Richard Begandy fills vacancy on Massapequa Park village board

Village planning commission member Richard Begandy was appointed last night to fill a vacancy on the village board.

Begandy, 77, who is also commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7763 in the village, takes over the unexpired term of Jeffrey Pravato.

Pravato, a trustee since 2002 who had been deputy mayor, was named mayor by the village board last month to replace James Altadonna Jr., the mayor since 2001. Altadonna was sworn in as Town of Oyster Bay clerk earlier last month to fill the remainder of the term of Steven Labriola, who resigned in February to become chief of staff for Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos.

Begandy, a village resident since 1984, is a retired warehouse manager.

He was in the Navy from 1954 to 1958 and served on the light cruiser Juno and battleship New Jersey. He is a member of the Oyster Bay Town Veterans Advisory Board.

A member of the planning commission for two years, he will resign that post to take the trustee seat.

Pravato appointed trustee Teresa Spinosa as deputy mayor last month.

Pravato is to serve the remainder of Altadonna’s two-year term, until the next election in March 2015.