Schaffer returns as Babylon supervisor

When Richard Schaffer was handed the microphone after being sworn in as Babylon Town supervisor yesterday, his first words were a confession.

"Let me just get it right out there," he told the packed room. "This is real weird."

The new year returned Schaffer to an old job, his second stint as supervisor, exactly 10 years after he stepped down from the seat. Schaffer was reappointed after Supervisor Steve Bellone was elected Suffolk County executive. Schaffer, who will make $104,676 annually, will serve until a November election is held to fill the remaining year of the term.

Schaffer, who said it felt "like deja vu" when he entered the town board meeting room, received several standing ovations from the crowd of government officials, town workers and family members.

After being sworn in by his protege Bellone, Schaffer said he was excited to be back but that he "did get a little nervous when I saw the district attorney walking up the steps." The joke was a reference to Schaffer's previous tenure, when five top town officials were indicted on charges of falsifying documents. Four were acquitted while the fifth, Doug Jacob, was convicted of eight misdemeanors and sentenced to probation. He still works for the town.

Schaffer said that with many projects -- such as the Wyandanch Rising redevelopment -- at critical stages, there's a need to have someone "pick up the ball and run with it. I am ready to . . . run down the field."

Also sworn in were newly elected Councilman Tom Donnelly and re-elected Councilwoman Jackie Gordon. The Democrats, surrounded by their children, were sworn in by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills).

The moment was emotional for Gordon, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who is being deployed today to Afghanistan. "Words cannot begin to express how grateful I am for your support," she told the crowd.

Councilwoman Ellen McVeety, who planned to retire this year but will serve in Gordon's place during her deployment, exchanged lapel pins with Gordon. The pin Gordon gave McVeety was an American flag with a yellow ribbon draped across. McVeety gave Gordon a heart-shaped flag.

"Bring my heart back, and I'll give you back your yellow ribbon," McVeety said as the two embraced.

Bellone said it was "pretty awesome" yet "surreal" to spend part of his first day as county executive swearing in "somebody who really made my career in government possible."

Bellone said watching Schaffer lead the meeting was like watching someone "putting on a comfortable old pair of shoes."