Letter: No choice in big Suffolk races
Photo credit: James Carbone | Suffolk County District attorney Thomas Spota in his Hauppauge office. (Dec. 16, 2011)
So, after a couple of years of collecting a government paycheck, the Suffolk County district attorney, sheriff and county clerk decide that the people they serve no longer have the right to restrict them to three terms in office ["Unlike Nassau, voters get no choice in Suffolk," News Column, Feb. 17].
They claim that they are actually state officials, in that their offices were created in the state constitution, and a state judge agreed. The fact that they serve a county function, receive county salaries and are elected by county residents is just a coincidence.
And the Suffolk legislature mysteriously refuses to appeal the judge's decision that overturned a 1993 referendum, laughably citing budget constraints.
During all this, Albany and the Cuomo administration are nowhere to be found. The U.S. Justice Department refuses to intervene.
Then, on cue, both major parties cross-endorse the Gang of Three -- Democratic District Attorney Thomas Spota, Republican Treasurer Angie Carpenter and Conservative Sheriff Vincent DeMarco -- thereby making the election process a farce.
It seems we are no longer being governed; we are being ruled.
Peter Nichols, Melville
Editor's note: The writer attempted, unsuccessfully, to intervene in the lawsuit and force an appeal.
