Surprise Write-in Winner In CSH Fire District Election
/By Long Islander News Staff
info@longislandergroup.com
Polls were open throughout the Town of Huntington on Tuesday for the various fire and water district commissioner elections. (Photo / Facebook)
With Tuesday’s elections complete and the votes tallied, fire and water districts within the Town of Huntington have announced the winners in each of their respective races.
Perhaps the biggest shock across all the elections came in Cold Spring Harbor, where incumbent Bruce Hafner was defeated by write-in candidate Victoria Cooper.
Cooper, who said her family has a long history of serving the Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department, earned 31 votes to Hafner’s 14. She won a five-year term.
“I didn’t campaign for position… [but] this is something I’ve been considering for quite some time,” Cooper said Wednesday, noting that she plans to accept the position. “One of the first things I’ll do is learn the role… I’m going to work out the issues and speak with the other commissioners.”
Hafner, who said he didn’t run a campaign, declined to comment on the results.
In Centerport, two seats were up for grabs.
Stanley Wertheimer defeated Harry Acker for the remaining two years of a term held by Gus Zeis, who recently died. Wertheimer earned 81 votes to Acker’s 78.
Wertheimer said he was “shocked” at the election results. He said that the results were “close, but I put a lot of time and effort into it.”
The other seat was won by incumbent Jeff Geffken, who ran unopposed for a five-year term. He said he sees his victory as a statement from fellow fire personnel and the community that “they feel confident I’m able to perform the job.”
Results for the Greenlawn fire commissioner election were not available by deadline. However, incumbent William Borowy ran unopposed for a five-year term.
For the Halesite Fire Department, Richard Oh ran unopposed for a five-year commissioner seat, which he won with a total of 30 votes. There were no other votes cast.
In Huntington, incumbent Thomas Brown defeated Jimmy C. Martin Jr. Brown earned 162 votes and Martin earned 84 votes.
A proposition to sell a 1-acre parcel of land on Oakwood Road in Huntington valued at $550,000 was approved 110-24.
In Huntington Manor, incumbent Christopher Fusaro earned 529 votes to defeat challenger Nancy Bayley, who earned 94 votes.
As for the water districts, James M. Logan won a fifth three-year term as a Greenlawn Water District commissioner. Logan, a former Town of Huntington fire marshal, garnered 203 votes versus the 110 votes cast for competitor John E. Motta, the owner of Local Cesspool Service in Huntington.
Logan said he felt his work to keep tax rate increases “to the absolute bare minimum” was the reason why residents backed him.
Dominick Feeney, 83, of Huntington Station, was unopposed in his bid for reelection as a commissioner of the South Huntington Water District.
Feeney, who has been on the board for seven years, is chairman of the Suffolk County OTB and a retired director of operations for general services in the Town of Huntington, received 66 votes.
“I’m happy I got re-elected and happy to serve another three-year term,” said the past commander of VFW Post 1469 in Huntington Station.
