Several residents were named to Huntington government positions on Tuesday as the administration of supervisor Ed Smyth takes shape.
Deborah N. Misir was named town attorney, succeeding Nick Ciappetta.
She is law partner in the firm Lally and Misir, LLP in Mineola with her husband, Grant Lally. She lists her legal specialities as immigration, administrative law, labor and employment and federal litigation/ appellate.
Before entering private practice on Long Island, she served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of Labor and chief of staff of OSHA, as a member of the federal management Senior Executive Service. She was also an ethics counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office for President George W. Bush, advising senior White House officials on various aspects of government ethics laws.
“Deborah Misir is a legal heavyweight in the field of government ethics and employment,” Smyth said. “The interests of our Town government, employees and ultimately, Huntington’s residents, will best be served with Ms. Misir’s shrewd representation.”
She serves on the Nassau County Committee on Equal Justice in the Courts for the 10th Judicial District, and has served as president of the Indian American Bar Association of Long Island.
The Town Board unanimously approved the appointment Tuesday.
Her husband ran unsuccessfully for the US Congress in 2014 against then-US Rep. Steve Israel.
Other appointments:
Thelma Neira, who has served as deputy town attorney since 2020, was reappointed.
The Town Board approved the appointment of William Musto of East Northport as director of General Services, succeeding Andre Sorrentino who was elected highway superintendent. He previously served as director of parks and recreation and deputy director of parks before that, after serving in the town’s refuse division for 30 years.
Retired Judge Gerard Asher was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals and named chairman.
John Posilico, who was chair, will become vice chair, replacing Richard McGrath, who remains on the board.
Joining the board is Al White, a former alternate member.
Members of the ZBA are appointed to seven-year terms.
Asher was elected in 2010 as a justice of the Suffolk County Supreme Court in the Tenth Judicial District of New York, previously serving as District Court judge since 2005. After retiring in 2018, Asher has worked in mediation and arbitration services for various organizations and has served as a New York State Alternative Dispute Resolution mediator for Supreme Court cases. He has served on the Town of Huntington Veterans Advisory Board since June 2018 and previously served on the Town Planning Board from 1986 to 2003 and as director of the Huntington Youth Bureau from 1975 to 1981.
Supervisor Ed Smyth said, “Judge Asher‘s unanimous appointment to lead the Zoning Board of Appeals as its new Chair is underscored by his impressive history as a Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice, a decorated veteran, his lengthy record of public service and familiarity with real estate and municipal law, including his time on the Planning Board.”
White is co-founder and CEO of Porter-Trejo Action Network, president of Gateway Gardens Civic Association, sits on the Board of Directors for the Pan African Coalition, Housing Help, Inc., and the Youth Development Association, and is a volunteer for many community organizations.
The Town Board also named John T. McCarron deputy supervisor at a salary of $140,000 a year.
Mara Manin Amendola was named to the Planning Board. She previously served as vice chair of the planning board, and an alternate to the ZBA before that. She served as a backup administrative law judge in the Town’s Bureau of Administrative Adjudication since 2020.
Paul Ehrlich and Robert Bontempi were both reappointed as chair and vice chair of Planning Board.
Michelle K. McCarthy, a member of the town ethics board, was named Smyth’s chief of staff.
Huntington is lucky to have such a well rounded, brilliant and civic minded Town Attorney.
We find the comments regarding Ms. Misir’s spouse to be unnecessary and misogynistic. She stands on her own merits and if her gender where male, then the spouse would not have been brought up in such a snarky manner- especially reaching back 8 years.
As a female run news outlet, we expect better and Ms. Misir deserves an apology.
Ms. Misir does indeed have impressive legal credentials. But her husband is well known as a candidate for office representing the district and so needs to be identified. It is not a negative or a commentary on Ms. Misir’s abilities or stature to mention him in this way, especially since the handful of questions I got yesterday had to do more with him and confirming who he was, than with the new town attorney.