Suffolk County Community College President Ed Bonahue gets contract extension

The Suffolk County Community College board of trustees on Thursday voted to extend the contract of college president Edward Bonahue despite objections raised by some members of the Suffolk County Legislature.

Bonahue, who was previously a provost and vice president for academic affairs at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, joined SCCC in June 2021 and signed a three-year contract. The agreement is now extended from June 2024 until June 2027, a move board chair E. Christopher Murray said signals to Bonahue that his position at the school is solid.

The resolution passed with six trustees of the 10-member board voting for it, including student trustee Samantha Portilla who was sworn in that morning. Former Trustee Jim Morgo stepped down in June after his term expired. Trustees Theresa Sanders, Priscilla Zarate and Belinda Pagdanganan were absent.        

Murray said every member of the board supports Bonahue. Under Bonahue's tenure the school has introduced abbreviated courses called “micromesters” and he has championed workforce training like a new solar installer certificate program.

“He's out there promoting Suffolk Community College to various business groups, education groups — I think he's done a wonderful job,” Murray said following the board’s monthly meeting at the Ammerman Campus in Selden.

Murray noted the competitive environment in recruiting community college presidents and said if Bonahue thought the board did not want to renew his contract, “he could go out and start looking for another job,” Murray said. “That's the last thing we want.”

But Legis. Trish Bergin (R-East Islip) spoke out against the contract extension, noting controversies Bonahue has experienced in the role. Those included Tesla pulling its automotive program in April after the school declined to accommodate its request for more space, and a questionable proposal that would have had the college paying rent to the nonprofit Urban League of Long Island where SCCC trustee Theresa Sanders is president and Murray is counsel. The board eventually decided not to pursue the arrangement.

Bergin was also critical when the board voted in August 2022 to raise Bonahue’s salary from $265,000 to $290,000 and his housing allowance from $36,000 to $48,000 after the legislature had already approved the college’s budget that year.

“I’m just appalled at what is happening here,” Bergin said.

Legis. Jim Mazzarella (R-Moriches), the chairman of the legislature’s education and labor committee, sent a letter to Murray on Wednesday stating the legislature only learned of the resolution Aug. 11 and urging the college board to table it until their “partners in Suffolk County government” could review it. Murray sent a letter back stating it is up to the college board to decide on the president’s contract and that he would support the measure.

Bonahue thanked the board for its support.

“Like all colleges, we have our challenges, but I'm pleased that the board feels the college is on the right path,” Bonahue said. “I'm going to continue to work to the best of my ability to be sure that the legislators have every confidence that the college is going to continue to fulfill its mission.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.