Former Glen Cove mayor enters bid to reclaim his seat

Former Glen Cove Mayor Reginald Spinello, who served on the City Council for five years, will seek a third mayoral term this November after losing reelection to current Mayor Tim Tenke in 2017. Spinello was edged out of office by three votes.

The announcement came from the Nassau County Republican Committee on Feb. 19, which slated Spinello, the five Republican incumbents and challenger, Ken Pilla, for the seven-member council.

“Losing the election came as a shock to me and many of the residents,” Spinello told the Herald Gazette, “and since the day I lost people are in touch with me, asking me to return. There’s a lot of unfinished business in Glen Cove.”

As mayor, Spinello, an Independent, is credited for completing the sale of the Garvies Point waterfront and Village Square development projects and said he would want to see both come to fruition if re-elected. He also hopes to continue Glen Cove’s economic growth and financial stability that, he said, he created as mayor. “Glen Cove was on the right track, but now there’s just nothing going on,” he said. “The ball has been dropped, and the city needs to get back on its feet.”

Spinello’s platform, which he’s “still working out,” comprises 10 to 12 items that would bring improvements to the city, including an assortment of unspecified programs, and the development of a long-term revitalization plan for the downtown area.

Spinello is running on the Republican, Conservative and Independence party lines. Councilman Joseph Capobianco, a Republican, said he looks forward to running a “vigorous campaign” alongside Spinello and Pilla. “I don’t know [Ken] personally, but he seems very qualified and I welcome him aboard our slate,” Capobianco said.

Pilla is the current chairman of the city’s Recreation Commission, and a lifelong resident of Glen Cove. For nearly 40 years he worked as a director of operations for McDonald’s, and now works as a project coordinator for Piece Management Inc., in New Hyde Park. He was first appointed to serve on the commission by then-mayor Spinello in 2014.

“I believe in the direction the city was heading in under Reggie, and I think that right now I have the time to put in to get involved and use my skills and knowledge to help the city move forward,” Pilla said.

As for goals he’d like to accomplish as a councilman, Pilla said he would defer to Spinello’s platform, but would want to see the city’s youth programming expanded. As a father of two, Pilla coached his daughters in softball and soccer, and was the president of the city’s junior soccer program for 10 years.

“The young adults who are moving in to Garvies are going to want to raise their families here, but what’s going on for their kids?” Pilla said. “I’d like for there to be something that would involve the youth with everything that’s happening here.”

Tenke, a Democrat, said he was not surprised by the committee’s announcement, nor Spinello’s bid for reelection, but said, “It doesn’t change my focus to continue to serve the residents of Glen Cove.”

Tenke added that he was confident in the city’s Democratic slate. “We’ll prevail in November, and continue to undo the ill-advised practices of the former administration,” he said.