Board of Elections confirms Hewlett Harbor election results

After a contentious election which saw the mayoral post and two trustee seats up for grabs, the Nassau County Board of Elections officially confirmed the results of the contested race in the Village of Hewlett Harbor.

Incumbent Mayor Mark Weiss, Trustees Tom Cohen and Ken Kornblau were sworn into office on Sept. 22 as the Board of Elections officially certified the absentee ballots from the Sept. 15 election.

The challengers Ron Austin, Kim Volman and David Mosayov asked for a recount as they wanted the signatures on each ballot and the validity of each voter reviewed. The total results for both walk-in votes and absentee ballots were: 431 for Weiss, Kornblau and Cohen, running under the Citizens Party. There were 275 votes for Austin, Volman and Mosayov, who were running under the New Vision Party.

“We are extremely happy that our Hewlett Harbor residents voted for a team that took the high road in the election; engaging in positive messaging that underscored our team’s representation of all residents, a decade of tireless effort to upgrade the village infrastructure, implementation of enhanced security protocols and improvement of the overall quality of life in our beautiful Village,” Weiss said. “We understand that while a winning majority of votes affirms that we have accomplished a great deal during our terms of office, we truly appreciate that we must now redouble our efforts and address those issues that surfaced during the campaign in order to win the hearts and minds of those who are not yet convinced,” 

Cohen, who also serves as village's police commissioner, said he will be setting up a committee to address measures that can enhance the efforts of the village’s security patrol, the Ring Doorbell Security Network and the recent installation of license plate readers.

“Placement of additional street lighting and installation of security gates will be re-explored,” Cohen said. “We are going to make sure that we have representation from all corners of the Village and that we find solutions that are effective and cost efficient.” 

Kornblau noted that he wants to continue to make Hewlett Harbor, "One of Long Island’s most desirable villages.“ "The number of homes being built by young families makes our village both vibrant and exciting," he said. "It is this dynamic atmosphere and the knowledge that Hewlett Harbor has an accepting and helpful village government that will continue to attract new homebuyers and allow Hewlett Harbor to remain the envy of the South Shore for years to come.” 

Weiss added that he and the board, including Deputy Mayor Len Oppenheimer and Trustee Jonathan Polakoff, will be spending the next several weeks meeting with residents from around the village to get an understanding of the needs, wants and desires of the community.

“Village government, no matter how successful it has been in recent years, cannot rest on past accomplishments,” Weiss said. “As we now move forward with this mandate from our community, we are more than ever intent on demonstrating to all of our residents that
honesty and integrity in government is possible, and that it will be the highest standard against which we hope to continue being judged.”