Muttontown Village board meetings continue to open up the process of government in this estate village. Since the election on June 20 in which Julianne Beckerman was elected the first woman mayor, there have been several resignations; Russell Corker resigned his seat as a trustee with two years left to complete his term of office [which may result in an appointment by Mayor Richard Murcott at his last meeting on June 26]; Larry Smiley resigned from the planning board and as tree warden; Ed Henn resigned from the planning board and Adam Beckerman resigned from tree warden because of a conflict of interest since his wife was elected mayor.

The actual election results still needed to be announced as this newspaper went to press, although it is believed the results will be as reported the evening of June 20.

Mayor Elect Julianne Beckerman said, "There's a lot to be done. On Friday I met with Mayor Richard Murcott and Village Attorney Peter MacKinnon at village hall and we discovered that Bernie Shapiro [village administrator] had cleaned his office out. It could be a problem. He certainly didn't have the authority to do it. We are trying to get some answers. It is still their administration, I don't take office until July 1. So communication is not as good as I thought it was. The meeting should be very interesting," said Ms. Beckerman.

In the last village election there were only 18 votes cast. On June 20 village election officials Bette and Gene Gilmartin were well prepared and had two machines set up in village hall. The voting was heavy all during the day. At 8:50 p.m. there was a line of voters that stretched out into the parking area. An Old Brookville police officer had to turn away a few late voters at 9 p.m. when he declared the end of the line. Those still on line were given the full time needed to cast their votes.

"One of the remarkable things I witnessed today besides the sheer volume of voters, we saw many people who were unfamiliar with the voting machine and poll watchers and inspectors explained the operation of the voting machine to inexperienced voters and perhaps first time voters and that's good for the country because it's good for democracy. It was a good lesson in civics and it fosters democracy," said Steve Leventhal, Esq. He was one of several attorneys, including Village Attorney Peter MacKinnon who spent much of Tuesday, June 20, in Judge Ute Lally's court working out a procedure for the vote. Those procedures were put into place at the end of the election count when it turned out to be important. There was a need for a re-count of the 52 affidavit ballots to decide who on the Citizen's Association line will be on the new board: Lawrence Smiley or Kevin Spillane.

The affidavit ballots were from those who either - didn't show up on the voter list or - there was a question of eligibility so those questions will have to be resolved. At least one person who wanted to vote was not a citizen.

The last vote was cast at about 9:25 p.m. "Let's have a round of applause for the election officials," said Mr. Leventhal. "They should get combat pay," quipped Muttontown Trustee Ed Henn, a candidate for re-election.

The large turnout is not typical of villages, noted Mr. Leventhal who said he voted in Lattingtown at 1 p.m., an hour after the polls opened and he was voter number 13.

Elisa Smiley brought her twins, Moran and Eric Smiley, 11, to village hall for a civics lesson. They looked at the sample voting machine apparatus that new voters were introduced to during that day. They learned a hard lesson as their father, Lawrence Smiley lost - but he did so with great poise and affability.

Not everyone who could have been in village hall was there as the votes were being counted. When the polls closed Dr. Adam Beckerman went home to wait with his wife for the election results, She was not allowed in village hall until June 20, according to a May 19 letter from Mayor Murcott that said her duties with the village grievance committee would reconvene in July. Village Clerk Vivien Van Wagner had also been told not to appear in village hall until June 27. Her duties were being carried out by Deputy Clerk Lisa Lolis and that will include filing the official results of the election - a point that was agreed to in the ground rules by the attorneys involved.

In making that agreement, Mr. Champoli added, that nothing in their agreement to have that certification done by someone other than Ms. Van Wagner should be construed as acknowledging that there was any improper conduct by her or that her suspension by Mayor Murcott was "in any way improper."

That issue is another one the new administration will have to handle. Ms. Van Wagner said the mayor's letter of June 14 didn't specify any reason for her suspension and said in a telephone interview that the reasons were unsubstantiated - that there were no clear criticisms of her. Ms. Van Wagner said, "There is a question underneath it all - that an officer of New York State can be removed from a position with unsubstantiated charges at the whim of an elected official. It undermines clerks across Nassau County and beyond." Ms. Van Wagner is a member of the Village Clerk's Association.

"It is a very serious thing when you carry out your responsibilities and someone can't even tell you what you have done [wrong] - and at a time when the responsibilities of a village clerk come so necessarily in place. But, I knew that my deputy [Lisa Lolis] and the election chairs [Bette and Gene Gilmartin] would do well. Almost 900 people voted and from all reports it went extremely smoothly. I knew legally that a deputy clerk could certify election results and I did not want to be an auxiliary issue at the time.

"There is a larger issue here than just over a personal affront," she added.

As for the elections, she said, "Julianne put on a wonderful campaign. She reached out to different factions in the village and pulled together a wonderful team and Muttontown deserves this new administration. The way they turned out to vote and share their voice was wonderful. Someone said Muttontown doesn't get these numbers for the national election. Julianne listened to the people and I think that made all the difference in the world. I wish her all the luck in the world and I wish to be part of her administration. I would join proudly," she said. "Hopefully Muttontown has a new day coming. I'm just so proud to have people come out and vote - and to have that many candidates too. When you run unopposed there is no interest in an election - and in this case you had to get the issues out."

The first machine gave the news: Line A, Julianne Beckerman 239 votes [Machine II held 266 votes]; Pat Miller 223 votes [Machine II-250 votes]; Line B, Carl Juul-Nielson 194 votes [Machine II - 229]; Line C, Richard Entel 138 votes [Machine II 147]; Edwin Henn 154 votes [Machine II -158votes]; Lawrence Smiley 160 votes [Machine II - 165] and Kevin Spillane 176 votes [Machine II - 184 votes]. The third seat on the board will still have to be announced. "Any one of the three can win mathematically but an educated guess says it will stay the same [which means Mr. Spillane gets the seat]," said Mr. John Champoli, of Albany, one of the attorneys for Ms. Beckerman. All the attorneys agreed that there were no write-in names recorded on the voting machines.

After the first machine was counted, Mr. Smiley said, "We lost on the first machine but there is another one to count." After the count he said to Mr. Henn, "It was a good fight." Mr. Entel had no comment for the press.

Photographer Teresa Murdock was at the election taking pictures to preserve the historic moments. She said, "I think it's inspiring to see all the newcomers out to vote. I hope the new administration takes advantage of their energy."

Donna Spillane said, "It was so inspiring seeing people coming in to vote all day - seeing that people care. It's a victory for the village. It never before had over 800 votes cast in an election. With this dedication of village residents to unite and become a village - everyone's a winner."

Attorney Steven Schlesinger said, "This has to make you proud to be an American. This is democracy in action." He added, "It also shows the power of the press."

As the evening ended Village Attorney MacKinnon was packing the paper ballots and the keys to the voting machines into an evidence bag, sealing it and giving it to the police to be put into their safe to deliver to the board of elections at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, although there were delays and it arrived later.

As the evening ended, Lisa Lolis, village deputy clerk came back into the room and said she had called Newsday and Julianne with the news. "She screamed and then said she was quite happy."

One of the police officers said, "The women are taking over. My daughters have a future!"

To the comment that the Muttontown election was a contentious one, Mayor Richard Murcott said, "Amen, sister." The mayor was scheduled to officiate at the board's Monday, June 26 meeting. Then, he said, "With a couple of more days I'm done." He said of the election, "I'm delighted that so many people voted in the Muttontown election. It is very healthy, although I would rather have not had so much competition, but it's not bad. Maybe we will get more people interested in village government."

One of the many problems of the election was that Anupam K. Sharma who tried to run for mayor but was eliminated from the ballot because of problems with his petitions, was in litigation with his neighbors - Dale Turnipseed and Marcus Delgado who won their case against Mr. Sharma in Supreme Court. Mr. Sharma had a website, mymuttontown.com which said if he was elected to office he would offer amnesty to people with permit violations. The mayor said Mr. Sharma has "all kinds of violations" on his property. Mr. Murcott said the case was in the hands of Peter MacKinnon, village attorney, but he added, "The election brought the village to a halt." He said of the Sharma case, "We were concerned that if we did something against Mr. Sharma, it would appear as if it was because he was running for mayor."

As for the election issue of the job of the village administrator, Mr. Murcott said, "An interesting thing is that in the last two days, before the election, people were saying Bernie (Shapiro the village administrator) was really aggressive and impolite on the phone. He's been there for a year and no one has ever said that before. All of a sudden I heard that. I know he had a verbal altercation with an employee about five or six months ago, but that was settled and we had no complaints. You can get crazy about what is going on. Bernie, as far as I am concerned has done a terrific job. But, it's all over for me," he added.

Mayor Murcott said as mayor he met a lot of high pressure people. "People used to having things the way they want and not putting up with any aggravation. They would always start off by saying - 'With the taxes I pay to live here' - and ours is quite low. It was the second lowest tax rate a few years ago."

He said previously the village used the Nassau County tax assessments but now are using their 2003 assessments and not those for 2006. He said Bayville is using the old 1932 assessments because Mayor Vicki Siegel was concerned about people's reaction to the taxes. He said in actuality there is not much of a difference in the amounts being pay. "We thought 2003's was fair and if it is kept constant we don't get grievance complaints."

The mayor said he enjoyed the experience of being mayor and said he learned a lot from it. He said, "You get to meet people with all kinds of ideas and thoughts. They are very surprising people and it astounded me to see their knowledge and awareness of issues." He said when he was first interested in politics, "Most of the elected officials that I knew then, didn't have a high opinion of those who voted. Now I have enormous regard for them. They are not dummies and are astute. [For example] those who voted for Rich Entel and Julianne Beckerman - are not dumb people."

Mr. Murcott said he recently moved and downsized his family food business. "My two sons run the business and are doing a terrific job," he said.

As for himself, he has another job that will keep him busy. "I am a member of a human subject review committee that deals with medical research. The federal government requires that protocols be approved by a review board. I'm one of the non professional people on the board. We meet on the telephone for two hours every week and review six or seven new research protocols for Bio Medical Research of NY.

"The pupose is to look at the consent forms to be sure it explains what the research is and what the benefits and risks are. I review the consent form to be sure it is understandable as to those risks and benefits."

He said, "I've been doing it for a very long time: first in the 70s at LIJ. I am still on that committee. They meet once a month."

So the mayor will continue in his public service work, this time instead of working for the residents of Muttontown it will be for the broader base of helping people in need of medical break-throughs.