Three Mineola Village Board incumbents of the New Line Party retained their seats after an uncontested election yesterday. Mayor Scott Strauss nabbed 370 votes while trustees Dennis Walsh and George Durham took in 365 and 351 votes, respectively.
“I thank everyone for coming out,” Mayor Strauss said, Mineola’s mayor since 2011, after then-mayor Jack Martins won the New York State Senate race. Strauss beat out appointed-mayor Larry Werther. “They gave me a vote of confidence and I’m not going to let them down. [Being mayor is] a lot busier than I thought it would be. I learn something new about the village everyday and I’m still going.”
The mayor and two trustee seats are the last spots on the village board that will run under previous two-year terms. In September 2013, the village board approved increasing trustee stays to four years.
Strauss, Durham and Walsh have secured three-year spots on the board. During the 2016 election cycle, two seats occupied by Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira and trustee Paul Cusato will be eligible for a four-year term. All five seats won’t hold four-year commitments until 2018.
“When we approved it, people thought it gave the current trustees more power. Not true,” Strauss said. “It’s taking a few years to be fully implemented.”
Mineola is the largest village in the Town of North Hempstead. Other similar villages and smaller ones that call for four-year terms include East Williston, Freeport, Hempstead, Lynbrook, New Hyde Park, Westbury and Williston Park.
The next two elections could hinge on the fate of the much-debated 266-unit Village Green apartment complex planned for 199 Second St. by New Hyde Park-based Lalezarian Developers. Strauss said the board has a tough decision and will consider all options.
“If it gets voted down and nothing is developed, some people will say ‘Strauss is an idiot,’” he said. “If it’s approved, some people might have a problem. I appreciate the passion people have. People I saw [on Election Day] have said ‘you need to approve this’ and ‘vote it down.’”
Trustees foresee projects, including the ongoing revamp of Memorial Park, restoration of the Mineola Memorial Library and the installation of handicap bathrooms and other amenities at Wilson Park as upcoming boons for Mineola.
The foundation and platform have been installed for the amphitheater at Memorial Park, Strauss said. The walkways will also be redone.
“We’re doing right by the people,” Durham said. “We’re trying to fix up things like the park and give it a facelift for the future. The bandshell will be great for the park.”
Durham, a data communications manager for OTB for 32 years, has been on the board since 2011 when then-trustee Thomas Kennedy did not seek re-election, opening the seat.
“Sometimes I’m still nervous but we’re doing the right thing, paying down the debt,” he said. “Sadly in 2015, we’re still paying for a snowstorm that was bonded in 1996.”
Walsh, a retired NYPD cop, was a mainstay village board meeting attendee that made the leap to the seat. He feels now, as a trustee, he can reach more people and learn.
“I can be more involved that I was in the past,” he said. “I enjoy it. I get to go to hearings at Vision Long Island, airplane noise and other things I couldn’t do before or wasn’t aware of.”
