Council Member, Town of Riverhead: Andrew Leven

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ANDREW LEVEN

Republican

BACKGROUND:

• Leven, 63, of Riverhead, is making his first bid for office. He is running on a fusion line with the Democratic Party candidates. He is a former prosecutor who specialized in economic and health care fraud cases, and is now a defense lawyer.
• He earned his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law and has extensive experience in white-collar fraud prosecution with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey. He earned his bachelor’s in political science at Ithaca College.
• He grew up in West Islip.

ISSUES:

• Leven said overdevelopment and crime are his top priorities. He opposes the pending EPCAL development. Asking the Industrial Development Agency to approve the mixed-use project is beyond that group’s scope, and there’s been little accounting for the impact of increased traffic, he said.
• He said he believes in asking those on the front lines of law enforcement their recommendations to solve the problems they’re seeing, then developing a plan for quick and longer-term results.
• He said he would look for more effective ways to enforce laws so people feel secure.