Village elections on Sept. 15 will come with sanitizer, fresh pens
Village elections will be held around Long Island on Sept. 15. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
It's already been an election year like no other for Long Island villages.
Elections that normally take place in March and June were pushed back to Sept. 15 this year when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued an executive order delaying village votes because of the coronavirus pandemic.
When ballots are finally cast in two weeks, voters will find polling places stocked with hand sanitizers, Plexiglas dividers, fresh pens, face masks at the door and floor markings to help everyone maintain social distancing.
And in a few cases, voting locations have been moved to larger areas to help lessen the chance of spreading the virus.
“We have three big garage doors," said village administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer of Flower Hill, which is relocating its polls to the village hall garage from the usual upstairs voting location. "All will be open. So fresh air will be coming in … We have more room to space people out.”
Villages also are informing residents that absentee ballots are available for anyone who's nervous about going out to vote. Applications are available at village halls, and ballots must be returned by Election Day.
Residents should call their village clerks about voting times, which vary from one place to another.
Some villages expect delays in completing vote tallies, but they say they're ready for a very different Election Day.
“We may be there until 1 o’clock in the morning,” Shatzkamer said. “We will be there until everything is counted.”
Here are synopses of contested village races:
ATLANTIC BEACH
ATLANTIC BEACH
Mayor: George J. Pappas (incumbent), Stephen R. Mahler
Trustee (two seats): Danielle Struss, Edward A. Sullivan (incumbent), Linda L. Baessler (incumbent)
BELLE TERRE
BELLE TERRE
Mayor: Robert Sandak (incumbent), Enrico Scarda
Trustee (two seats): Lou Bove, Peter S. Colucci, Sheila Knapp (incumbent), Jacquelyn Gernaey (incumbent)
EAST HAMPTON
EAST HAMPTON
Mayor: Jerry Larsen, Arthur Graham and Barbara Borsack
Trustee (2 seats): Chris Minardi, Sandra Melendez, David Driscoll, Richard Lawler (incumbent), Raymond Harden
FARMINGDALE
FARMINGDALE
Mayor: Ralph Ekstrand (incumbent), George Starkie
FLOWER HILL
FLOWER HILL
Mayor: Brian Herrington (incumbent), Kate Hirsch
Trustee (three seats): Gary Lewandowski (incumbent), Robert McNamara (former mayor died in April; his name remains on the ballot), Randall Rosenbaum (incumbent), Jay Silverman, Jeffrey Greilsheimer, Diane Turner
GREAT NECK PLAZA
GREAT NECK PLAZA
Mayor: Ted Rosen. Leonard Katz is running a write-in campaign
Trustee (two seats): Pamela Marksheid (incumbent), Michael DeLuccia, Robert Farajollah (write-in candidate), Marnie Ives (write-in candidate)
HEWLETT HARBOR
HEWLETT HARBOR
Mayor: Mark Weiss (incumbent), Ron Austin
Trustee (two seats): Ken Kornblau (incumbent), Thomas Cohen (incumbent), Tim Volman, David Mosayov
LAWRENCE
LAWRENCE
Mayor: Alex H. Edelman (incumbent), Daniel J. Goldstein
Trustee (two seats): Paris C. Popack, Eliezer Kutner, Bruce A. Backman, Joel M. Preminger, J. Lawrence Kolodny, Uri Kaufman (incumbent)
MANORHAVEN
MANORHAVEN
Mayor: James M. Avena (incumbent), Vincent M. Costa
Trustee (two seats): Priscilla von Roeschlaub (incumbent), Joseph Zimbardi, Harry S. Farina, Walter E. Peters
MASSAPEQUA PARK
MASSAPEQUA PARK
Mayor: Cynthia Paulis, Daniel M. Pearl, Teresa M. Spinosa (incumbent)
Trustees (two seats): Salvatore Balestrieri Sr., Richard W. Begandy (incumbent), Dana M. Durso, Kristian M. Hernandez, Todd A. Svec
MUNSEY PARK
MUNSEY PARK
Trustee (two seats): Anthony M. Sabino (incumbent), John Dellaquila, Gregory LiCalzi Jr., Regina Im
NORTH HAVEN
NORTH HAVEN
Trustee (one seat): Christopher Fiore (incumbent), Terie L. Diat
NORTHPORT
Trustee (two seats): Mercy Smith (incumbent), Dave Weber Jr., Jerry Maline (incumbent; his name remains on the ballot but he has moved out of state and is not seeking reelection)
PATCHOGUE
PATCHOGUE
Trustee (three seats): Lori B. Devlin (incumbent), Thomas Ferb (incumbent), Jack Krieger (incumbent), James Skidmore
ROCKVILLE CENTRE
ROCKVILLE CENTRE
Trustee (one seat): Nancy Howard (incumbent), Michael Scalere
SALTAIRE
SALTAIRE
Trustee (two seats): Frank Wolf (incumbent), Alexander Chefetz, William Obre, Hillary Richard (incumbent)
SOUTH FLORAL PARK
SOUTH FLORAL PARK
Trustee (two seats): George Ingram, Nyakya Brown, Porsha Lyons
SOUTHAMPTON
SOUTHAMPTON
Trustee (two seats): Kimberly Allan (incumbent), Zach Epley, Joseph McLoughlin, Gina Arresta
VALLEY STREAM
VALLEY STREAM
Trustee (two seats): John L. Tufarelli, Sean Wright, Anthony Bonelli
With John Asbury, Vera Chinese, Deborah S. Morris, Ted Phillips and Dandan Zou
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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