Riverhead elected officials take oaths in low-key private ceremonies

Councilman Kenneth Rothwell and Assessor Laverne Tennenberg took their oaths of office yesterday in Town Hall Hall and Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski was sworn in at the highway department.

This is Rothwell’s second oath of office and his first as an elected official. Rothwell was appointed to the board in January to fill the vacancy created when Councilwoman Jodi Giglio was elected to the State Assembly. Rothwell ran for his seat in the November election on the Republican ticket and received 32% of the vote, the most in the field of four candidates for two open seats. Town Clerk Diane Wilhelm administered the oath, as Rothwell’s parents, Thomas and Margaret Rothwell, his wife Debra and two sons, Kenny and Cameron, looked on.

Tennenberg took the oath for a ninth time since she was elected to the assessor post in 1989. Since 1997, she has served as chairperson of Riverhead’s three-person board of assessors. Tennenberg was re-elected with an overwhelming 67% of the vote in November. Her oath was administered by her husband Keith Mantell, with her mother Irene holding her late father Robert’s Bible. 

Rothwell told RiverheadLOCAL “with rising COVID numbers, we’re keeping things simple.”

Newly elected Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski took his oath of office yesterday at the highway department. Wilhelm went there with the oath book to do the honors. Zaleski’s father Jim, his son Ryan, and his aunt and uncle, Martha and Dominick Tribuzio were there to watch. Zaleski, who had served as deputy superintendent since March 2016, was elected to the post vacated by the retirement of former superintendent George Woodson with 66% of the vote.

Supervisor Yvette Aguiar on Wednesday announced an inauguration ceremony Sunday at 11 a.m. at Town Hall with limited in-person attendance due to the recent surge in coronavirus cases. She said a previous plan to host an event at the Suffolk Theater again, as was done on Jan. 1, 2020, was shelved due to the surge.