Nearby: Longtime Mayor Challenged in Lattingtown Election

LONG ISLAND, NY -- Voters heading to the polls in Lattingtown to cast their ballot for mayor this year will have a choice.   

They can vote for 91-year-old incumbent, Clarence Michalis, who has held office for some 44 years and credits his fiscal expertise on having served as vice president and CFO of two Fortune 500 companies. Or they can vote for the 23-year-old challenger, Nicholas DellaFera, a graduate of Drew University now working as a pharmaceutical rep.  

For many residents, it will be the first time they’ve seen a contested mayoral race: Newsday says it’s been four decades since Michalis has seen a challenger.  

Now, the race is on.  

In a letter to Lattingtown residents, DellaFera says he is running to cultivate a government that “provides an opportunity for engagement and gives its members a voice.” As someone who has honed his leadership skills through sports and academics, DellaFera says he wants to “ensure” that an “environment of security and opportunity” endure and that village government becomes “more accessible to its residents.”  

Meanwhile, in his letter to Lattingtown residents, Michalis said he has always run tight budgets, “perhaps too tight at times,” adding that for many years the village has had lowest tax rate in the area. He charges that DellaFera, whom he said “lives with his parents” and “does not pay any Village or school taxes” is trying to begin his public service “at the top” and “without any experience whatsoever” in village government, adding that he hadn't recalled seeing his challenger at any village meetings.  

On June 18, Lattingtown voters will take those arguments to the polls, which will be open from 12-9 p.m. at the Village Hall, 299 Lattingtown Road.