Port Washington water commissioner Brandon Kurz loses reelection bid

Port Washington Water Pollution Control District Commissioner Brandon Kurz lost his reelection bid Tuesday to challenger Joseph D’Alonzo, the district confirmed.

D’Alonzo, president of Cow Bay Contracting, received 947 votes to Kurz’s 303.

"I think this election was about how we want our politics to look like locally," D'Alonzo said in a statement over text. "Local politics should be about serving your community, not dividing it."

Kurz had been embroiled in a dispute with the district's two other commissioners surrounding the Police Athletic League playing its games at the district-owned Sunset Park. Kurz had served as the PAL's executive director since April 2024 before stepping down in July, he told Newsday.

Kurz congratulated D’Alonzo on his victory in a statement shared through his Oceanside-based attorney Todd Steckler but indicated he plans to keep putting pressure on the district from the outside.

"Brandon intends to continue his fight to ensure that the children of Port Washington will continue to be able to participate in athletic programs at Sunset Park,” Steckler wrote in a text message.

Kurz's defeat caps what has been a contentious year for the district, centered around infighting with commissioners Arduino Marinelli and Melanie Cassens. They accused Kurz of harboring a conflict of interest given that the league plays its games at Sunset Park.

In response, Kurz stepped down from his paid position and assumed the role of the league's volunteer executive director in July, he told Newsday. He has countered that Marinelli and Cassens have wrongly accused him of the conflict to distract from his contention that they are seeking to transfer the park to the Town of North Hempstead.

Marinelli told Newsday the district has discussed a possible transfer to the town but not since 2023. North Hempstead spokesperson Kevin Higgins previously told Newsday the town has no interest in the park.

In July, the district passed a series of resolutions calling for Kurz to provide written proof showing he had met three demands: that he was no longer receiving compensation from PAL; that he had "disgorged" all revenue received from PAL; and that he would "refrain" from all discussions and votes related to the park and the league.

Kurz, a district commissioner since 2023, refused to meet the demands, Marinelli and Cassens said.

Attorneys for Marinelli and Cassens in October filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court's appellate division to have Kurz removed as commissioner. 

Then, last month, Kurz was removed from the ballot after Giovanna DiFiore, the district's election officer, determined he had not received the 25 signatures required on his petition for office. Kurz had submitted a petition with 33 signatures, but DiFiore ruled that only 12 signatures were valid.

Kurz then sued DiFiore, as well as D'Alonzo, who had made the challenge to Kurz's ballot, in state Supreme Court. Nassau Supreme Court Justice Erica L. Prager ruled Dec. 1 that D'Alonzo's challenge had not been served properly — D'Alonzo had not used "overnight mail" as is required by state law — and three days later the district reversed course and permitted Kurz to appear on the ballot.

District officials had expected the ballots to be counted by about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, but Newsday was not made aware of the results until about 10:30 p.m. A poll watcher affiliated with Kurz was in attendance for the counting of the ballots, Steckler said.

The commissioners serve staggered three-year terms. D'Alonzo will take office in January. 

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.