Sea Cliff Mayor Elena Villafane reelected over write-in candidate Robert Ehrlich

Sea Cliff Mayor Elena Villafane handily retained her seat in the village's election after the founder of Pirate's Booty allegedly staged an attempted coup of the local government just days before voters headed to the ballot box. 

Villafane, the only mayoral candidate on the Sea Cliff ballot Tuesday, received 1,064 votes to win a new two-year term. Write-in candidate Robert Ehrlich, founder of the popular snack food brand, received 62 votes.

The results capped a turbulent stretch that saw the Nassau County Police Department respond to a tense scene at Sea Cliff Village Hall last week after Ehrlich, according to officials, entered the building with three other men and claimed he had authority as mayor, citing a little-known law.

Villafane, in a statement to Newsday on Wednesday, said the election "was about our shared vision for Sea Cliff — a vision of responsible leadership, thoughtful progress, and a community that works together to achieve great things."

In Sea Cliff, a village of about 5,000 people, the mayor is paid $12,000 annually.

"Now that the election is over, let me be clear: I will not tolerate any further attempts to undermine the governance of this village," Villafane said. "Our civil servants work tirelessly to serve our community, and any efforts to disrupt or interfere with their work will be addressed through all appropriate and lawful means."

Nassau County police responded to Village Hall on March 10 when village officials said Ehrlich had come to the office and claimed he had "authority" as the village's new mayor. 

Police said no arrests were made.

Ehrlich invoked an obscure New York law, the Citizen Empowerment Act, to claim the mayoralty, village officials said. The law, enacted in 2009 to encourage government consolidation, allows citizens to petition for a referendum asking municipalities to merge.

Ehrlich said he established a separate government entity, "Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff Residents," to absorb the Village of Sea Cliff. 

Village officials said Ehrlich claimed to have a petition but did not show them a copy. He also declined to furnish a copy to Newsday. Ehrlich said he had more than 1,950 signatures of registered Sea Cliff voters on the petition. 

When asked if he planned to follow the procedures of the Citizens' Empowerment Act, Ehrlich told Newsday last week, "We're interpreting the law the way we want to interpret it."

Following Tuesday's election, Ehrlich said he didn't believe in the village's election process but did not provide specific evidence.

"At the end of the day, they lock the door and count the votes, and they can say any number they want," he said.

He said he considers himself the mayor of Sea Cliff and added that he is considering making a podcast. 

"I have a lot of support in this town, way, way above 62," Ehrlich said, referring to the number of votes he received. "It's nothing to be celebrating — their victory. It's not a victory. They lost a lot in 10 days in terms of the vision of Sea Cliff."

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ