Less than 100 votes separated the winners in both runoff elections held on Tuesday.

In the Eastern section, Second Deputy Mayor Nicholas P. Episcopia beat Jon Segerdahl by 90 votes. The official tally was 463 to 373.

“We’re pleased with the results of the election,” said Judy Courtney, president of the Eastern Property Owners’ Association. “As always, the election is an indication that the Community Agreement can work for the Village. We are looking forward to working with Nick as he continues to serve on the Board of Trustees.”

In the Estates section, Trustee Brian C. Daughney narrowly beat Michele Harrington by 49 votes. The official results were 398 to 349. Estates Property Owners’ Association President William Slattery did not respond to a request for comment.

Episcopia thanked the board of the Eastern Property Owners’ Association for “running a fair election” and expressed gratitude to his supporters. He pledged to continue to represent residents in the East “to the best of his ability.”

“I would like to thank everyone who supported me in the East’s run-off election this past Tuesday,” Episcopia said via e-mail. “I promise to continue to focus on the important issues facing all of our residents, and to work diligently to maintain our services and programs at the lowest possible cost, which is critical to so many of neighbors who have been directly affected by these hard economic times.

“This election was not about any one person. It was not just about saving St. Paul’s. It was about preserving our Village services and programs, maintaining our quality of life, and protecting our property values. It was about the reasons we chose to live in Garden City.

“I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to the many people who came forward to help with my campaign. You did yeoman’s work and this victory would have been impossible without your tireless efforts. Our victory showed that common sense and respect for our neighbors won out over rhetoric, misinformation and an extremely expensive campaign designed to confuse rather than inform. Once again, thank you all so much.”

In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Jon Segerdahl thanked supporters and all those involved in the election. He said he knew when the decision was made to enter the race he would need a minimum of 1,000 votes to prevail, and the total was 836. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the numbers we needed,” he said.

“I think we had a good message and our message was strong, that we need different leadership,” Segerdahl said.

Segerdahl added that he hopes the Board of Trustees will see this as a call from residents to work together in a “more even-handed manner” and ask themselves, “Am I really representing the needs and wants of our residents?” Segerdahl said he left a message on Tuesday night for Episcopia congratulating him on the victory.

In the Estates section, incumbent Brian Daughney prevailed by only 49 votes over Michele Harrington.

Daughney issued a statement via e-mail Wednesday afternoon. “First and foremost, I want to thank the residents of the Estates section, who by majority vote confirmed their trust in me and my efforts to be a good steward of their tax dollars. Both the POA Nominating Committee and the majority of voters agreed that I was the best candidate for the job .“I am thrilled that all of our hard work paid off and that the voters agreed with our message. We didn’t go negative. My supporters and our campaign were focused on my track record as a trustee and my belief that we need to maintain and practice fiscal vigilance while preserving services and that I am the right person to do so on the Board of Trustees. I believe that by voting for me, the majority of voters showed their disdain for the personal attacks levied against me by my opponent and an agenda that tried to create a ‘us’ versus ‘them’ divide. I hope that we can move forward and that the Community Agreement will be honored and followed as it has for nearly 100 years.

“In summary, as I have stated before, I am focused on preserving choices with respect to the services and facilities that residents want - the choice to address Garden City’s infrastructure (the water tower, our roads, numerous other items), the choice to improve our facilities for seniors and other recreation facilities and the choice to maintain appropriate levels of fire, police and sanitation personnel to keep Garden City as one of the most admired communities in the country. I am not beholden to any special interest group and will remain independent for as long as I am a trustee.”

Harrington spoke to The Garden City News via telephone on Wednesday morning. “I was really proud of the results.” She thought the voter turnout of 747 was “tremendous” and was pleased to see “a lot of really good friends and people who care” spanning many generations, from high school students to the elderly, at the polls. Residents reportedly began lining up to vote before the polls opened at 4:30 p.m.

“Everyone paid attention to issues that are very important,” she said.

Harrington believes she might have prevailed given more than a few weeks to gather support. She said it took time to get the necessary approvals from her employer before she was permitted to begin a campaign.

Harrington also expressed concern over a “mysterious mishap” that prevented her mailing from reaching homes in the Estates section. She utilized a printer who was recommended by the Village. However, an error was made and the mailing was delivered to homes in Stewart Manor instead of the Estates section. Betsy Andromidas, Harrington’s campaign manager, said it was the printer’s error because she made it clear what specific area of the Village she wanted the mailing sent and set clear boundaries.

Putting the mailing incident aside, Harrington expressed hope that this election will impact the current Board of Trustees, especially considering the challengers in both races lost by less than 100 votes. “This will wake up the trustees to listen to residents,” she said. “Hopefully the Village will benefit in the long run.”

Andromidas expressed pride in the “small, grassroots campaign” she helped organize for Harrington, and would like to see it inspire more resident involvement. “It’s almost like a victory for the little guy. To me it’s a win.”

She said Harrington emphasized the need for fiscal responsibility, and exhibited fiscal prudence by expending less than $1,000 on her campaign. “I hope this election encouraged people that with the right message, people will listen,” Andromidas said.

Harrington said she had not yet discussed waging a write-in campaign. “It’s always a possibility,” she said. “We’ll see.” In a later email Andromidas said that such a write in campaign has been ruled out.

When asked about his future plans, Segerdahl responded, “I haven’t ruled out anything at this point. I’ll wait a while and then re-examine the issues.”

As of now, Daughney and Episcopia are running unopposed in the upcoming general election. Trustee Andrew J. Cavanaugh and Deputy Mayor John J. Watras, whose nominations were not challenged, are also running unopposed.

However, all incumbents can still be challenged if a resident files a nominating petition with the required 100 signatures and submits it to the Village Clerk before the deadline. New York State election law applies to this process, according to Village Clerk Brian Ridgway. The filing period for a petition is February 7 through 14 (5 p.m. deadline).

The last time this occurred in the Village was in February of 2011. Garden City residents Ronald A. Tadross from the Estates section, Raymond J. Rudolph from the East, and Thomas J. Trypuc from the Central section formed the Garden City Residents Party and decided to run for positions on the Board of Trustees. They ran against candidates from the Community Agreement Party, which included incumbents Dennis C. Donnelly, Andrew J. Cavanaugh and Laurence J. Quinn.

Tadross, Rudolph and Trypuc obtained the 100 signatures necessary to get their names on the ballot and offered a plan, which they referred to as C.P.R., to implement cost reductions, pay down debt and reinvest in the Village’s infrastructure. A record number of residents let their voices be heard in the election: A total of 2,672 votes were tallied, and the Garden City Residents Party was defeated.

A resident can also be a write-in candidate, which would simply require voters to handwrite an individual’s name on a specific space provided on the ballot. In 2010, in what was viewed by many as a strong show of support for the Community Agreement, Garden City residents turned out in record numbers to elect the Estates Property Owners’ Association candidate Brian Daughney over write-in candidates, Tadross and Rudolph.

The Village General Election is scheduled for March 20 at Garden City Village Hall, located at 351 Stewart Avenue, from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.