Flower Hill Mayor Bob McNamara last Wednesday appointed Trustee Brian Herrington as deputy mayor, filling the position vacated by McNamara, who took over as mayor last month after Elaine Phillips’ state Senate victory.
Herrington, who has served on the board for more than two years, said he’s happy to continue giving back to the community and making Flower Hill a good place to live.
“Brian and I have worked together on many projects, and he’s always done some heavy lifting, so I welcome him as deputy mayor,” McNamara said.
After picking his son up from karate class, Herrington said, he began talking with Phillips, who was one of the instructors, and learned about trustee openings on the board.
“I figured it was a way to give back to the community and serve the residents,” Herrington said.
With experience as Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s chief of staff, assistant director of intergovernmental affairs in the state attorney general’s office and, most recently, the director of government affairs at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Herrington believed he would be comfortable in a trustee role, he said.
“I thought at different times that it would be great to be an elected official and I’ve worked in government and the opportunity came along,” he said.
Herrington has lived in Flower Hill for four years with his wife, Maria, who grew up in the area, and their son, Michael, 8, and daughter, Kailyn, 5.
Herrington also serves on the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee and the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee.
Both Herrington and McNamara were part of a team to help alleviate traffic in front of a house on Sunnyvale Road that puts on an extravagant holiday lights display during the holidays.
The display has attracted complaints from neighbors and village residents about the traffic on the road and the volume of the music being played with the lights.
McNamara said last month the board’s effort to fix the problem has been successful.
“Probably the biggest thing Bob and I worked on was figuring out a plan for the traffic in front of the lighting display on Sunnyvale Road,” Herrington said. “It took time, we worked with residents on all sides of the issue and came up with a good plan.”
Herrington is up for re-election in March.
Herrington spearheaded the development of the village’s Facebook page, which it uses to reach residents with village and emergency information.
The page, which Herrington helped launch in August, has sent out information to reduce speeding, alerted residents of road closures and helped digitize information that would have been sent through the mail.
With Phillips’ election victory in November and the death of Trustee Karen Reichenbach in May, two new trustees, Frank Genese and Kate Hirsch, were part of the board’s changes, which Herrington said have been smooth.
“Kate and Frank are doing a great job and getting their feet wet and jumping into new roles and handling responsibilities,” Herrington said. “We have a great team on the board and we’re really excited about what’s ahead in 2017.
“I think we set a good base in the village,” Herrington said. “We want to continue providing outstanding service to the village residents and continue building a better village.”
