Patrick Halpin, former Suffolk County executive, proposed as SCWA leader 

Former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin will be proposed as the new $32,000-a-year chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority when newly elected Democratic State Sen. James Gaughran leaves the agency to take his seat in Albany in January. 

Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic chairman, said he will recommend Halpin to the 11-member majority Democratic caucus of the Suffolk Legislature. The legislature must confirm the appointment.

Halpin, a Democrat who has been on the five-member authority board since 2006, would be named to fill the remainder of Gaughran’s term as chairman, which expires in March 2023.

Halpin’s board seat also must also be filled, Schaffer said. Among those who have expressed interest in the $18,000-a-year part-time job are Tracey Edwards, a former Huntington Town Board member; attorney Michael White, former executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Council; and attorney David Bishop, a former Suffolk County lawmaker.

Halpin is a former Suffolk legislator and state assemblyman and served as county executive from 1988 to 1991. He is a managing director at the political consulting firm Mercury Public Affairs and is chairman of the Babylon Town Planning Board