Heated Election in Manorhaven on Tuesday

In Manorhaven’s village election on Tuesday, incumbent Mayor John DiLeo, the Manorhaven Residents Party candidate, is opposed by Giovanna Giunta, the Manorhaven Revival Party candidate.

Di Leo is running with Jim Avena and Julian Auquilla as trustees. Giunta is running with Noelle Smith and Mark Lazarovic for trustees. 

DiLeo was , filling in for former Mayor Michael T. Meehan, who resigned March 17. Now he’s campaigning for a full term.

Giunta, a who in March organized a rally against a controversial cell tower, was defeated in her campaign for mayor in Manorhaven, in 2010.

DiLeo says his focus is on “keeping village finances strong and stable, environmental improvements, and tree preservation,” according to the Manorhaven Residents Party website. 

Top priorities for the party include improving aging infrastructure; seeing to better service, response and enforcement from Nassau County Police Department; tree planting, implementing a dog run; tightening up on absentee landlords and more.

A member of the Knights of Columbus, Sons of Italy, Port Washington Chamber of Commerce, Di Leo also belongs to the North Hempstead Business Association, where he served as a director. He is president of John Di Leo & Sons, Inc., a landscaping business in Port Washington.

Giunta says she is a third-generation Manorhaven resident, whose family has lived in the community since 1956.

“When the cell phone tower issue compelled me to get involved by organizing this grassroots campaign, and when I began attending the monthly Board of Trustees meetings, I recognized the urgent need for broader improvements in the village,” she noted, in a statement sent to Patch.

Giunta says she would “work hard to create an open and communicative atmosphere in Village Hall.” Other priorities, she said, include preserving the village’s residential neighborhood and quality of life though projects that include improving drainage, ensuring street safety and rebuilding Morgan’s Dock.

Currently working in the , Guinta says she is also the owner and co-founder of a tranportation company, and has 17 years of medical field experience working with cardiac, hospice and geriatric patients.  

Once the head of the brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Avena supported the tax cap, and, he told Newsday aims to bring his financial and management experience to his role as trustee, if elected. He was appointed to the village board earlier in 2012, and led the village's Thanksgiving fundraiser, and co-chaired the winter food drive. Auquilla, a supermarket manager and 18-year Manorhaven resident, said he will be responsive to residents' concerns.

Lazarovic, who ran for trustee in 2010, is a builder and developer, who previously served on the Manorhaven Architectural Review Board. , he plans to expand bidding opportunities for village jobs and is in favor of bringing in a dog park, he told Newsday. Smith told Newsday that she would look to force out the cell tower, and boost code enforcement in order to deter problems triggered by absentee landlords.