Village News

Village clerk retires early after offensive post

Community remembers Bob Barra as a productive antagonist

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Village Clerk Bob Barra retired a day early on Jan. 26, after a public outcry in reaction to his Facebook post that the pro-choice marchers at the Women’s March on Washington “probably should have been aborted.”

“It was an off-color joke to a friend of mine,” Barra, 57, said. “I’m not hoping that people get aborted.”

He added that he has two daughters and takes women’s rights seriously, but he lambasted celebrities like Madonna, Ashley Judd and others for using profanity in front of children. Madonna said in a speech at the Washington event that she had thought about blowing up the White House.

The village issued a statement in response to Barra’s comment:

“The Village of Valley Stream emphatically condemns the personal and private statements expressed by Robert Barra. Mr. Barra is no longer employed by the Village of Valley Stream, and does not in any way express the views of this administration. The Village recognizes and shares the anger and disgust that Mr. Barra’s personal and private statements have generated.”

Barra’s salary was $134,724 in 2016, and he has worked for the village since 2011. He was also paid $25,834 in 2016 by Nassau County as a part-time golf course attendant at Grant Park in Hewlett — which does not have a golf course.

Nassau County Democrats called for an investigation into Barra’s part-time employment in 2014, at which time Barra defended his position with the county, saying his job at the park was legitimate and he had worked every hour he had been paid for.

Barra downplayed his comments last week, and said that the backlash was misguided. “Why aren’t they protesting what’s going on Chicago?” he said, referring to a recent shooting. “They’re worried about what I said on Facebook.”

For Jacqueline Pesola, the tenacity with which Barra stuck to his opinion was familiar.

Pesola, of Valley Stream, said he threatened to blacklist her from the village pool in 2015 after she voiced concern about a new bathroom policy. She also said that he called her to indicate that he knew she talked to the press about it.

“He was so outrageous in how he needed to put me in my place, and make me feel like I had no valid concerns and I was being ridiculous for even calling him,” she said. “His authority was being questioned, and he wanted no part of that.” Barra denied ever threatening to blacklist her from the pool.

Pesola said the encounter with him triggered a panic attack — the only one she has ever had. She also said it deterred her from speaking up.

“I keep a low profile,” she said. “I don’t go to the village and complain about stuff, and when I do, I try not to say my name.”

Those who worked with Barra in Valley Stream said his bullish demeanor made him good at his job. Street maintenance inspector Nick Cassano, who has worked in the village for 25 years, said Barra was “pro-Valley Stream,” and credited him with many of the village’s recent undertakings, such as combating “zombie” homes, installing a dog park and building a new courthouse on Rockaway Avenue.

“It’s all progress, and Barra had a lot to do with that,” Cassano said. With his creation of the annual haunted house fundraiser at Arthur J. Hendrickson Park, he said, Barra “pumped life into the village.”

“He could be forceful at times,” Cassano said, but only to make the village a better place. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer … It was fun listening to him on the phone.”

Trustee Vincent Grasso said that he thought Barra was valuable to the village, and that he came with a “Rolodex that was filled with contacts at all different levels.”

Barra became village clerk in 2011, after spending decades as an elected official. A Lynbrook resident, he served on the village’s board of trustees from 1991 to 1997. In 1999 he was appointed to the Hempstead Town Council, and served one term. He then served in the State Assembly from 2000 to 2010, when he stepped down. Grasso, who unsuccessfully challenged Barra for his assembly seat in 2002, said that before Barra joined the village administration, he had earned himself the nickname “Battlin’ Bob,” for his political combativeness.

In his 10 years as assemblyman, Barra pursued legislation to restore state funding for Long Island schools, hospitals and healthcare centers. He was also instrumental in strengthening sex offender laws, and helped pass Father Larry’s Law, which toughened restrictions on the purchase of gun licenses and firearms. He sought the legislation after a pastor was murdered in Lynbrook in 2002. Barra also controversially likened gay marriage to polygamy and bestiality in 2006, in defense of the state’s decision at the time to deny marriage to same-sex couples.

Bob Fumagalli, the deputy village clerk, spoke positively about working with Barra. “I like Bob a lot,” he said. “He’s got a nice personality and he was good to me all the time.”

Fumagalli will succeed Barra as clerk after the board’s annual reorganization meeting in April. He declined to comment about the status of any retirement benefits that Barra may be entitled to through the village. He credited Barra with streamlining the installation of new street lighting on Sunrise Highway, largely because he had contacts at the Department of Transportation.

In response to Barra’s Facebook post, a petition began circulating in the community demanding that he be stripped of any of his retirement benefits. As of press time on Tuesday, it had 61 signatures.

Resident Rachel Figurasmith said she created the petition in hopes that Barra is in some way held accountable by the village for his actions.

“In speaking with other local moms and residents, I quickly learned that Barra's recent language is the last in a string of troubling behavior and comes as no surprise,” she wrote in a text message to the Herald. “Local residents have been silent for too long. As an educator, activist and advocate for my community, I expect more from the people that represent and make decisions for me. I remain deeply concerned about who is taking Barra's place.”

Barra said his goodbyes to the community on Jan. 23, two days before his controversial Facebook post — at his last village board meeting.

“It’s time to be, I guess, put out to pasture,” he said. “Valley Stream is a great village. I’ve been associated with a few others over the years, and nothing compares to this.”