2 Water Districts Re-Elect Commissioners

In an election Tuesday night, voters in South Huntington and Greenlawn chose incumbents over challengers for spots on water district boards.

South Huntington water district incumbent Paul Tonna easily beat out newcomer Nick Ciappetta in a 343-170 vote. Dominick Feeney also was re-elected, running unopposed and receiving 408 votes.

Tonna has been on the board since 2006. He is a former Suffolk County legislator and currently is an adjunct professor of theology and religion at St. John's University. He also is vice president of the Long Island Regional Planning Council and serves as a member on several other boards, including the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, The Long Island Index and Erase Racism's College of Advisors.

Ciappetta, who is a member of the South Huntington Board of Education and an attorney for the New York City Law Department, hopes that there will be changes for future water district commissioner elections.

"It was good for the incumbent to have some competition," he said. "There was a low turnout for the election and I think it had something to do with the cold weather. But there are definite changes to the process that should be made."

Ciappetta suggested that the vote be consolidated to one location and that the information about the candidates be made open to the public.

"There is virtually no information about the candidates. No notices sent out, no biographies. It's very difficult for a challenger to get his name out there," he said.

Ciappetta also discussed the lack of absentee ballots as a factor in the election.

"It's undemocratic [to not have absentee ballots]. There are people out there who wanted to vote but can't, whether they are away at college, too old, etc," he said.

Incumbent John McLaughlin also defeated John Clark in the Greenlawn Water District election by a vote of 377-188. This was the first time McLaughlin ran against an opponent since he was first elected to the board in 1996.

McLaughlin is a longtime Greenlawn resident and Harborfields High School graduate. He currently owns a local plumbing business, John McLaughlin Plumbing and Heating, Inc.

John Clark is a retired chief administrative officer of J & W Seligman and Co. and a lifelong Greenlawn resident.

Neither  Tonna nor McLaughlin were available to comment.