Spin Cycle

Two losing candidates in last year’s local elections have landed jobs at the Nassau Elections Board — not an unusual outcome for loyalists who take on strong incumbents at their party’s request.

Elizabeth Faughan, a Republican Oyster Bay Town Board member who challenged the Nassau Legislature’s Presiding Officer Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove) last fall, was hired last month as a $50,000 fulltime administrative assistant in charge of the GOP board efforts to comply with the Help America Vote Act. Republican Elections commissioner John DeGrace said of Faughnan, an attorney, “She’s an outstanding employee. We’re very happy to have her.”

Also moving to the board recently was Democrat Kevin Gorman, who will be heading up the Democrat’s HAVA efforts for a salary of $82,500. Gorman, who previously worked at Nassau’s Off-Track Betting Corp., has been a perennial Democratic candidate who last year stepped in to challenge Hempstead Republican Supervisor Kate Murray when the party’s first choice dropped out of the race.

Celeste Hadrick

Frank Sammartano was given a second-chance, acknowledges Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto.

Sammartano resigned in 2003 as administrative assistant to Republican town board members after admitting he lifted a computer disk from the desk of a secretary for a a Democratic board member. “This type of behavior will not be tolerated in the Town of Oyster Bay,” Republican Venditto said then.

Democratic legislature candidate John Rennhack's Nassau GOPwatch reported last week that Sammartano, leader of the Jericho Republican club, was back on the payroll. A town spokeswoman subsequently told Newsday that Sammartano, who resigned in July 2003 at a salary of $52,000, was rehired in Jan. 2004 as a labor supervisor and was promoted last November to a $81,375-a-year public works deputy commissioner.

Venditto said Sammartano came to him and made a case for being rehired, pointing out that then Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon had dropped the original misdemeanor charge of official misconduct to a non-criminal violation.

“I have track record of giving town employees at all levels of the town government a second chance,” Venditto said. “Frank is one of the situations that has had a happy ending. He is and continues to be a very valuable employee in the Town of Oyster Bay.”

As for Sammartano’s political activities, “Its not a factor in my determination,” Venditto said.

Celeste Hadrick

What's local is global.

Here's one worth noting on the grass-roots civics front: The Oyster Bay Town Board will conduct a hearing Tuesday on a temporary halt to construction and demolition permits.

Is there a place anywhere in a region that does not now face profound development and zoning choices that will shape our future landscape?

Click below for the official announcement: