After earlier saying he was considering a run against Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss, incumbent Mineola Trustee Lawrence Werther announced last week that he has formed a new political party and decided to seek re-election as trustee.
Werther, an 11-year incumbent, announced his decision to run for trustee at last week’s Mineola Chamber of Commerce in the March 19 village election as a member of the newly formed Mineola My Home Party.
Wherther said the new party was necessary to bring openness to Mineola’s government
“Win lose or draw, this party isn’t going away,” Werther said. “It is something that’s going to push open government. Right now we don’t have open government. All the decisions are made in the back room.”
The new party, Werther said, has a Latin motto, “Fidelis ut Populus” (“Faithful to the people”) and a logo, a house inside a heart.
Werther vowed to run for office after he was replaced on the New Line Party ticket by civic activist Dennis Walsh in December after repeated clashes on the Mineola board between Werther and Strass, and other members of New Line party.
Walsh was selected by the New Line to run with Strauss, who is standing for re-election along with village Trustee George Durham.
Sources say Werther unsuccessfully sought running mates for a ticket to challenge the New Line trio in March.
But Werther, who said he’s still disturbed about being “betrayed” by the New Line Party, denied that he had made any effort to form a ticket.
He said he decided not to run against Strauss for mayor because of his responsibilities as a client advisor at the branch of a major bank in Mineola.
“If a client needs me, I have to be there,” Werther said.
Durham said Werther asked him to run on a ticket with him when Durham informed him of the New Line Party ticket change. Durham said he declined the offer.
Werther said his appeal to Durham was made “out of shock in the heat of the moment.”
Werther has charged that in the past two the village board for regularly made decisions out of the public eye.
The board voted for Strauss to become mayor two years ago after former Mayor Jack Martins was elected to the state Senate.
Werther, who had been deputy mayor under Martins, briefly succeeded him as mayor until Strauss was chosen.
Strauss then chose village Trustee Paul Pereira as his deputy..
At one point last summer, Werther said Strauss had improperly suggested in an e-mail that village board members meet privately with representatives of Polimeni International to discuss an application to change the status of their Churchill senior housing project from condominiums to rentals.
Strauss said he was simply trying to facilitate a way to provide board members more information about the Polimeni application.
Despite the open rancor between Werther and the New Line majority board members, Werther said he had no inkling that he would be dropped from the New Line ticket at what he said was a “secret” meeting on Dec. 2.
Strauss has said the meeting wasn’t a secret and he doesn’t understand why Werther was surprised by the party’s decision to not include him on the ticket.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s taking a lower road on issues. I don’t know why he’s taking a negative trail. I don’t know why he’s shocked,” Strauss said at the time.
Walsh said he would have run independently if he hadn’t been asked to run on the New Line ticket.
“For the past two years, I’ve seen quite a negative tone from Mr. Werther on the board and I would like to bring a positive tone to the board,” Walsh said.
Werther said he has a dozen supporters who will be working for his re-election as members of the Mineola My Home Party.
“Right now, let’s get me back in office. Then we have the luxury of a year until the next election,” he said.
Asked whether he considered seeking at least one other candidate to run with him so he would have a political ally on the board, Werther said he has the allies he needs.
“The people are the strongest ally that I’m going to have,” Werther said.
