Voice mayoral candidate responds to campaign attack

In a email to the Herald received on March 10, Mark Tannenbaum, a Harbor Isle resident and executive vice president of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, revealed that Island Park mayoral candidate Glenn Ingoglia had been issued a number of traffic citations in Suffolk County. Tannenbaum, who founded a new Chamber organization for Island Park this year after a contentious Chamber election, also alluded to Ingoglia’s participation in a fight last year, and he said that these behaviors are "inappropriate" for a candidate seeking public office.

“Does anyone believe that bar room brawling is acceptable behavior?” asked Tannenbaum in his email. “Especially coming from a community leader or elected official. Can Mr. Ingoglia explain about the incident he was involved in on September 17, 2013 at 1:10 a.m. in the morning?”

The traffic incident, in fact, occurred at 1:10 p.m. — and Ingoglia did have an explanation. “I received five traffic tickets that day,” he said. “I wasn’t arrested as it indicates, but you know they just put that on those things, it was part of the infraction … My license had gotten suspended unbeknownst to me, because I had switched insurance carriers. When I switched… I failed to inform the old insurance carrier that I had a new insurance carrier. The carrier told the DMV, and they suspended the license.”

Ingoglia added that he had also received tickets in Lynbrook for the same reasons — a situation that he has since cleared up. His Suffolk infractions, however, he has yet to handle. Although due in court first on Nov. 20 of 2013 and then on Jan. 31 of this year, Ingoglia said he had his secretary arrange that he could respond to the court this week.

“I’ve had a valid license for a couple months now, he said. “I have until the 14th to clear up these tickets, and I’m going in tomorrow to Suffolk to answer for them.”

A clerk in the Suffolk County First District Court said, “He’s pretty much correct. His original date to come to court was Nov. 20, because the original tickets were issued Sept. 17."

Ingoglia said that the same accusation sent to the Herald was posted on the Island Park Matters To You community Facebook page on March 6. This could not be verified because the group page is not public.