town parks and recreation supervisor. He has served four years as trustee. A Vietnam War vet, he's a volunteer firefighter and fire police captain, trustee of the South Bay Art Association, and former South Country school district school board member. 
 Vaughan said the village has to fix its downtown. "It's very difficult for stores to make it in this community in these economic times, and we have to be more creative," he said. 
 He said the village is applying for county and town funding for much-needed sewer lines to allow vacant storefronts to have wet-store uses, such as spas or nail salons. He also said some village amenities were damaged by superstorm Sandy. "We're working with FEMA to repair that, but it's a very arduous process," he said. 
 Fell is running with trustee candidates Michael Ferrigno and Robert Rosenberg. 
 Ferrigno, 74, a retired veterinarian, grew up in Patchogue and has lived in Bellport for decades. He said he hopes the new village board can tap into residents' skills and expertise for help with issues ranging from loans to legal matters. "It's a question of creating a committee that's directed to specific goals, and getting their input," he said. "The more eyes you have looking at the subject, the better the decision is." 
 Rosenberg, 56, lives in Manhattan and Bellport. He's a retired insolvency lawyer and mediator. In addition to helping the downtown and better managing village amenities, he said the board will have to handle "wise rebuilding of the waterfront after the damage from the hurricane." 
 Vaughan is running with trustee candidates Fred Hall and Kenneth Budny. 
 Hall, 61, is vice president and general manager of the Bridgeport &amp; Port Jefferson Steamboat Company. He moved to Bellport in 2011 and also is concerned about the downtown. "I would make it a priority to fill all the storefronts," he said. "I'd like to get all the business people in one room and ask what's working and what's not working in Bellport." 
 Incumbent trustee Budny, 67, is a retired clam digger who works for the Post-Morrow Foundation nature conservancy in Brookhaven hamlet. He said the village is working on better operation of the golf course. "It's an important part of our village," he said. He also said that amid widespread investigations into allegations of improper contracts awarded for Sandy cleanup, Bellport has been untouched. "We haven't been investigated because our village clerk has done a wonderful job of documenting everything," he said. 
 The mayor's salary is $9,000, and trustees make $5,400 yearly for two-year terms. Voting is Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bellport Community Center, 4 Bell St.

TOBELL13

Recovery issues top Bellport election

HLBELL27 -- CROPPED

A rare contested election in Woodsburgh has two trustees vying to become mayor. 
 Lee A. Israel faces village deputy mayor Ed Mukamal, while Susan Schlaff -- the mayor for 19 years -- plans to step down because she is moving out of the village. 
 Israel, 44, has lived in Woodsburgh for 13 years. The Friends of the Village Party candidate is serving a second, 2-year term as trustee and is the police commissioner. He has also been treasurer and roads commissioner. 
 Israel, who owns an aerospace parts and repair service company in Hicksville, said he will use his business background to be fiscally responsible so "people feel that they're getting value" for services. 
 He also said it is "imperative" to create a village website and engage in social media to distribute community information and issue emergency alerts. 
 "We learned firsthand in Irene and Sandy," he said. "Our residents were very upset. They had no idea when the power was coming on." 
 Mukamal, a 66-year-old dentist with offices in Manhattan and Woodmere, has been a trustee every year but one since 1982, and deputy mayor since 1989. 
 A village resident for more than 30 years, Mukamal is running on the Citizens Party line. He said he has the experience to lead the affluent village of about 800 people and wants to stabilize school taxes and implement security measures to deter robberies that Woodsburgh has experienced. 
 "There are only about seven entrances into the village and maybe we can investigate having security cameras at those entrances that could record vehicles that are entering and leaving," said Mukamal. A portion of the $180,000 that will be saved in the village's roughly $700,000 annual budget after paying off a road bond this fall could be used toward surveillance, he said. 
 Incumbent trustees Gary Goffner and Carl Cayne are being challenged by political newcomer Jake Harman for two board seats. 
 Goffner did not respond to several requests for information and his stance on issues. 
 Cayne, 59, has lived in the village for more than 30 years and has served as trustee since 2004. A Citizens Party candidate, Cayne is the fire commissioner and a former zoning board member. 
 An owner and manager of commercial real estate in Queens and Brooklyn, Cayne said he wants to open to interested residents commissioner positions that typically are appointed. 
 Cayne touted his experience in working on village budgets and community issues, like helping to establish an eruv -- a symbolic boundary that allows Orthodox Jews to carry items and wheel strollers within its space on the Sabbath. 
 "I always find the solution that's palatable to both sides," he said. "Change is good, but change can also be bad. When you have a certainty in me, why would you vote for someone else?" 
 Harman, 59, a certified public accountant and senior partner at an international accounting firm, said he is running for trustee because of his "deep sense of commitment to the community." 
 Living in Woodsburgh for more than 15 years, Harman -- a Friends of the Village Party candidate -- has served as village budget officer since 2007. 
 Harman said he wants to "elevate the dialogue about fiscal spending" so "there's a clear understanding that the high taxes are seriously impacting home values," and create a centralized, interactive website. 
 "The fact that somebody has been on the board for many years is not necessarily a reason that makes that person the best qualified individual," he said. "What you have to look at are what are the skills of the individual and what do they bring to the table." 
 Incumbent village justice Brian Zeigler, who has served since 1998, is unopposed. 
 Voting is June 18 from noon to 9 p.m. at Keystone Yacht Club, 190 Woodmere Blvd S., Woodmere.

TOWOOD12

2 Woodsburgh trustees vie for mayor

When North Haven resident Mary Whelan, 56, decided to run for a village trustee seat, the clerk told her she needed a party name to run on. She picked a memorable one -- the Daffodil Party.
It's one of the first flowers to pop up in North Haven in the spring and it comes back every year, she explained.
And, she added, "It's the one flower that seems resistant to deer. I thought people might be able to relate to it."
Deer control, as it turns out, is an issue for all three candidates running for the two open seats on the village board.
Jeffrey Sander, 70, a trustee for the past six years, is running for re-election.
Arthur "Jim" Laspesa, 65, an architect, has been a member of the village's planning board since 1987 and chairman since 1992.
Both Sander, a retired IBM executive, and Laspesa are members of the North Haven Party.
North Haven is a wooded piece of land jutting into Peconic Bay, connected to Sag Harbor and the rest of the South Fork by a bridge and a road. 
"The village's primary purpose is to make sure it's beautiful and preserved and meets the aesthetic desire residents have," Sander said.
North Haven's 800 residents share the land, sometimes unhappily, with its other major inhabitants -- deer.
Sander said the deer are a constant issue, primarily because of the tick-borne diseases they help spread.
Some islands in Maine have shown that by reducing deer populations, conditions such as Lyme disease have gone down, he said.
The village has a bow hunting season, but Sander said it could get more aggressive in getting residents' approval for hunting on their lands. 
The village, he said, also could buy a refrigerated truck so hunters could deposit their venison, which would be taken to food pantries, encouraging hunters to harvest more deer. The Town of Southold has such a truck.
Besides that, Sander said the village has to monitor water quality and overall quality of life.
Laspesa said that having served on the planning board, he has knowledge of land use issues in the village. His primary concern is residents on the waterfront who want to improve their views by clearing vegetation straight to the bluffs.
"Once you take the vegetation away, the bluff or shoreline erodes," Laspesa said. The runoff goes elsewhere and "creates havoc on the shoreline."
Getting residents who over-clear their land to replant, he said, is very difficult.
Both Sander and Laspesa said they haven't spotted Whelan at many village board meetings. 
"Perhaps she should look at getting involved in the village in some function," Sander suggested.
Whelan doesn't dispute that she's a newcomer.
Her pitch, she said, is that she could bring a new set of eyes to the town's problems -- noise from landscapers, traffic during the busy summer season and, of course, deer.
"I don't know in what way I would do things differently," Whelan said. "I can add different ideas with my background."
Being new to politics, she said she was "stunned" when the North Haven Party challenged her nominating petition. Her candidacy was upheld by the county Board of Elections.
Laspesa said he'd prefer to leave the deer issue to others.
"The deer have been around for so long, for me, I just wish it would go away," he said, adding that he's more interested in the village acquiring open space and preserving land on North Haven. "I'll take land planning and open space, let someone else take the deer."
Voting will be held June 18 from noon to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 335 Ferry Rd., Sag Harbor.

TONORT10

3-way race for 2 North Haven trustee seats

candidates

In Rockville Centre, two issues are perennial: parking and taxes. And they top the list of concerns in this year's village trustee election. 
 Four candidates -- a pair of incumbents and a pair of challengers -- are competing for two four-year seats on the five-member trustee board. 
 The candidates are spread across three parties. Incumbent Edward Oppenheimer is a member of the Concerned Citizens party, incumbent Kevin Glynn is the leader of the Common Sense party, and challenger Marc Wieman is running on his Rockville Centre Forward party. Challenger Emilio Grillo is running with Glynn on the Common Sense ticket. 
 All four candidates agree Rockville Centre's downtown parking crunch is a persistent issue for the village of about 24,000, and that the village should seek to rein in its tax rate, which went up 4.2 percent this year. 
 "Downtown parking has got to be addressed," said Oppenheimer, a trustee for the last four years. "It's an expensive proposition, especially when you don't have land." 
 Oppenheimer, 60, a certified public accountant with an office in the village, said Rockville Centre could create 300 to 600 spaces downtown by reconfiguring some of the existing parking lots. There are about 3,300 parking spaces in the village, including street parking and lots, he said. 
 Oppenheimer also said the village could save money and reduce the tax load by collecting and recycling paper from residents and merchants. 
 "That's money being thrown out," he said. 
 Glynn, 36, an attorney with a Bethpage firm, said parking problems downtown are "a symptom of our success," and that the village recently addressed the issue by ending metered parking at night. The downtown vacancy rate is about 4 percent, he said, which speaks to the health of the village's commercial center. 
 Rockville Centre could address its parking woes by reconfiguring some lots and directing residents to underused lots, Glynn said. 
 But, he added, managing the village's $41.8 million budget -- which grew 2.1 percent this year -- is the most pressing concern. 
 "If we marry the budget increase to the rate of inflation, we'll see the smallest burden on our residents," said Glynn, a four-year trustee. 
 Glynn's running mate, Grillo, agreed that the village can steer consumers toward underutilized parking spaces downtown. He added that seeking nontax revenue, such as grants, is a priority. 
 Grillo, 47, a Manhattan attorney, said the village would have to explore the cost of reconfiguring parking before making any changes. 
 "You've got to have a real cost-benefit analysis," Grillo said. 
 Wieman, 56, is a retired lawyer who worked as a deputy Nassau County attorney for about five years in the 2000s. He said parking is the "biggest issue" facing the village. He said the village should build a downtown garage -- which it would pay for with bonds -- to make parking more manageable. 
 Wieman added that the village should work more closely with the local school district to keep taxes down, because school taxes make up the bulk of the bill. 
 "The second-biggest issue is taxes," he said. 
 The results of the election will not affect control of the village trustee board, as the Rockville Centre United party -- which includes Mayor Francis X. Murray and trustees Nancy Howard and Michael Sepe -- will retain three seats on the five-member board regardless of the outcome. 
 Voting is June 18 at the Anderson Recreation Center, 111 N. Oceanside Rd., from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

TOROCK07

4-way race in Rockville Centre for 2 trustee seats

hlROCK13

A former Manorhaven village trustee is challenging an incumbent who joined the board last year. 
 James M. Avena -- who was appointed to the board in February 2012, lost in an election four months later, was appointed again to the board 10 days after that by the lame-duck mayor, then removed three days later by the incoming mayor -- is challenging Dorit Zeevi-Farrington, who was appointed to the board last July to replace a newly elected trustee who resigned after 23 days in office. 
 Zeevi-Farrington, 52, owns three charter-yacht companies that operate out of New York Harbor. She received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Baruch College, and an MBA in finance and international business from New York University. 
 Zeevi-Farrington ran for office in 2010 but was dropped from the ballot five days before the election along with the two other Manorhaven Revival Party candidates when opponents sued, saying the candidates failed to properly notarize their nomination acceptances. She said she is running to continue the work she's been doing on the board in the past year. 
 "The whole motivation for my running in 2010 was to ensure a responsive and honest government who pays close attention obviously to the needs of the residents," she said. "And I feel like that's exactly where we are now." 
 She said new stop signs the board approved have led to safer streets, and pointed to projects such as rehabilitating Morgan's Dock and creating a new dog park in Manorhaven Preserve. 
 Zeevi-Farrington said, if re-elected, she wants to tackle the problem of the village's aging and overburdened sewer system. 
 Avena, 69, running on the Manorhaven Residents Party line, is a former president of Cantor Fitzgerald and serves as the grant distributor for the Dejana Family Foundation. He received a bachelor's degree in accounting from Long Island University, where he once served as a trustee. 
 He said he is running to add another voice in government. 
 "I think it's been less than transparent," he said, adding that he filed suit against the village over Freedom of Information Law requests that he said the village had not complied with. 
 He said he questioned the expenses the village said it had during superstorm Sandy, as well as the village increasing the tax rate on businesses but not residences. 
 Avena also said he believed the recent ruling against the village in the suit AG Towers brought over operating its controversial cell tower would result in a tax increase. 
 "I'm not trying to play gotcha here, but there are certain questions that have to be answered for the taxpayer, and they're not," he said. 
 Incumbent trustees Lucretia Steele and Rita DiLucia are running unopposed. 
 Voting is Tuesday, June 18, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 33 Manorhaven Blvd.

TOMANO06

Ex-Manorhaven trustee challenges incumbent

toMANO06 - crop

After 44 years in office, Lattingtown Mayor Clarence F. Michalis is running again, as expected. But for the first time in four decades, he has an opponent. 
 Michalis, 91, the longest-serving mayor in state history, is facing someone born 21 years after he became Lattingtown's chief executive. 
 So voters in the Gold Coast village have a choice: 
 Experience vs. youthful energy. 
 Keep Michalis in the unpaid part-time position for another two years, or replace him with 23-year-old Nicholas DellaFera, a pharmaceutical salesman a year out of college. 
 As with many other affluent villages in northern Nassau County, Lattingtown -- a 2,400-acre enclave that is exclusively residential except for two country clubs -- rarely has contested elections. Besides Michalis' one race for mayor against a candidate whose name he no longer remembers, there only occasionally has been competition for the justice's post or a trustee seat in anyone's memory. 
 The novelty is noticeable. Each candidate has mailed a letter to residents and bought ads in the local weekly newspaper and DellaFera is placing signs on lawns, raising awareness about the election -- one of his reasons for running. 
 DellaFera, running solo on the Friends of Lattingtown line with little name recognition, is a long shot. Michalis heads a full slate on the Citizens Association party line that includes trustee candidates Lucie T. Bard and James M. Duryea along with village justice Eugene P. Souther, all incumbents without opposition. 
 But DellaFera says he is running more against resident apathy than against Michalis, so he and the village win no matter who gets the most votes. He said that on average for the past five years, only 43 people out of the 1,900 residents voted in the elections, a turnout he called "dismal." Voting this year is June 18 from noon to 9 p.m. at Village Hall. 
 In his letter to residents, DellaFera wrote, "Now more than ever we need to become an involved community in order to preserve what we hold dear." 
 "I know I can bring my energy, youthfulness and my leadership and communication skills and the ability to bring transparency to the village," he added in an interview. 
 In his letter, Michalis said the village government needs people like DellaFera. But, the mayor added, "He is trying to start at the top -- as mayor -- without any experience whatsoever in the governance of the village. . . . Historically, our village public servants, myself included, have started out on one of our village boards, either planning or zoning, then worked up." 
 DellaFera, Michalis said, doesn't own property or pay property taxes, has never voted in a village election or even attended a village board meeting. 
 DellaFera said, "I really haven't been involved in village government" because "it was never really publicized." 
 Michalis said the election is noted on the village website and in local and regional newspapers, and village board meetings are publicized on the website and in his letters to residents. "We have a website and we change it all the time," he said. 
 DellaFera said the website should be beefed up to include village board meeting minutes and other information. 
 As for why he should be re-elected, Michalis wrote in his letter, "I have tried to use my experience as vice president and CFO of two separate Fortune 500 companies to keep the village in a sound fiscal position, and maintain its essential character. I want to keep Lattingtown the way it was when you moved here." 
 While DellaFera offered no specific criticism of the incumbent, he did say that "21 terms is a little much." 
 DellaFera said if he loses, he would still like to get involved in village government. And Michalis said, "I would like to find a place for him."

TOLATT05

Lattingtown mayor faces challenger

Clarence F. Michalis became mayor of <a href="/topics/Lattingtown%2C_NY">Lattingtown</a> the same summer <a href="/topics/Neil_Armstrong">Neil Armstrong</a> walked on the moon and hundreds of thousands flocked to <a href="/topics/Woodstock%2C_NY">Woodstock</a>.
Forty-three years later, Michalis is still at the head of the table for monthly trustee meetings in the tony village on <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County's North Shore.
Although no one keeps precise records, associations of municipal officials believe Michalis, who recently turned 90, is the longest-serving mayor in <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a> State history.
"People have told me that and think it's great," said the retired corporate executive, who never has received a salary from the village. "But it's never been an issue for me. I just sort of enjoy the job. I know all the people. And I have a very good team in the office."
Michalis says he hasn't lost any of his energy or wits, and adds that the only sign of age he sees is that he can't play tennis anymore.
Michalis, whose current two-year term ends next year, says, "I'll keep doing this until they want me out. I've told the trustees that, 'Any time you think that I'm too old and not doing the job, let me know.' " 
He shouldn't expect to hear that anytime soon, says trustee Lucie Bard, who has served with Michalis for a dozen years and also sails with him on his 50-foot <a href="/topics/YACHT_%28musician%29">yacht</a>.
"He's a terrific mayor because he does far more than he needs to do," she said. "He knows all the local politicians," which she said gets problems solved expeditiously.
He has rarely faced an opponent -- and lures those he defeats into village government by convincing them to serve on the planning or zoning boards.
Michalis' commitment to the village -- founded in 1931 to protect the quality of life on 2,400 Gold Coast acres -- actually extends more than half a century. He was appointed to the planning board in 1960, then tapped to fill an unexpired term as trustee in 1962. In 1969, he was appointed mayor to fill the remainder of his predecessor's term -- and now is working on outlasting his eighth U.S. president.
<a href="/topics/Lattingtown%2C_NY">Lattingtown</a> isn't the only recipient of his zeal for public service. He has served as chairman, officer or board member for a hefty list of <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> and Manhattan nonprofits, including the <a href="/topics/Nassau_County_Museum_of_Art">Nassau County Museum of Art</a>, where he recently was elected to a second stint as board president.
His model, he said, is his father, also a successful businessman whose service to a sizable list of nonprofits included being board chairman of the <a href="/topics/Museum_of_the_City_of_New_York">Museum of the City of New York</a>. Michalis said he never has forgotten what his father told him: "If you should be so fortunate to reap the material rewards that a successful business career can give you, then you ought to pay it back."
Born and raised in Manhattan, Michalis was a young banker when he moved to Lattingtown around 1950, having served three years as an officer, ultimately becoming the senior lieutenant, on the destroyer USS Hall in <a href="/topics/World_War_II">World War II</a>. At the time, the population was less than 600. Now there are about 1,900 residents in a village where minimum lot size ranges from 1 to 4 acres. The village's paid staff has gone from a single part-time clerk to six full-time employees.
Michalis was on the village board and then mayor when Lattingtown faced its first major challenge: <a href="/topics/Robert_Moses">Robert Moses</a>' proposed but never built <a href="/topics/Bayville%2C_NY">Bayville</a>-Rye Bridge. "It would have destroyed the whole social structure of the North Shore" as well as the environment, Michalis said. But before the project was killed in 1973 -- with help from Michalis and other North Shore, town and federal officials -- it did have one positive effect, he said. It prompted the North Shore estate villages in <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> Town to work together for the first time.
Now, Michalis said, the biggest issue is preserving the quality of life against legal challenges from new residents -- "affluent people who did not have great affluence 25 or 30 years ago" and who "want to build McMansions that don't conform to the zoning code."
To combat that trend, he said, the zoning code was tightened five years ago.
Michalis' mayoral management style is informal -- visitors at board meetings are welcomed and introduced to trustees and employees seated around a conference table. But he is clearly in charge and likes to keep things moving. He insists the board hold its monthly meetings at 6 p.m. in an effort to keep people from rambling. "I meet before dinner so people get hungry and want to get home," he said with a laugh.
Helene Mashal, the only resident to attend the last board meeting -- she had a question about municipal services for her private street -- said afterward that Michalis made her feel welcome and the follow-up letter he promised was sent to her promptly. "The consensus of the residents is that he has been doing an outstanding job," she said.
In his annual letter to residents and at meetings, the mayor likes to stress his mantra of good local government:
"Village government is the most efficient government because almost no one gets paid," he says. "We're all volunteers and we're doing it because we like the community and we're willing to give a lot of time to protect our own backyards. 

<h5>CLARENCE F. MICHALIS</h5>

EARLY YEARS: Born in Manhattan. Graduated from Harvard in 1943 and joined the Navy. Served as the senior lieutenant on destroyer USS Hall in the Atlantic and Pacific and saw action at <a href="/topics/Iwo_Jima">Iwo Jima</a> and <a href="/topics/Okinawa">Okinawa</a>.
BUSINESS CAREER: After the war, worked at First National Bank of the City of <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a>, which later became Citicorp. In 1961, left for <a href="/topics/Bristol-Myers_Squibb">Bristol-Myers Squibb</a> as treasurer and later chief financial officer. He retired after more than 20 years there.
IN GOVERNMENT: Appointed to Lattingtown planning board in 1960, village board in 1962, and mayor in 1969.
COMMUNITY SERVICE: Has been chairman, officer, commissioner or board member at <a href="/topics/Nassau_County_Museum_of_Art">Nassau County Museum of Art</a>, <a href="/topics/Locust_Valley%2C_NY">Locust Valley</a> Fire Department, North Shore Land Alliance, The <a href="/topics/Cooper_Union_for_the_Advancement_of_Science_and_Art">Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art</a>, St. Luke's-<a href="/topics/Roosevelt%2C_NY">Roosevelt</a> Hospital Center, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and other nonprofits.
FAMILY: Married 59 years to Cora. They have four daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren."

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