Village of Old Westbury Trustee Cory Baker was appointed as the new village deputy mayor by Mayor Fred Carillo on Monday, following the resignation of former Deputy Mayor Michael Wolf.
Baker’s appointment as deputy mayor will last until the village holds its annual organizational meeting in June 2016.
Carillo said Baker was chosen because of the time devoted to the village since his election in June.
“Dr. Baker has a lot of time, and he is very, very active with the board,” Cardillo said.
Baker was elected to the Board of Trustees in June, as part of the grassroots New Voice For Old Westbury campaign that included Marina Chimerine and Leslie Fastenberg. Former Deputy Mayor Michael Wolf was part of the original Old Westbury political party, along with Carillo.
Both Baker and Chimerine were declared winners after the voting in June, but Fastenberg was not elected until September following a challenge to the June election at both the Nassau County Board of Elections and in court.
Weinberg, who had a lead following the initial vote in June, lost to Fastenberg 497-440 in September election.
The last minute write-in campaign of the three New Voice for Old Westbury candidates utilized an 11 hour Facebook surge in which the candidates communicated electronically with residents to explain their backgrounds and goals for office.
Baker, an anesthesiologist, received the most votes in the race for two at-large, four-year terms.
Carillo announced the resignation of Wolf on the village’s Facebook page, the New Voice of Old Westbury website, and the official village website on Dec 2.
The Facebook post said “on Monday Mayor Fred Carillo accepted the resignation of Trustee Mike Wolf from all his positions as trustee, deputy mayor, chair of the planning board and commissioner of public works.”
Carillo said that Wolf “dedicated 20 years to the village and he wanted to spend more time with his family and to travel.”
Prior to this appointment, Baker was also the village budget officer, and was replaced by the newest trustee to the board, Edward Novick.
Novick was appointed to the board as a trustee on Dec 15, and appointed as the Budget Officer on Monday. As a resident, Novick was the chairman of the zoning advisory committee created in October.
In November Wolf said the committee will “look at the zoning resolution in the village and propose ideas to the board.”
Cardillo said no one has yet to be named Wolf’s replacement as the village Commissioner of Public Works.
Also at the meeting, the board approved a motion to allow the mayor to seek renewal of the village and United States Post Office, located next to the Village Hall. The post office location is owned by the village, and leased out to the United States Postal Service.
