Freeport appoints a former trustee to fill board vacancy

William H. White Jr. was appointed this week to the Freeport Board of Trustees to take the seat of newly elected Nassau Legis. Debra Mulé, Mayor Robert Kennedy said.

White, 62, was appointed to the board in 1998 and ran for the seat in subsequent elections. He stepped down in April 2015 after serving as deputy mayor for two years and Mulé took his seat following that election. He is a registered Republican but said the board works in a bipartisan manner.

The term expires following the March 2019 elections. White, who was appointed Monday, said he would not run again. His salary is $20,287 until Feb. 28, after which it rises to $20,693.56.

“I thought long and hard about it because I left the board because I wanted to slow down a little bit,” said White, a partner in the Freeport-based insurance company White & Ré Agency. “I thought it was the right thing to do for the village.”

White had been the deputy chairman of the village’s zoning board for 13 years before his original trustee appointment.

“Trustee White was and will be a great asset to the community and current board,” Kennedy said in a statement. “I am glad to serve the residents of Freeport with Bill, and look forward to making Freeport a better place to work and live.”

White’s father, William H. White Sr., is a past mayor of Freeport.

Mulé was elected to the county legislature in November to replace new County Executive Laura Curran, and originally thought she could hold on to both positions. The Nassau County Charter, however, forbids legislators from holding other public offices so she resigned the village seat.

Correction: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated the new trustee’s salary.