Challenger takes O’side sanitation seat

Polling at the Columbia Engine Company at 26 Smith St. started at 3 p.m. on June 20 and by 3:15 p.m. there was a long line of voters waiting to have their say in the Sanitary District 7 election, the first contested election for a seat on the five-member sanitary board in more than a decade.

When the smoke had cleared and the votes were counted, challenger Ed Scharfberg, a volunteer firefighter and retired New York City detective defeated nine-year incumbent Michael Sullivan, a special park district supervisor with Hempstead Town.

The count was 852 for Scharfberg and 475 for Sullivan. 188 additional ballots were not counted because they were not needed to determine the outcome.

“The people have spoken and what they wanted was a change,” Scharfberg said on the morning after the election. “They have that change. I have a long road ahead and a lot to learn, be we are going to strengthen the board and the district.”