Three mayors and eight trustees in three Port Washington villages were elected on Tuesday after all ran unopposed.
In Flower Hill, Mayor Bob McNamara and Trustees Brian Herrington, Jay Beber, Kate Hirsch and Frank Genese, all incumbents, were elected.
McNamara received 70 votes; Herrington, 72 votes; Beber, 68 votes; Hirsch, 69 votes; and Genese, 71 votes. There were no write-in votes.
McNamara, who was appointed mayor following Elaine Phillips’ state Senate victory, was elected for a special one-year term to finish out Phillips’ term.
“My commitment to the board out of the gate was to complete Elaine’s term,” McNamara, a resident of Flower Hill for 35 years, said. “We’re in good shape now in the village. We’ve replaced some trustees and got some good ones on the board. We’ve been bringing in some heavy hitters on the various committees, and we’re putting together a strong team.”
When he was appointed, McNamara told the board he would finish out Phillips’ term
Herrington and Beber were re-elected for two-year terms. Both have served on the board since 2015.
Herrington serves on the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee and the Hempstead Harbor Committee. He has lived in Flower Hill for four years.
A resident of Flower Hill for 33 years, Beber recently retired from the printing and marketing industries, and said he’s “privileged” to be a trustee in a village that is a “world class place to live.”
Genese, who was appointed to the board by McNamara after Phillips’ resignation, was elected to a two-year term, and Hirsch, who was appointed to fill Karen Reichenbach’s seat, was elected to a special one-year term. Reichenbach died in May.
Genese has served on the village’s architectural review board and planning board after serving as the Munsey Park village architect consultant for 11 years, and said “my main objective is to continue the path laid out by Mayor Phillips and now continued under Mayor McNamara.”
Genese works at N2 Project Management, a division of N2 Design + Architecture in Port Washington, which provides management services, advising and representation to owners building new projects.
Hirsch, who has lived in Flower Hill for 16 years and is originally from Connecticut, has been an attorney for over 20 years, currently working with insurance claims at Administrators for the Professions, which provides administrative and claims services to insurance companies.
In Port Washington North, Mayor Bob Weitzner and Trustees Sherman Scheff and Matthew Kepke were re-elected to two-year terms.
Weitzner received 48 votes; Scheff, 48 votes; and Kepke, 44 votes.
Steven Kaplan received one write-in vote.
Weitzner was elected as a trustee in 2002 and then mayor in 2006.
“I still love being Mayor Bob and as far as I’m concerned, there is more to do and unfinished business,” Weitzer said last month. “As long as I enjoy serving the village and the village residents enjoy having me serve, I want to be here.”
Scheff became a trustee in 2008 and Kepke was elected in 2014.
In Baxter Estates, Mayor Nora Haagenson and Trustees Charles Comer and Chris Ficalora were re-elected for two-year terms.
Haagenson received 125 votes; Comer, 123 votes; and Ficalora, 114 votes.
Frank Russo received one write-in vote for trustee; Fred Nicholson received one write-in vote for mayor; Fernando Espinosa received one write-in vote for mayor and one for trustee; and Michael Scotto received two write-in votes for trustee.
Haagenson joined the Board of Trustees in 2011, after teaching high school English for 35 years.
She was elected mayor in 2015.
In her time as mayor, Haagenson said she has secured over $250,000 in state grant money for capital improvements, and was awarded $13,500 from the 2017 Justice Court Program.
Ficalora, who has worked for Travelliance, which organizes corporate lodging, and has worked in other senior-level positions for other global companies, became a trustee in 2015.
As the village’s budget officer, Ficalora said, he has reduced village expenses by eliminating outsourced vendors, and vetted bond companies and secured low interest rates for the village’s Bird House bond.
Ficalora is also the village’s communications liaison to the residents.
Comer, a Baxter Estates resident since 1984, was first elected to the board in 2001.
Comer is a member of the Manhasset Bay Committee, has served as the village’s environmental officer, emergency management officer and snow commissioner and is a Board of Zoning Appeals member.
