Photos: Village Officials Sworn In

Village of Farmingdale Mayor George Starkie bade farewell Monday night after serving for six years as first a trustee and then mayor.

"Thank you for the privilege of serving the community that I love," Starkie said  before swearing in his successor, Ralph Ekstrand. "You don’t always feel the love in the back room. But you try to use the ruler, 'is it good for Farmingdale?'--if you use that, it will work out well."

The trustees voted to declare a painted sign on Village Hall as surplus and give it to Starkie. Before the vote giving him the sign, Starkie wondered about how soon it would be available. Told that a signmaker would arrive Tuesday, "Starkie said, "It's happening that quick?" to laughter.

Starkie was a village trustee for two years before being elected mayor in 2008. During his tenure, he has worked aggressively on , , and helped oversee cleanups after and . He cited a need to focus on his family and his business, , as reasons for not seeking re-election.

One of Ekstrand's first tasks as mayor was to swear in numerous village officials before the board turned to several other actions.

Among those sworn in Monday night were:

Elected:

Ralph Ekstrand, mayor; William Barrett, trustee; Thomas Ryan, trustee.

Appointed:

Patricia Christiansen, deputy mayor; Brian Harty clerk/treasurer/assessor/tax collection/budget; Joseph Schweitzer, chairman, Zoning Board of Appeals; Lisa Waskiewicz, member, ZBA. Nick Varlotta, alternate member, ZBA.

Frank DeStefano, chairman, Planning Board; John E. Capobianco, alternate, Planning Board.

William Rielly, chairman, Board of Fire Commissioners; Kenneth Romeo, Board of Fire Commissioners.

Barbara Kelly, deputy village clerk/treasurer; Kevin Walsh, village attorney; Robert Kirk, deputy village attorney; Thomas Delaquilla, deputy village attorney

Andrew Fisch, superintendent, public works; JoAnn Edling, director of civil defense; William Johnston, village historian.