“Musical chairs continued Tuesday afternoon for members of the Town Board.
When the maneuvering stopped, the Town Board rescinded its Monday night appointment of New Hempstead Mayor Fred Brinn as interim supervisor and returned to the original plan: Deputy Supervisor Yitzchok Ullman as interim supervisor and Brinn as a board member, effective June 26, Ullman said.
Before that happened, Ullman resigned from the board, only to be appointed and taking the oath of office minutes later as supervisor until the end of the year. Brinn will have to resign as mayor to serve on the Town Board.
“We went back to the original plan of me as interim supervisor,” Ullman said. “We had planned to name Brinn to the board to fill the vacancy.”
Ullman said Brinn was appointed after he vowed not to run for office, though he could run for highway superintendent, a post Withers has expressed interest in.
Withers has said he’s not seeking re-election to the board after he lost critical community support for voluntarily cooperating with the FBI and testifying against St. Lawrence at trial. He didn’t attend the Monday night meeting when board members appointed Brinn.
Ramapo Deputy Town Attorney Michael Specht said Monday he’s running for supervisor. Scott Goldman, a businessman, is also running as a Democrat for supervisor. Bill Weber is running on the Republican line with his Town Board hopefuls Shani Bechhofer and Grant Valentine.
In a joint statement, Weber and Bechhofer said: “We stand before you this afternoon as baffled by today’s developments as anyone else. Clearly the Town, its elected Town Board, and the Democratic party are all in disarray. This is not a surprise given the way events have unfolded in the past year and in particular, since the arrest of Building Inspector Mallia and the conviction of Supervisor St. Lawrence.”
Brinn said Tuesday night that his understanding is he can’t serve on the Town Board and as mayor of a community inside the town. He cited a state attorney general’s office ruiing. He didn’t respond when asked if he would resign as mayor.”
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