Kennedy out in Mineola

Richard Tedesco

Village of Mineola Trustee Thomas Kennedy has pulled out of the race for another term on the Mineola Village Board, citing increased job responsibilities as the reason for his withdrawal from the contest.

Life-long Mineola resident George Durham, who had previously run unsuccessfully for trustee in 2006, is replacing Kennedy on the New Line Ticket, which includes Trustee Lawrence Werther and Trustee Scott Strauss, who is running unopposed for mayor.

Long-time Mineola resident Christopher Wales is seeking a village board seat as an independent candidate.

Village of Mineola Joseph Scalero said that local law permits candidates who drop out due to illness or other reasons can be replaced after the Feb. 14 deadline for candidates to confirm their intention to run.

Prospective candidates for village board had to file nominating petitions by Feb. 8.

Kennedy was originally appointed to the village board by then Mayor Jack Martins in November 2008 to replace John DaVanzo when DaVanzo stepped down from his position as deputy mayor. Kennedy subsequently ran for a one-year term to fill out the remainder of DaVanzo’s term, and then ran with Trustee Paul Pereira for the two-year term he is now completing.

Kennedy said he has taken on a larger role at Bank of New York Mellon where he has been loan servicing director on government contracts for the past four years. He said the bank won a new contract, which increased his responsibilities.

“I have new responsibilities here at work that happened in the last 10 days or so. It’s going to take an enormous amount of my time,” Kennedy said. “I know that I would not be able to dedicate the appropriate time to fulfill the responsibilities. It just wasn’t fair to go through with the election. It’s not just fair to my family, myself, or the residents of Mineola,” he said.

Kennedy said he informed his running mates of his decision early last week, and said they were understanding about his decision.

This is the second change in the lineup of candidates running on the New Line party ticket, which is now led by Strauss. Strauss was appointed to fill the vacancy on the board created when Werther was elevated from deputy mayor to mayor.

Werther had been elevated from deputy mayor to mayor after Martins won election to the state senate last year. After his appointment, Werther said he would run for mayor, but later changed his plans and announced his bid for another two-year term as trustee.

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