Village officials begin new terms

Mayor Ed Fare, Trustees Dermond Thomas and Vincent Grasso and Village Justice Robert Bogle were installed in front of a full courtroom on Monday, with other local dignitaries visiting to swear each of them in.

Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony Santino, Rev. K.C. Jones of Valley Stream Presbyterian Church and Democratic leader Gary Carlton were on hand for the installations.

Bogle told the crowd how happy he was to continue serving the community he was born in. “To represent this village on a daily basis as your judge, it’s just the greatest job that anybody could ever have, and it’s the God’s honest truth,” he said.

He praised his United Community Party for its development efforts under Fare’s administration, a controversial issue during the election that the opposing Neighborhood Party made its central platform.

“We invented the suburbs,” Bogle said, “and we’re the type of community that reinvents the suburbs every now and then, and we’re in the process of reinventing the suburbs in a positive light. It’s great to be in a forward-thinking group of individuals.”

Thomas said he learned from the election. “I really learned some important things this time around, and I’m actually grateful for that,” he said. “There were some difficult conversations, and there were some challenges that we faced, but we grew, and that’s what’s important.”

Grasso said he’s glad to continue working with the village officials and others he’s gotten to know in his role as trustee. “I just want to say it’s been a real honor and a privilege to serve the Village of Valley Stream for the last four years,” he said. “I feel like we’ve done a great deal of work…I just want to say that I’m grateful, honored and privileged to do so for another four years.”

Fare thanked his team’s supporters and reiterated his administration’s promise to guide development in the village in a healthy way. “The redevelopment of Valley Stream’s downtown business districts has been an absolute cornerstone of our administration,” he said. “We ran four years ago on a platform of smart growth, and we have kept our promises to bring well-researched, strategically planned and thoughtfully implemented housing options to our village. These new housing complexes, in varying stages of development, bring the promise of a stimulated economy to our local businesses, while providing opportunities for our young adults, hard-working families like our first responders, and empty-nesters to stay here in Valley Stream, instead of being forced to move elsewhere.”