The incumbents in New Hyde Park and Floral Park coasted to landslide victories as expected in last week’s uncontested elections, and now the villages must prepare for reorganization, the process in which residents are appointed to village boards and positions.
In New Hyde Park, trustees Richard Coppola and Donna Squicciarino were elected with 73 and 60 votes, respectively. No write-in candidates received any votes, the village clerk said.
In Floral Park, all four candidates – Mayor Thomas Tweedy, Justice Douglas Hayden, Trustee Dominick Longobardi and Trustee Lynn Pombonyo – won with about 400 votes each.
The four were running a joint campaign as members of the Floral Park Citizens Party.
Tweedy said that this will be his last term as mayor, but he added that he will remain involved with the Citizens Party well into the future.
He said he felt good about the turnout, especially considering the poor weather and “biting wind.”
“I was very happy there was such a strong showing,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier the entire ticket was elected the way we were.”
Now, Tweedy said, the village will focus on the budget and village reorganization, the process by which residents are appointed to various boards like the zoning board or architectural review board.
“We’re very fortunate that so many residents step up and volunteer,” he said. “I have not had a hard time finding people to join.”
He added that the boards would see some routine changes, but no major shakeups.
Tweedy said the village is expecting a 1.66 percent increase in this year’s budget, which would stay below the 1.68 percent state-mandated tax cap.
“Our biggest push is the budget,” he said. “We’re confident we’re going to be below the cap.”
For this election cycle, Tweedy said he enjoyed running alongside Pombonyo, the former superintendent of Floral Park-Bellerose School District, in her first campaign for public office, and that the party’s new campaign manager kept enthusiasm high.
Pombonyo was appointed by Tweedy to the board mid term to fill a vacancy.
“The excitement she had, it was fun to run with her,” Tweedy said. “Running for office, even in a small village like Floral Park, you put yourself out there to be judged. It’s a difficult place to find yourself, but you rely on the enthusiasm and the expertise of your campaign.”
Hayden, a former Nassau County assistant district attorney, has served as village justice since 1999.
A graduate of Hofstra Law School, he now works as an executive vice president at a large insurance intermediary company, according to the Citizens Party’s campaign website.
Longobardi is the assistant to the sanitation commissioner of the Town of Hempstead and a lifelong resident of Floral Park, according to the party’s website.
In New Hyde Park, Squicciarino became just the second woman trustee the village’s history in 2013 when she was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Robert Lofaro upon his election as mayor.
Prior to that, she had been serving as an accounting consultant to the village..
Coppola, a longtime firefighter, has served as a trustee for 16 years, he said.
“I enjoy working for and serving the businesses and residents of New Hyde Park,” he said. “I try to be a problem solver and keep up the good work we’ve been doing.”
