Mayor's races in Hempstead, Freeport and Amityville as Long Islanders head to the polls in village elections
In Hempstead, village trustee Kevin D. Boone is challenging the incumbent, Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Dozens of villages across Long Island are holding elections Tuesday to choose mayors, trustees and judges.
Only several of the villages include contested races, with Hempstead, Freeport and Amityville having more than one candidate for mayor.
Amityville, Hempstead, Valley Stream, Head of the Harbor, Old Field and Greenport have contested trustee elections, and there is a contested village justice race in Freeport.
Across Nassau and Suffolk counties, village mayors and trustees set budgets and tax rates for their communities, enact legislation and oversee code ordinances, among other tasks. Village justices typically hear cases involving violations of various ordinances, including noise ordinances, traffic violations and building codes.
Here are profiles of candidates in the contested races.
Village trustee Kevin D. Boone is challenging the incumbent, Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. The mayor serves a four-year term and is paid $157,594 annually.
Hobbs, 62, is seeking his second four-year term and is running on the Hempstead Now line. He is a volunteer firefighter, a former village code enforcement supervisor and former commissioner of the Hempstead Housing Authority. He also serves as senior pastor for the Coney Island Cathedral in Brooklyn.
In a phone interview, Hobbs said he wanted to complete several projects, such as building a new $55 million water plant and a new Kennedy Memorial Park swimming pool. He noted that the village had secured nearly $48 million combined in state grants for the two projects.
“Our water plant hasn’t been updated in 100 years,” Hobbs said, adding he wanted to “continue to see the village move in the right direction."
The village also is supporting construction of hundreds of new apartment units and grocery stores as part of a downtown revitalization project, he said.
Boone, 56, a licensed real estate agent and volunteer firefighter, worked in various village jobs for more than 30 years before retiring. Boone is running on the People Over Party United line. He is serving his first four-year term as trustee.
Boone said he would work to clean up village streets, improve drinking water quality and pave roads regularly. He proposed working with local colleges to form a think tank that would develop proposals for cutting taxes.
“It seemed the pressing needs of the community have fallen through the cracks when it comes to our children or even our seniors," Boone said in a phone interview. “Quality of life has not improved.”
In the trustee race, four candidates are seeking two seats, each carrying a two-year term. Trustees are paid $28,560. The candidates are incumbent Clariona Griffith, Tanya Carter, Kevin Ramirez and William Whitaker.
Mayor Robert T. Kennedy faces a challenge from Tarmaria Pedlar for a four-year term. The mayor is paid $188,492 annually.
Kennedy, 70, running on the Unity Home Rule Party line, said this will be his last election after 12 years as mayor. He said he wants to finish projects and initiatives that he said will be good for the village before stepping aside. Those projects include creating a trade school in an armory building owned by the village, bringing in a new hotel, selling village property to a wind power company, and seeing a housing project completed.
Kennedy said that under his stewardship, the village has expanded its tax base, frozen taxes, and reduced crime while receiving bond rating upgrades.
The village is in talks with a wind power company about selling village property on which it would build a substation. Selling village property “would significantly help our residents and reduce taxes,” Kennedy said.
Pedlar, 53, who said she is running as an independent, is a former village employee who runs a business that provides support services to vulnerable populations. She said she is running because she wants to make Freeport more affordable and to attract hospital services and a satellite college campus.
She said she wants the village to develop an affordable multifamily housing program.
Pedlar said she also wants the village to create a program to help property owners navigate the tax assessment system.
"Especially for the senior citizens, the assessment process is very difficult,” Pedlar said. “We want to put in a program where we are going to bring in someone to help navigate through that paperwork.”
In the village justice race, incumbent Vincent R. Cacciatore is facing challenger Marc E. Strauss for a four-year term. Justices are paid $91,349 annually.
Cacciatore, 75, has served in that role since 1994 and is running on the Unity Home Rule Party line. He is graduate of St. John’s University law school and practices commercial litigation and real estate law.
Strauss, 61, is graduate of Hofstra University law school and practices family law.
Three candidates are running to succeed Mayor Dennis Siry, who is term-limited. The mayor serves a four-year term and is paid $14,000 annually.
The candidates are Eric Onderdonk, 55, running on the People's Party line; Michael O'Neill, 64, on the Amity For All line, and Deputy Mayor Kevin Smith, 66, running on the Smith Party line.
Onderdonk, a retired police officer with the Amityville Police Department, is a lieutenant in the village’s fire department. He said that if elected mayor, he would work to slow down development of high-density housing. He said he would like to focus on more smart growth development.
O’Neill, who was elected trustee in 2019, is the educational broadband services director for the Archdiocese of New York. He previously served on the village planning board. He said he would like to continue to oversee projects that are coming to fruition from the village’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative and also develop a five-year plan with all village departments.
Smith, a self-employed carpenter and part-time village building inspector, has served as a trustee since 2013. He said he would focus on maintaining the village’s high bond rating and work on infrastructure, including the improvement of sidewalks, streetscapes and lighting.
Four candidates are seeking two open trustee seats, each carrying a four-year term. Trustees are paid $7,000 annually.
The candidates are incumbent Owen E. Brooks of the Amityville New Decade Party, Peter I. Collorafi of the Amityville Always Party, Santiago Gallinat of the People’s Party, and Robert Russo of the Coastal Vision Party.
Five candidates are seeking two open trustee seats, each carrying a four-year term. Trustees are paid $11,600 annually, according to village budget documents.
The candidates are incumbents Mary Bess Phillips of the Greenport Pride Party and Julia Robins of the Greenport United Party, and challengers Scott Hollid of the Families First Party, Margaret Rose de Cruz of the All Hands Community Party, and Roric Tobin of the Roric for Greenport Party.
Incumbent Jeffrey Fischer is opposed by Kathleen Diana for one open trustee seat with a two-year term. Trustees are not paid.
Incumbent Morgan Morrison of the Sound Government Party, incumbent Rebecca Van Der Bogart of the Good Neighbor Party, and Kathryn Richey of the Cove Party are competing for two open trustee seats, each carrying a two-year term. Trustees are not paid.
Incumbent Sharon M. Daly, running on the United Community Party line, and Anthony Bonnelli, running on the Achieve Party line, are seeking an open trustee seat with a three-year term. Trustees are paid $23,800 annually.
With Denise M. Bonilla, Sam Kmack, Deborah S. Morris, Joshua Needelman, Joseph Ostapiuk, Ted Phillips, Jean-Paul Salamanca, and Tara Smith
Dozens of villages across Long Island are holding elections Tuesday to choose mayors, trustees and judges.
Only several of the villages include contested races, with Hempstead, Freeport and Amityville having more than one candidate for mayor.
Amityville, Hempstead, Valley Stream, Head of the Harbor, Old Field and Greenport have contested trustee elections, and there is a contested village justice race in Freeport.
Across Nassau and Suffolk counties, village mayors and trustees set budgets and tax rates for their communities, enact legislation and oversee code ordinances, among other tasks. Village justices typically hear cases involving violations of various ordinances, including noise ordinances, traffic violations and building codes.
Here are profiles of candidates in the contested races.
Hempstead
Village trustee Kevin D. Boone is challenging the incumbent, Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. The mayor serves a four-year term and is paid $157,594 annually.
Hobbs, 62, is seeking his second four-year term and is running on the Hempstead Now line. He is a volunteer firefighter, a former village code enforcement supervisor and former commissioner of the Hempstead Housing Authority. He also serves as senior pastor for the Coney Island Cathedral in Brooklyn.
In a phone interview, Hobbs said he wanted to complete several projects, such as building a new $55 million water plant and a new Kennedy Memorial Park swimming pool. He noted that the village had secured nearly $48 million combined in state grants for the two projects.
“Our water plant hasn’t been updated in 100 years,” Hobbs said, adding he wanted to “continue to see the village move in the right direction."
The village also is supporting construction of hundreds of new apartment units and grocery stores as part of a downtown revitalization project, he said.
Boone, 56, a licensed real estate agent and volunteer firefighter, worked in various village jobs for more than 30 years before retiring. Boone is running on the People Over Party United line. He is serving his first four-year term as trustee.
Boone said he would work to clean up village streets, improve drinking water quality and pave roads regularly. He proposed working with local colleges to form a think tank that would develop proposals for cutting taxes.
“It seemed the pressing needs of the community have fallen through the cracks when it comes to our children or even our seniors," Boone said in a phone interview. “Quality of life has not improved.”
In the trustee race, four candidates are seeking two seats, each carrying a two-year term. Trustees are paid $28,560. The candidates are incumbent Clariona Griffith, Tanya Carter, Kevin Ramirez and William Whitaker.
Freeport
Mayor Robert T. Kennedy faces a challenge from Tarmaria Pedlar for a four-year term. The mayor is paid $188,492 annually.
Kennedy, 70, running on the Unity Home Rule Party line, said this will be his last election after 12 years as mayor. He said he wants to finish projects and initiatives that he said will be good for the village before stepping aside. Those projects include creating a trade school in an armory building owned by the village, bringing in a new hotel, selling village property to a wind power company, and seeing a housing project completed.
Kennedy said that under his stewardship, the village has expanded its tax base, frozen taxes, and reduced crime while receiving bond rating upgrades.
The village is in talks with a wind power company about selling village property on which it would build a substation. Selling village property “would significantly help our residents and reduce taxes,” Kennedy said.
Pedlar, 53, who said she is running as an independent, is a former village employee who runs a business that provides support services to vulnerable populations. She said she is running because she wants to make Freeport more affordable and to attract hospital services and a satellite college campus.
She said she wants the village to develop an affordable multifamily housing program.
Pedlar said she also wants the village to create a program to help property owners navigate the tax assessment system.
"Especially for the senior citizens, the assessment process is very difficult,” Pedlar said. “We want to put in a program where we are going to bring in someone to help navigate through that paperwork.”
In the village justice race, incumbent Vincent R. Cacciatore is facing challenger Marc E. Strauss for a four-year term. Justices are paid $91,349 annually.
Cacciatore, 75, has served in that role since 1994 and is running on the Unity Home Rule Party line. He is graduate of St. John’s University law school and practices commercial litigation and real estate law.
Strauss, 61, is graduate of Hofstra University law school and practices family law.
Amityville
Three candidates are running to succeed Mayor Dennis Siry, who is term-limited. The mayor serves a four-year term and is paid $14,000 annually.
The candidates are Eric Onderdonk, 55, running on the People's Party line; Michael O'Neill, 64, on the Amity For All line, and Deputy Mayor Kevin Smith, 66, running on the Smith Party line.
Onderdonk, a retired police officer with the Amityville Police Department, is a lieutenant in the village’s fire department. He said that if elected mayor, he would work to slow down development of high-density housing. He said he would like to focus on more smart growth development.
O’Neill, who was elected trustee in 2019, is the educational broadband services director for the Archdiocese of New York. He previously served on the village planning board. He said he would like to continue to oversee projects that are coming to fruition from the village’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative and also develop a five-year plan with all village departments.
Smith, a self-employed carpenter and part-time village building inspector, has served as a trustee since 2013. He said he would focus on maintaining the village’s high bond rating and work on infrastructure, including the improvement of sidewalks, streetscapes and lighting.
Four candidates are seeking two open trustee seats, each carrying a four-year term. Trustees are paid $7,000 annually.
The candidates are incumbent Owen E. Brooks of the Amityville New Decade Party, Peter I. Collorafi of the Amityville Always Party, Santiago Gallinat of the People’s Party, and Robert Russo of the Coastal Vision Party.
Greenport
Five candidates are seeking two open trustee seats, each carrying a four-year term. Trustees are paid $11,600 annually, according to village budget documents.
The candidates are incumbents Mary Bess Phillips of the Greenport Pride Party and Julia Robins of the Greenport United Party, and challengers Scott Hollid of the Families First Party, Margaret Rose de Cruz of the All Hands Community Party, and Roric Tobin of the Roric for Greenport Party.
Head of the Harbor
Incumbent Jeffrey Fischer is opposed by Kathleen Diana for one open trustee seat with a two-year term. Trustees are not paid.
Old Field
Incumbent Morgan Morrison of the Sound Government Party, incumbent Rebecca Van Der Bogart of the Good Neighbor Party, and Kathryn Richey of the Cove Party are competing for two open trustee seats, each carrying a two-year term. Trustees are not paid.
Valley Stream
Incumbent Sharon M. Daly, running on the United Community Party line, and Anthony Bonnelli, running on the Achieve Party line, are seeking an open trustee seat with a three-year term. Trustees are paid $23,800 annually.
With Denise M. Bonilla, Sam Kmack, Deborah S. Morris, Joshua Needelman, Joseph Ostapiuk, Ted Phillips, Jean-Paul Salamanca, and Tara Smith
Voting Information
Amityville: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School gym, 140 Park Ave. (rear, Park Avenue and Wanser Place) for 7th, 8th, 9th and 63rd election districts; and Amityville Memorial High School gym, 250 Merrick Rd. (rear west entrance) for 17th, 26th, 117th and 122nd election districts.
Freeport: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Freeport Recreation Center, 130 E. Merrick Rd.; Senior Housing, 100 N. Main St.; Atkinson School, 58 W. Seaman Ave.; Hose Company 5, 47 Leonard Ave.; Exempt Firehouse, 9 N. Long Beach Ave.; Columbus Avenue School, 150 N. Columbus Ave.; Hose Company 2, 15 Broadway; Bayview Avenue School, 325 West Merrick Rd.; Hose Company 1, 22 Southside Ave.; Giblyn School, 450 S. Ocean Ave.; Archer Elementary School, 255 Archer St.; Bayview Avenue Hose Company 3, 375 S. Bayview Ave., and Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Rd.
Greenport: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Greenport Fire Department, 236 3rd St., Greenport
Head of the Harbor: Noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Head of the Harbor Village Hall, 500 N. Country Rd., Saint James
Hempstead: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at: David A. Paterson school, 40 Fulton Ave. (19th, 2nd, 34th election districts); Jackson Street Firehouse, 130 Jackson St. (3rd, 4th, 66th election districts); Hempstead Police Armory, 216 Washington St. (5th); Village Hall, 99 Nichols Ct. (6th); Jackson school, 451 Jackson St. (7th, 8th, 9th, 11th); Joseph A. McNeil school, 335 S. Franklin St. (10th, 19th, 24th); West End Firehouse, 108 Front St. (12th, 81st); Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School, 70 Greenwich St. (13th, 14th); East End Firehouse, 10 Holly Ave. (16th, 18th); Barack Obama school, 176 William St. (15th, 17th); Southside Firehouse, 59 Long Beach Rd. (20th, 25th, 50th); Lawrence Road Middle School, 50 Lawrence Rd. (21st, 26th, 49th); Kennedy Memorial Park Recreation Center, 335 Greenwich St. (22nd, 23rd, 57th)
Old Field: Noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Old Field Village Hall, Keepers House, 207 Old Field Rd., Setauket
Valley Stream: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Valley Stream Village Hall, 123 S. Central Ave., Valley Stream
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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'I have never been to New York' Jim Vennard, 61, an electrical engineer from Missouri, received a $250 ticket for passing a stopped school bus in Stony Brook, a place he said he has never visited. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
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'I have never been to New York' Jim Vennard, 61, an electrical engineer from Missouri, received a $250 ticket for passing a stopped school bus in Stony Brook, a place he said he has never visited. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.