While there are no contested mayoral or trustee races in the five Manhasset-area villages slated to take place March 18, Election Day won’t come and go without a few board shake-ups.
In the Village of Munsey Park, current Mayor Frank DeMento and Deputy Mayor Sean Haggerty have filed a petition to swap positions, an option Haggerty said the two had considered when the three ran for election in 2013 and unseated longtime incumbent Mayor Harry Nicolaides and trustees Al Jaronczyk and Sheila Brennan.
“Prior to running for office in 2013, Frank and I had discussed the option of changing roles down the road if we felt it would benefit the village,” Haggerty said in mid February. “We all support the notion that the more experience each trustee has will ultimately make the board stronger and support the residents better.”
Joining Haggerty and DeMento on the Residents for a Better Munsey Park line is trustee Patrick Hance, who was also first elected in 2013.
In Plandome Heights, newcomer Gus Panopoulos is running with incumbent trustees Daniel Cataldo and Norman Taylor on the Alliance Party for a village trustee seat.
Cataldo and Taylor are seeking re-election, while Panopoulos if elected would replace the departing Laurence Bourguet, who Plandome Heights Village Clerk Arlene Drucker said is not seeking another term.
Recently appointed Plandome Manor Trustee James Baydar will seek his first two-year term on the board as part of an Action Party ticket that includes Mayor Barbara Donno, seven-term Trustee Matthew Clinton and Village Justice Sal Saul Kobrick.
Baydar, a former member of the village’s zoning and planning boards, was appointed to the board in September to fill the rest of the term of former Trustee Irwin Klein, who resigned in July and moved out of the village.
“I knew it would be something I’d have to run for if I wanted to continue to serve, which I’m happy to do,” Baydar said last week.
Mayoral and trustee positions in Plandome Manor are for two years, while village justice terms are for four years.
In The Village of Flower Hill, new trustees Brian Herrington and Jay Beber are seeking their first full two-year terms in joining Deputy Mayor Bob McNamara on the Flower Hill Party line.
Herrington was appointed to the board in November to serve the remainder of the term vacated by former Deputy Mayor Tab Hauser, who resigned from the village board in June after moving to Glen Cove.
Beber joined the board in December to fill the trustee position vacated by Eileen Mills, who resigned in November due to family issues.
“I felt a good portion of the activities would be dry and wouldn’t hold my interest, because having sat through a couple of meetings, people tend only to show up when they had problems, but there’s so much that can be accomplished when people have the right mindset,” Beber said.
McNamara was first elected in 2013 and was previously the chairman of the village’s finance committee. He was appointed deputy mayor in December.
“The more experience and time you have, and the more comfortable you are, the more comfortable you are with the team you’re working with,” said McNamara, who was in the banking and credit card industries for more than 40 years. “…Our group, as it’s formed, is a well-formed group. Everyone has their own expertise.”
In the Village of Plandome, Mayor M. Lloyd Williams and trustees Katie Saville and Donald Richardson are each seeking two-year terms on the Citizen’s Party line.
Voting in the five Manhasset village elections will take place at their respective village hall locations on March 18 from noon to 9 p.m.
