D'Alonzo Wins Contentious Port Washington Water Race

By Leader Staff

Port Washington businessman Joseph D'Alonzo has won a contentious race for Port Washington Water Commissioner, defeating controversial incumbent Commissioner Brandon Kurz, by a vote of 947 to 303.

D'Alonzo is the co-owner of Cow Bay Contracting in Port Washington, and is the husband of former Town of North Hempstead Board member Dina DeGeorgio (R-Port Washington). 

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

Kurz faced a year of conflicts on the Water Board against fellow Commissioners Arduno Marinelli and Melanie Cassens.

Cassens and Marinelli had accused Kurz of having a conflict of interest for his serving as the paid Executive Director of the Police Athletic League (PAL) while simultaneously serving as a Water Commissioner.  The PAL used Water Commission property while playing its games at Sunset Park in Port Washington.

Cassens and Marinelli filed a lawsuit in October to remove Kurz; and Kurz later sued both D'Alonzo and the Water Commission's election clerk, Giovanna DiFiore, after DiFiore ruled that Kurz had not collected sufficient signatures to place his name on the ballot. 

A Nassau Judge later allowed Kurz's name to appear on the ballot for the election.