Two Port Washington sewer district commissioners seek third's ouster
Sunset Park in Port Washington, which is owned by the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District. Credit: Newsday / Howard Schnapp
The tension surrounding the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District intensified Tuesday when the district moved to remove one of three elected commissioners.
Commissioners Arduino Marinelli and Melanie Cassens voted to approve a resolution authorizing the district's special counsel to seek a court order from the State Supreme Court's Appellate Division to remove commissioner Brandon Kurz over his "violation of his oath of office."
Kurz abstained from the vote.
Marinelli and Cassens have been embroiled in a public dispute with Kurz throughout the summer, stemming from what they believed to be his conflict of interest. Kurz had served as executive director of the Port Washington Police Athletic League, which plays its games at the district-owned Sunset Park, until he stepped down in July and became the volunteer executive director. Kurz has claimed the district is trying to transfer the park to North Hempstead Town and launched a campaign against it — though district and town officials say there are no plans for a transfer at this time.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Port Washington Water Pollution Control District authorized a law firm to seek the removal of Brandon Kurz, one of three elected commissioners, from his role.
- A July memo from the district's ethics counsel said Kurz violated district policy over a conflict of interest.
- Kurz has urged public opposition to transferring Sunset Park to the Town of North Hempstead, but officials from the district and town say there are no plans to do so.
"We’re trying to get back to the business of the district, which is to run a sewer district," Marinelli said in an interview.
In July, Kurz circulated an online petition urging the district to "Stop the Sale of Sunset Park" and name a baseball field after his father, a longtime former sewer district commissioner.
Kurz said in a statement over text message that he was displeased with the timing of the resolution: He said his family recently donated $50,000 to the PAL to name Sunset Park’s baseball field after his father, Donald Kurz, a former sewer district commissioner.
“They approved honoring my father for his years of service, protecting PAL,” Kurz said. “Then slapped his son in the face for trying to do the exact same thing.”
The district's resolution selected Leventhal, Mullaney and Blinkoff, LLP, of Roslyn, to file the motion seeking Kurz' removal. Steven Leventhal, an attorney with the practice, said in a July memo Kurz violated his oath of office, as well as the district's ethics policy, when he became PAL's executive director and "acquired a prohibitory pecuniary interest in the PAL's license to use and occupy District owned real property," in April 2024.
Kurz, meanwhile, had accused his co-commissioners of drawing attention to him to distract from his claim that they were discussing transferring the park to the Town of North Hempstead. That move would jeopardize the futures of hundreds of young athletes, he said.
Marinelli told Newsday the district had discussed a transfer of the park to the town in 2023, but not since.
Town spokesman Kevin Higgins told Newsday in a statement: “The Town can confirm it has no plans to obtain Sunset Park."
Marinelli and Cassens on July 29 passed a resolution giving Kurz two weeks to complete a series of demands: provide written proof he would no longer provide services to the PAL in exchange for compensation; that he had "disgorged all revenue" obtained from PAL; and that he would "refrain" from engaging in votes and discussion related to the league, or the district's use of the park. If Kurz did not comply, the resolution read, he should "immediately resign from office."
A July resolution criticized Kurz for efforts to "undermine public confidence" in the sewer district by "falsely claiming that youth athletic programs at Sunset Park would be discontinued."
The district passed two other resolutions on Tuesday. One measure tables discussions concerning the transfer of the park to the town for five years. Another proposes a new licensing agreement with PAL that requires the league to implement a code of ethics, adopt an anti-discrimination policy, expand its board from three to five members, provide quarterly financial reporting to the district and update its insurance coverage.
Stu Lieblein, president of the Port Washington PAL, said in an interview Tuesday he was unaware of the proposed agreement until notified by Newsday.
"I haven't received an email or a text asking me to consider the agreement, or to meet with them to discuss it," Lieblein said.
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.
