Long Island

Newsday Endorsements Story Gallery 2011

Town of Hempstead Supervisor <a href="/topics/Kate_Murray">Kate Murray</a> runs a tight fiscal ship. In a time of falling sales- and mortgage-tax revenues, her 2012 budget is balanced without a property tax increase. By reducing the workforce through attrition, she doesn't have to make layoffs or cut services now that hard times are here. 
 What Murray, 49, of <a href="/topics/Levittown%2C_NY">Levittown</a>, hasn't been able to do in her four terms is cut the many layers of patronage that the Republican Party demands of elected officials in its historic base, a town Republicans have run for 110 years. That flaw has led to the greatest embarrassment of Murray's tenure: poor conditions at the town's animal shelter, which has a budget of $7 million a year. High salaries for those with political connections but not the proper work credentials have led to continued protests by animal-rights activists, a criminal investigation by the county district attorney and a financial audit by the state comptroller. Murray, whose weak excuse is that no one told her of any problems, seems to have put a skilled staff in place at last. 
 Democratic challenger Gary Port, 49, a lawyer from <a href="/topics/West_Hempstead%2C_NY">West Hempstead</a>, says he would work to modernize the zoning laws to jump-start the economy and fill vacant storefronts. Port, a local business leader, scoutmaster and youth baseball coach, has served 25 years in the military. A lieutenant colonel in the <a href="/topics/United_States_Military_Academy">Army</a> Reserve, Port is the legal adviser to the 78th Division commander. Port has made the animal shelter a key issue, but he doesn't offer any transformative ideas for the town or have the executive experience to manage such a large local government. Newsday endorses Murray. hN

Opinion

VPHEMSUP

Murray for Hempstead supervisor

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When Bill Wilkinson took over as <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a> Town supervisor in 2010, the community's finances were a shambles. 
 A town of just 22,000 year-round residents -- give or take a few movie stars -- was facing a $27-million deficit in its $70-million annual budget, and a grand jury reported that the town had experienced a "complete collapse of fiscal management." 
 Since then, Wilkinson, a 62-year-old Republican from <a href="/topics/Montauk%2C_NY">Montauk</a> and former senior vice president of human resources at <a href="/topics/Disney_Channel">Walt Disney</a> Co., has made remarkable strides toward cleaning up the mess left by his precessor. In just a single term of office, he's reduced the number of full-time employees from a peak of 411 to around 320. He also cut in half the number of town departments, consolidating 26 into 13, and worked with union leaders so that employees could be deployed flexibly in different jobs at different times of year. He underspent the 2010 budget by a remarkable $8 million. 
 Wilkinson's challenger this year is Zachary Cohen, a 62-year-old community activist and real estate investor from <a href="/topics/Springs%2C_NY">Springs</a> with a strong business background of his own. Cohen, who is not a member of any political party, has made a specialty of environmental and budgetary issues. Clearly, he cares about the community. 
 But Wilkinson's track record speaks for itself. The incumbent has brought tremendous skill and energy to a difficult task, and it makes no sense to change leadership at this point, now that he's got the town back on the rails. 
 Newsday endorses Wilkinson. hN

VPEHSUP

Editorial: Re-elect Wilkinson in E. Hampton

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Supervisor <a href="/topics/John_Venditto">John Venditto</a> says Oyster Bay must continue to deliver the suburban dream of one-family homes, good schools and fine beaches that has made the town a magnet for more than six decades. The Republican's philosophy is not to change anything, and that message has gotten him elected seven times by overwhelming majorities. 
Absent a demand for a change, Venditto's opponents have had a difficult time setting an agenda. Democratic challenger John Capobianco, 47, is a voice for residents who might harbor dreams of new vitality in the town's stagnant downtowns, such as <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a>. Capobianco lives in the Village of <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a> and is a member of its downtown revitalization committee, which has developed a comprehensive plan that includes housing above stores on Main Street. A member of the Farmingdale school board, Capobianco is a martial arts and bonsai artisan who sought an Assembly seat last year. 
Capobianco blames Venditto for the recent lowering of the town's bond rating due to the drawing down of reserve funds and the lack of a financial plan to raise revenue. He says overspending on patronage jobs, especially for the largest town public safety force on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, is wasteful. Valid criticisms, but the Democrat doesn't have the necessary managerial experience to run the town. 
Venditto, 62, of <a href="/topics/North_Massapequa%2C_NY">North Massapequa</a>, says the town's debt is moderate and that he will tighten spending by reducing overtime costs. Instead of a tax increase, he's considering raising revenue by increasing user fees for parking and recreational activities. With the promise of a renewed focus on maintaining fiscal integrity, Newsday endorses Venditto. hN

VPOBSUP

Editorial: Re-elect Venditto in Oyster Bay

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Every town on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> has problems, but the Town of Riverhead has one problem that should be easily remedied: the term of its town supervisor is just two years. Some other towns have sensibly adopted four-year terms, and Riverhead should do the same.
That would take voter approval, yet the question isn't on the ballot this year. So why does it matter now? The issue is continuity, which makes it crucially important to the question of who should be elected town supervisor in the upcoming election. A two-year term makes it too difficult to take an appropriately long-term view of such matters as what to do with the 2,900-acre <a href="/topics/Calverton%2C_NY">Calverton</a> property known as EPCAL. 
<a href="/topics/Phil_Cardinale">Phil Cardinale</a>, the 62-year-old Democratic challenger from <a href="/topics/Jamesport%2C_NY">Jamesport</a>, served three terms as town supervisor until his narrow defeat two years ago by Sean Walter, a 45-year-old Republican from <a href="/topics/Wading_River%2C_NY">Wading River</a>. Both men are intelligent, experienced attorneys who've done a decent job running their fractious town. And both have notable weaknesses. Neither is the best consensus-builder in the world. Both have hurled ugly charges at one another.
During his tenure, <a href="/topics/Phil_Cardinale">Cardinale</a> and others laid the groundwork for much of the downtown revival now under way. He was decisive in heading off a fiscal disaster mushrooming from the town's landfill. 
But Walter has successfully continued and expanded the downtown renaissance, working closely with business and cheerleading at every opportunity. Riverhead, a town with too much turmoil and turnover, needs continuity. Newsday endorses Walter. hN

VPRIVSUP

Editorial: Re-elect Walter in Riverhead

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Dominating the <a href="/topics/North_Fork%2C_NY">North Fork</a>, Southold Town is home to all the competing interests of recreation, wine-making, residents and vacationers. The best town supervisor is one who can balance those conflicts. 
 As supervisor, Republican Scott Russell, 47, of <a href="/topics/Cutchogue%2C_NY">Cutchogue</a>, seems to have many issues well in hand. His $38.8-million budget stays within the 2 percent property tax cap; he negotiated more modest contracts with town workers and police; he has an economic development commission examining ways to attract tenants to abandoned commercial spaces; and he is grappling with the perennial <a href="/topics/North_Fork%2C_NY">North Fork</a> problems of loud parties and post-wine-tasting drunken driving. 
 The Democratic challenger is Robert Meguin, 63, a Southold lawyer who has been a top legal aide to three judges and now runs his own general practice. Meguin is critical of the town budget, noting four consecutive tax increases, and a tax base that has eroded by more than 13 percent since 2008. 
 Both candidates are rightly concerned about the growing traffic congestion, and would support a separate transportation authority for the East End. Russell is correct to be pessimistic about wresting funding from the <a href="/topics/Metropolitan_Transportation_Authority">Metropolitan Transportation Authority</a>. He paints a vision of light rail cars running on existing tracks, and commissioning bus and shuttle services. 
 Meguin called the Southold Town Board "anti-business" and said he would take a lighter hand with the <a href="/topics/North_Fork%2C_NY">North Fork</a> vineyards and their expansion ideas. However, it's a fine line when there's a growing drunken-driving problem. For striking a reasonable balance as well as his other accomplishments, Newsday endorses Russell.

VPHOLDSUP

Scott Russell for Southold supervisor

scott russell

Too often in past years, serious questions of how to govern the huge and still-growing Town of Brookhaven have taken a backseat to partisan bickering. Happily, that has changed. And this year's election for supervisor offers hope that the new calm can continue. 
 Both the incumbent, Democrat Mark Lesko, and his Republican challenger, M. Cecile Forte, are serious, high-quality candidates who focus intelligently on the issues. 
 Lesko, 44, of <a href="/topics/East_Setauket%2C_NY">East Setauket</a>, won a special election in March 2009 against Tim Mazzei, the leader of the town board's Republican majority. That November, he defeated Martin Haley, the town's buildings and fire prevention commissioner, for a full two-year term. 
 Lesko's political deftness in naming Kathleen Walsh, a Republican councilwoman, as his deputy, plus a commendable spirit of cooperation by Mazzei, led to calmer times. 
 Forte, 65, of <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, served 31 years as a professor and administrator at <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County Community College. She's deputy chair of the planning board, which she chaired in 2005. She narrowly lost a 2009 race for town clerk. 
 One of Lesko's key initiatives has been Blight to Light, a campaign to revitalize eyesores. The most visible has been his effort to convert the dreary streetscape near the <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a> <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> station into a real downtown, with residences, restaurants and shops. Forte supports the idea. 
 Lesko was a key player in launching Accelerate <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, a still-evolving initiative that aims to keep high-tech firms here. He played a positive role in the development of a plan to protect the headwaters of the Carmans River. But he faces opposition from environmentalists over development in the area. He'll have to work hard to strike a balance between the environment and the economy there. 
 Forte considers preserving our water second only to job creation. She wants to make the town more business-friendly, with a customer-service attitude. 
 She has lived in Brookhaven since 1970, and she has an admirable personal passion for it. Forte has a solid grasp of the issues, but she disagrees with Lesko on few of them. As impressive as she is, she did not make a compelling case for replacing an effective incumbent. Newsday endorses Lesko.

VPBRSUP

Newsday endorses Lesko for Brookhaven supervisor

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Political, polished, confident and aggressive, <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a> Supervisor <a href="/topics/Jon_Kaiman">Jon Kaiman</a>'s governing style is bold, and he manages his town well. The budget always balances and services are delivered competently. What's more, Kaiman, a 49-year-old Democrat who lives in <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a> Village, never settles for a stay-the-course routine. Instead, he seeks improvement and innovation for his town with a devotion bordering on the fanatical. 
 His opponent, 36-year-old Republican Lee Tu, is a political comer with a grassroots approach who sought the job in 2009 as well. Tu, a senior audit manager from <a href="/topics/Albertson%2C_NY">Albertson</a>, cares about the community. At the same time, he seems to portray relatively minor issues as major battles to paint Kaiman as an out-of-touch executive who discounts the needs of certain neighborhoods and constituencies, a charge that does not resonate. 
 In fact, Kaiman has shown the detail-oriented tenacity to keep improving on his past innovations, like the town's 311 call-answering system. At the same time, he is continuing to introduce vital programs. Perhaps the most impressive is a new initiative that eliminated lightly used town buses meant to transport senior citizens. Now, taxis take the seniors when they wish; the town pays half, the senior pays half, saving the town hundreds of thousands of dollars and helping thousands of seniors. Kaiman steadily seems to be getting better: He has, over his four terms, become less abrasive, more inclusive and a better communicator, while continuing to brandish the intellectual power and ambition to better his town. Newsday endorses Kaiman.

VPNHEMSUP

Re-elect Jon Kaiman in North Hempstead

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This is the first editorial board endorsement for 2011. 
 &nbsp; 
 When he was first elected supervisor in 2006, Phil Nolan faced the challenge of setting the Town of Islip on a steadier course after the campaign-funds scandal that sent his predecessor, Peter McGowan, to prison. 
 Since then, Nolan, 61, a <a href="/topics/U.S._Democratic_Party">Democrat</a> from the hamlet of Islip, has maintained a firm hand on the wheel of government. He deserves re-election. 
 Nolan's accomplishments are many: He trimmed the town workforce from 1,029 year-round positions in 2007 to about 730; saved $6.5 million in three years (and won a national award) by tightening oversight of workers' compensation; won federal funds to renovate the vital Maple Avenue ferry dock and expand parking; cut overtime costs for snow removal by preparing streets with a brine coating before storms; reduced the number of town vehicles allowed for personal use of employees; and eliminated health plans for officials working on town boards. 
 In five budgets, Nolan raised town taxes by 2.9 percent in 2008, 1.87 percent in 2009, and has kept them flat ever since. 
 His opponent, <a href="/topics/U.S._Republican_Party">Republican</a> Tom Croci, 39, of <a href="/topics/Bohemia%2C_NY">Bohemia</a>, is on a leave of absence from his job as district director for Sen. <a href="/topics/Lee_Zeldin">Lee Zeldin</a> (R-<a href="/topics/Shirley%2C_NY">Shirley</a>) and has an impressive background as a businessman, lawyer, naval reserve lieutenant commander with two tours of <a href="/topics/Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> and service in the White House situation room under President <a href="/topics/George_W._Bush">George W. Bush</a>. But he lacks the experience in local government required to be supervisor. 
 In an interview, Croci correctly identified the town's biggest challenges, including developing <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> MacArthur Airport, working with neighboring town officials to improve the <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a> railroad hub, and monitoring the proposed Heartland Town Square at the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center. On the latter project, in particular, Croci impatiently blamed Nolan and "politics" for delays, but could not provide specifics. Nolan, meanwhile, explained that the multi-use proposal, including 9,300 apartments on 451 acres, is overly ambitious, and he is pushing the developer to pledge to pay expenses, including widening of roads to handle greater traffic. That determined pressure and his fiscal leadership are the kind of stewardship needed to protect the interests of residents. 
 Newsday endorses Nolan for supervisor.

VPISSUP

Phil Nolan for Islip supervisor

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