Grasso joins board

Valley Stream has a full village board again after the Monday-night appointment of Vincent Grasso to its vacant seat. Grasso, a resident of the village since 1998, will serve until a special election in March, in which he intends to run.

The seat has been open since Deputy Mayor Guido Cirenza died in October. Mayor Ed Cahill appointed Grasso, and administered the oath of office to the new trustee before a small crowd at Village Hall. Grasso, 37, was joined by his wife, Mary, and their 7-year-old daughter, Isabella.

Grasso is the executive director of the Nassau County Bridge Authority and a member of the village’s Ethics Board. In 2006 he was deployed to Iraq as a member of the Navy Reserve. He returned in May 2007 and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

Cahill said there were four people interested in the village board seat, and Grasso was high on his list. “He brings a lot to the table,” said the mayor. “He’ll be a great addition to the board.”

Grasso, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for the county Legislature in November against longtime incumbent Fran Becker.

Cirenza was also a Democrat, but candidates do not run on a major party ticket in village elections. The United Community Party, which holds all five seats on the board, is designed as a coalition government and features two Democrats, two Republicans and one conservative.

The concept of a coalition, Grasso said, removes superficial obstacles that sometimes get in the way of good government. “I think when you strip away some of those partisan issues, it makes things easier,” he said.

He first got involved in government shortly after moving to the village, joining the Democratic club, where he met Trustee Joanne Antun. A village election was coming up in March of 1999, and Grasso hosted a campaign event at his home for United Community Party candidates Cahill, Cirenza, Antun and Village Justice Robert Bogle.