Village of Great Neck Trustee Jeff Bass’ appointment to the county planning commission survived a partisan battle in the Nassau County Legislature on Monday over the ouster of his predecessor and a second nominee.
Voting along party lines, the Republican-controlled Legislature confirmed Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s appointment of Bass to the planning commission and Paul Meli to a vacant 4th District Court judgeships in two separate 10-7 votes.
“I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues – a few of whom I already my jurisdiction, including North Hempstead and Great Neck,” Bass said.
Bass said he expects to take the seat this Thursday.
Bass, who is CEO of Executive Strategies Group LLC, a strategic advisor to business owners and executive management, replaces Democrat Marty Glennon, a labor attorney who had been the planning commission’s vice chairman.
Democratic county legislators accused Mangano of ousting Glennon because of his criticism of a 2014 plan presented by Mangano – later dropped – to pay $800,000 for an acre of land in Old Bethpage owned by deputy Parks Commissioner Frank Camerlengo.
Newsday reported that Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said his “no” vote against Bass was not based on Bass’ qualifications but the decision to replace Glennon.
Abrahams is reported to have pointed to Glennon questioning a county plan to put up electronic billboards along the Long Island Expressway to raise revenue and the proposed land sale as reasons behind his ouster.
Mangano’s office has said the decision to appoint Bass was based on Glennon moving to Oyster Bay, which put the commission in violation of a county charter rule that requires one of its commissioners to be from the Town of North Hempstead.
Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages (D-Elmont) attempted to ask Bass about the billboards, but Bass was cut off by Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), according to the Newsday.
Gonsalves said the issue of the billboards was not pertinent since it had not come before the Legislature.
“Thank you for running the government in secrecy,” Solages reportedly responded.
Bass was a Democrat when he was first elected as a Village of Great Neck trustee in 2009, after having served on the Village of Great Neck Planning Board for two years, and on the Zoning Board of Appeals for five years.
He switched parties in 2010 when he unsuccessfully ran for the town receiver of taxes as a Republican.
Bass also unsuccessfully ran for a town council seat in 2011 against current Councilwoman Anna Kaplan.
During the campaign, Bass said that Kaplan falsely stated she had been endorsed by incumbent Town Councilwoman Maria-Christina Poons and Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman.
Bass, who said he plans to continue to serve as a Village of Great Neck trustee, began his career as a transportation planner in New Jersey during the early 1970s. He returned to New York and became the first district manager appointed by Community Board 11 in Queens where he supervised the delivery of municipal services to the area.
He then worked in the Ed Koch administration as the director of the Bureau of Management Analysis in the Department of Sanitation. He is the chairman emeritis of the Long Island Capital Alliance, a member of the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee and on the Board of Governors for the American Jewish Committee.
During the Legislature’s meeting, Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said lawmakers had concerns about Meli’s judicial temperament.
Newsday reported that Meli responded by saying he didn’t need any more “lectures” from her.
Deputy Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) reportedly added that DeRiggi-Whitton was using innuendo in her comments.
Meli works in the county attorney’s office and has ran unsuccessfully for Glen Cove mayor twice.
