Questions raised over Mystal's residency in district

The issue of whether Suffolk Deputy Presiding Officer Elie Mystal lives outside his South Shore district - splitting time among houses in Florida, Amityville and Huntington Station - has raised questions about his eligibility to remain a legislator because county law requires he maintain a residence in the district he represents.

Mystal said he currently lives in Amityville with friends, but neighbors said they have never seen him on the block.

Prior to that, he said he lived in Copiague. But the resident who is living in the house that Mystal claimed to have lived in said she and her family have lived there since August 2007.

And although Mystal said he doesn't live in Huntington Station, his wife owns and is renovating a house there.

"The facts being described raise enough questions to require further review and documentation to confirm whether or not the standard of residency is being met," said Paul Sabatino II, former attorney for the Suffolk County Legislature and former chief deputy county executive.

Sabatino said county law requires legislators to live in the district they represent during their term in office and at the time of their nomination or designation for such office. George Nolan, the legislature's current lawyer, declined to comment.

Time spent out of town

Mystal, who insists he lives in Amityville, acknowledged he spent as much as two weeks at a time in Florida, where his wife and stepdaughters reside. He said he was there to monitor ongoing renovations at the home.

"Have I been away a lot? Yes, I have," Mystal said. "I am doing construction. I am down here a lot. What's the big deal? I am not supposed to have another home?"

The county charter says residency is "that place where a person maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home; maintains a regular physical presence; and to which, he or she, wherever temporarily located, always intends to return.

"Such office shall be deemed vacant if such Legislator's residence lapses for more than sixty (60) days or is terminated in said legislative district," according to the charter.

Mystal, 62, was first elected in 2004 in a special election and then was re-elected in 2005 and 2007. He earns $95,774 a year. His term ends in December 2009. A review of his calendar since January showed that he attended a handful of community meetings each month while his aide, DuWayne Gregory, showed up to the other 35 to 45 events.

John Simkins, president of the Belmont Lake Civic Association, said his members have had meetings with Mystal's staff but not with the lawmaker himself. "We haven't really seen him around," Simpkins said. "My feeling is simply that he could be more accessible."

Committee meetings missed

Mystal attended all legislative and committee meetings this year, except for two committee meetings on April 17 in which Mystal missed a crucial vote on an immigration bill that he opposed, according to Tim Laube, the clerk for the legislature. Due to Mystal's absence, proponents of the proposal requiring all licensed contractors to verify their employees' legal working status passed by a vote of 3-1 with one lawmaker abstained. The validity of that vote is being challenged.

When Mystal ran for re-election in 2007, he listed 56 Colonial Rd., Copiague, as his address on the designating petitions filed in mid-July of that year. That's in the district he represents. He said he moved to Amityville before August but that he forgot to notify the board of elections until December.

A woman who rents the house on Colonial Road said she moved into the single-family home in August 2007 and has lived there ever since. "We came to look at the place in June. It had been empty," said the woman. A broker for Coldwell Banker Harbor Light, which manages the Colonial Road house, said he rented the home to the woman in August 2007.

On Dec. 3, 2007, after he was re-elected, Mystal told the board of elections he had moved to 82 Maple Dr., Amityville, also in his district. When he's not in Florida, Mystal said he lives there with a friend and her family.

The homeowner, Jeannette Santos, said Mystal has been living with her, her husband, their daughter and son-in-law in the single-family home since August whenever he's on Long Island. Mystal gets his mail at a post office box in Amityville, which is also on his driver's license.

Five neighbors on Maple Drive said they have never seen Mystal on the block. "If he lives there, I've never seen him leave or come," said Marianne Flores, 23, who lives across the street from 82 Maple Dr. "We see everyone on the block. We're here every day." Mystal said he comes home late at night and neighbors may not see him.

Neighbors in Huntington Station, where Mystal's wife owns a house that's for sale, said they see him in the neighborhood regularly. Huntington Station is not in Mystal's district.

Mystal's wife owns a house at 12 Klarman Ct., which has been on the market for a year. Several neighbors, requesting anonymity, said Mystal stays there when he's on Long Island.

"He comes up when he has meetings to attend," said one neighbor. "We see him in the neighborhood once a month."

The Klarman Court neighbor and two other residents said Mystal lived on Klarman Court for about a year before he got married last July and moved with his family to Florida shortly thereafter.

Neighbors said they know when Mystal is in town because they see that his sedan, customarily in the driveway when he is not around, has been moved.

The county-owned sedan was parked outside the Huntington Station house for a week in the middle of April while Mystal was in Florida.

Mystal, who returned to Long Island April 27, was seen leaving the Huntington Station house early Tuesday, less than an hour before the Suffolk legislature was scheduled to meet.

Mystal said he currently spends a lot of time in Huntington Station because he needs to do repairs to the house and there is furniture he needs to sell.