Still a mess

Last Friday marked 30 days since a June 19 election was supposed to determine the newest member of the Sanitary District 7 board of commissioners. No winner had yet to be announced on July 19 — or for that matter on Monday, when the Herald went to press — and the Oceanside-based board was still unsure about what steps it would take to clean up the mess.

According to the two voting machines the district used in the election, Tom Lanning led Mike Franzini by 98 votes, with Steve Edmondson a distant third, when the polls closed on June 19. The voting machines, which the district rented from a Queens company called Pull This!, subsequently indicated an irregularity in voting: As many as 140 people who entered a voting booth did not cast ballots. Additionally, there were 184 paper ballots cast but not counted. A month later, those paper ballots still have not been opened. Instead they sit in a sealed box in a cabinet at the district office.

Jack Libert, an attorney hired by the district to investigate the election, presented his findings to the board on July 14. He concluded that an examination of the voting booths and the voting register proved that there was a “significant undervote,” and that 33 voters somehow voted without signing the register. Libert said that the board had three options: count the paper ballots and certify a winner, order a recount or prepare for a new election. The board made no decision on the matter last week.

Libert also asked the board to facilitate a meeting of the three candidates, their representatives and Libert so that a resolution could be discussed. “My perception of the candidates is that they’re all gentlemen, and they all want a fair result,” he said on July 14.

Both Lanning and Franzini expressed an interest in such a meeting, but a week later, none had been scheduled. Libert said that he had spoken to representatives of Lanning and Franzini, as well as Edmondson, on the phone, but has not been able to arrange a sit-down.

“I have been trying to encourage a meeting,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts [to a resolution], but everyone has been cooperative, and I’m cautiously optimistic that we can reach a conclusion.”

The board of commissioners met on July 17, but did not address the election. Its next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 7 at 9 a.m.

Lanning, Franzini and Edmondson are vying for the seat left vacant by the retiring Fred Morse. The job has a five-year term, and pays $7,500 annually. The district serves more than 13,000 households and 950 commercial businesses, has an annual budget of about $8.65 million and covers more than five square miles, including Oceanside and parts of Baldwin and East Rockaway.