Gloves off in Mineola

Richard Tedesco

Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss and incumbent Trustee Lawrence Werther engaged in a heated exchange last week in an election campaign in which Strauss is running unopposed for mayor and Werther is in a three-way race for two trustee seats.

Strauss, who ran with Werther two years ago on the New Party line, characterized Werther as a man “on an absolute ego trip” who doesn’t care about village residents. He also charged that when Werther was briefly serving as mayor he refused to come to the scene of a fire in which a woman had died.

Werther called Strauss’s allegation that he refused to visit the fire scene “a bald-faced lie” and described Strauss as a “guy who cuts deals with developers to the detriment of our residents.”

The exchange was touched off at last Wednesday night’s village board meeting when Werther, who is seeking re-election on the Mineola My Home Party, asked when a candidates night would be held before the March 19 village election.

When Strauss replied there is no candidates night scheduled, Werther said, “If you want to hide something, that’s fine.”

“Do you really want to go down this road?” Strauss responded. “I’m not hiding anything. You’re not even running against me.”

Werther is running for one of two open seats against incumbent Trustee George Durham and community activist Dennis Walsh, who like Strauss are members of the New Line Party. 

But Werther’s focus during the campaign has remained on Strauss, who is running unopposed.

In a phone interview after Wednesday’s meeting, Strauss said the village board has never sponsored a candidates night.

“He’s trying to undermine me but not run against me,” Strauss said about Werther.

After being dropped from the New Line ticket, Werther said he was undecided about running against Strauss or running for trustee. 

After he announced he would seek re-election as trustee, Werther denied reports that he was unsuccessful in trying to organize a campaign against Strauss. Strauss called Werther’s denial of attempting to run against him an “absolute lie.”

Strauss said Werther was “adamantly opposed” to a candidates night two years ago, when Werther on the New Line Party line with Durham in a race against challenger Christopher Wales with Strauss running for mayor at the head of the New Line ticket. Werther said he “never had any thought of it” two years ago. 

Werther, who was dropped from the New Line ticket this year, said he had unsuccessfully approached the Mineola Chamber of Commerce about sponsoring a candidates night this year.

“The chamber has never taken sides in anything. We didn’t want to give the impression of taking sides,” said Tony Lubrano, chamber vice president and owner of the Piccola Bussola restaurant.

In prior years, the Mineola Civic Association had sponsored candidates night, but the candidates nights lapsed after the 2008 election campaign.

Werther said Strauss is opposed to a candidates night this because he’s seeking to protect Walsh, who is a first-time trustee candidate.

“I don’t think he really wants Dennis Walsh talking on the issues until after the election,” Werther said.

“There’s nobody better versed on issues than Dennis,” Strauss said in reaction to Werther’s comment.

Strauss said Werther’s animosity toward him is largely about Strauss choosing village Trustee Paul Pereira as deputy mayor after Strauss was elected mayor in 2011. He said Werther was also upset that Werther’s village cell phone was taken away at that time and that Strauss initiated a change in village trustees’ health-care benefits last year, requiring the trustees to pay 10 percent of the costs.

“He hates me for that. He lets me know he hates me for that,” Strauss said. 

Strauss said the rift between he and Werther dates back to an incident in January 2011 when a fatality occurred at a fire in Mineola. 

Werther, who had been deputy mayor, was serving as mayor at the time following the resignation of Village of Mineola Mayor Jack Martins following his election as state senator. 

A longtime volunteer fireman in the village, Strauss said he woke Werther with a call from the early morning scene and asked to come out to support for the family of the woman who died and the firemen who attempted to save her. He said Werther asked if he really needed to come to the scene. Strauss said he told him “Yes, we need you,” but said Werther declined to come out.

Strauss also said last fall Werther failed  to participate in a conference call Strauss had set up for village officials before Hurricane Sandy to discuss emergency preparations. 

“Faithful to the people?” Strauss said, referring to Werther’s campaign slogan. “He’s faithful to himself and that’s it. He turns his back on the people and I hope they see through him.”

Strauss said Werther ego is evident in his decision to put his name had village signs when he took office as mayor.

Werther said Thomas Rini, village Department of Public Works superintendent, asked Werther if he wanted his name on the signs and Werther said he did.

“What does that have to do with anything? Jack Martins had his name all over everything,” Werther said.

Rini could not be reached for comment. 

Werther called Strauss’s account of the fire scene he declined to visit “a bald-face lie,” and said he never received the phone call Strauss recounted.

But village Trustee Paul Cusato, a firefighter who was on the scene that morning with Strauss when he called Werther, confirmed Strauss’s account of the event. 

“He did refuse to come. He claims to be in support of the firefighters, but I don’t know,” said Cusato, a member of the Hometown Party.

On not participating in the pre-Sandy conference call, Werther said notification was transmitted by e-mail, and he didn’t see the notice in time to participate.

“They’re trying to cloud, they’re trying to obscure the issues,” Werther said. “I don’t give a s–t whether I’m deputy mayor or not.”

On the cell phone issue, Werther said he was “pissed” that he might not be able to keep the same cell phone number. On the health-insurance issue, Werther said he is covered under the same insurance his wife, a former New York City teacher, maintains.

“What I’m angry at the boy with is giving away millions and millions of dollars,” said Werther, who has accused Strauss of cutting “backroom” deals with developers.

Werther has said Strauss negotiated deals with developers without consulting village board members. 

“If this was a fiefdom and Mayor Strauss was crowned a king, that’s fine. A true leader would have reached out to people on the board,” Werther said in a video on his Web site.

Last summer, Werther said Strauss and village attorney John Spellman had improperly suggested setting up private meetings between village trustees and Polimeni International to discuss the developer’s application to change the Churchill, a senior housing apartment building, from a condominium to a rental property.

“I can’t involve the village board in negotiations. You can’t do that on the floor of a meeting room,” Strauss said.

Fiscal responsibility has been a primary theme of the Strauss campaign, with a campaign flyer noting his initiative to save $1.3 million by refinancing village bonds. 

In a video on his Web site, Werther criticized the amended agreement the village board approved in May with Polimeni on the Winston, the 275-unit apartment complex, and the Churchill. Werther said the board’s approval of a 20-year agreement for payment in lieu of taxes – known as a PILOT – exceeded guidelines of the county Industrial Development Agency calling for 10-year agreements. 

The board approved an amended agreement with Polimeni that included terms Spellman negotiated to increase cash payments Polimeni offered from $2 million to $3.1 million in lieu of amenities as part of the deal. Werther abstained from the vote, which he said had been “forced” by Strauss. 

“The gentleman is confused,” Spellman said. “The mayor is the chief executive  of the village. He meets with people. If it never gets past the mayor, it doesn’t get to the board.”

Spellman said it was “absolutely legal” to suggest village trustees meet with a developer as long as three of the four trustees – constituting a quorum – don’t meet together at the same time. Spellman said he acts at the direction of the mayor to hammer out details of deals, as he put it, “the technical stuff.”

“There’s no backroom. It’s the negotiating table, wherever that is,” Spellman said.

The only “backroom” deal Mineola Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira knew of is the one that made Werther mayor for three months. He and other New Line Party trustees agreed to appoint Werther mayor if he agreed to appoint Strauss trustee for the open seat and not to run for mayor the following March.

Werther said there was “pressure” on him to not run for mayor, but he said the choice to not run was his due to his job responsibilities as a vice president at J. P. Morgan.

Pereira said Werther’s explanation for not running for mayor was “absolutely untrue.” 

Walsh, a retired New York City policeman, said he thinks Werther has made a tactical error by aiming at Strauss. Walsh said the mayor is well-liked by residents he’s talked to on the campaign trail.

“I think that Larry makes a big mistake when he attacks the mayor. He should be attacking me,” Walsh said. 

The polls will be open on March 19 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Mineola Village Hall Community Center at 155 Washington Ave.         

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