Leslie Gross, former N. Hempstead town clerk, to be Manorhaven clerk-treasurer

Leslie Gross, who lost a re-election bid for the North Hempstead town clerk last fall, will become Manorhaven Village clerk-treasurer Monday.

She was appointed to the position by the village board last week.

Gross had been the North Hempstead town clerk since 2007, winning two elections as a Democrat. But last year, after she said she felt uncertain about her future with the party's slate, she ran on the Republican line. She lost to Wayne Wink, then a Democratic Nassau County legislator.

"I'm really very excited that they approached me," Gross, 62, said Friday. "They're very happy that I have experience, and I have knowledge of the area."

Gross, who holds master municipal clerk status after training at Cornell University, said she was eager to be a clerk again. She was also appointed a marriage officer.

"She'll be an asset to our village," Manorhaven Mayor Giovanna Giunta said. Gross and Giunta will serve as liaisons to a committee tasked with revitalizing the village business district.

Gross will be paid $88,000 per year. Her appointment comes after the village mayor was re-elected, but two incumbent trustees she ran with were ousted by challengers of a competing slate. Nine candidates had run for three positions.

Gross replaces Liz Gaynor, who became the village clerk at Sands Point last week. Randy Bond, the previous village clerk there, retired.

Giunta was re-elected to her second two-year term on the board this month with 358 votes, besting challenger James M. Avena's 343 votes and John O'Reilly's 297.

Trustees Dorit Zeevi-Farrington and Mark Lazarovic lost to Avena's running mates, Kevin M. Gately Jr. and Priscilla von Roeschlaub. A swearing-in is planned for July 7.

Manorhaven, in the hamlet of Port Washington, has about 6,600 residents.