Mayor appoints new justice and trustee

Mayor Ed Fare appointed former Village of Valley Stream trustee Virginia Clavin-Higgins village justice on Monday, and appointed Sean Wright, a prosecutor for the village, to the seat she resigned from on Dec. 30.

Clavin-Higgins is the first woman to hold the position of village justice in Valley Stream. She was appointed to fill the unexpired term vacated by Robert Bogle, who was elected to a Nassau County Court judgeship in November. She will have to run in the village’s March election to keep the position.

Bogle swore Clavin-Higgins in, preceding the formalities with remarks to the audience, which included Clavin-Higgins’ mother, Rosanna, who was the first woman elected to the board of trustees in 1983, and her brother, Donald, receiver of taxes for the Town of Hempstead.

“There are very few chief female judges in the villages,” said Bogle, who now supervises all of Nassau County’s village courts. “Nothing against all the male judges, who do a great job, but it’s really good to have the other side represented in strength.”

Clavin-Higgins thanked her family, colleagues and all of the village’s employees for their support during her time on the board, where she has sat since she was appointed in 2011. She also thanked Bogle for spending time with her to help her get acquainted with the new position.

“No other country in the world has a system [of justice] as accepted or admired as ours,” Clavin-Higgins said. “While not perfect, that system continually strives for true justice for all who live here. I believe in that. With my experience — my years in the district attorney’s office and my years as an attorney adviser in the County, Supreme and district courts — I believe that I am well suited for this appointment, Mr. Mayor, and I promise you that I will do my best to serve capably and passionately. I will be both fair and firm. I hope to do good by serving all of you and continuing my commitment to my own beloved village.”

Wright was appointed to serve until the end of Clavin-Higgins’ unexpired term, which ends on April 4. He will run in the March election to keep the seat.

Wright worked as a prosecutor for the village for more than seven years handling ticket and building violations cases. He became a Hempstead Town attorney in 2011, works as an arbitrator in Queens and Nassau County and has experience handling real estate transactions and landlord-tenant litigation in private practice, according to his resume.

Wright is also the treasurer for the Friends of Bridge substance abuse counseling center, a member of the Knights of Columbus, a former assistant coach with the Valley Stream Green Hornets and a member of Blessed Sacrament Church.

He ran unsuccessfully against Michaelle Solages in 2012 for the state’s 22nd Assembly District seat. He said he was approached about the board appointment and was happy to accept, having been interested in getting involved in politics for the past 10 years. “Politics is like the greatest show on Earth that never ends,” Wright said. “The great Ronald Reagan once said, ‘The greatest sound a man can hear is the sound of little feet running to greet him when he puts his key in his lock at night,’ and I think that’s great because I want to make sure that Valley Stream is a community that my kids will want to stay in. I’m buying a house now, and I want to pass that house on to them.”

Wright is a registered Independent. He joins the United Community Party’s two Democrats, Deputy Mayor Dermond Thomas and trustee Vincent Grasso, and two Republicans, Fare and trustee John Tufarelli, who is up for re-election in March.