Islip considers lifting ban on town officials serving in party leadership posts

Islip is weighing whether to loosen its conflict-of-interest rules by lifting a ban on town officials holding party leadership roles.

The ban, when adopted in 2016, was intended to mitigate the impact of party politics on day-to-day governance.

The current ethics rules prohibit elected Islip Town officials from serving in “any position other than a committeeperson of a town, county, state or national major political party committee.” At least four other Suffolk County towns have similar rules on the books.

The goal of such policies, according to municipal lawyer Paul Sabatino, is to keep separate the goals of political parties — which focus on strategy to get candidates elected — and public officials, who are charged with practical governance at the local level, such as making sure “money is properly and wisely spent” and “services are delivered.”

“The purpose of these bans is to keep them separate and apart so that one doesn’t encroach on the other and harm the public trust,” said Sabatino, who is also a former Suffolk chief deputy county executive.

Islip’s town board voted unanimously last month to consider repealing its ban at a public hearing on Dec. 16. The move came two weeks after DawnMarie Kuhn, who serves as vice chairwoman of the Islip Town Republican Committee, was elected to the town board. Kuhn, who takes office next month, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Supervisor Angie Carpenter was the only town board member to weigh in on the proposed change. Despite voting for the hearing, she said she does not support lifting the ban.

“As the author of the original code change back in 2016, I have remained steadfast in my commitment for transparency and stand by my original position that it is best to keep politics out of government,” Carpenter told Newsday in a written statement.

Other Suffolk County towns that prohibit elected officials from leading political parties while in office include Southold, Riverhead, East Hampton and Brookhaven.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico helped pass his town’s party leadership prohibition, along with its anti-nepotism legislation, over a decade ago. He told Newsday “it has worked exceedingly well.”

“In Brookhaven it has given reassurance to the public that their elected officials are focused on matters of importance that are pertinent to the public,” he said.

Babylon does not have such a ban in place, and its supervisor, Rich Schaffer, serves as chairman of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee. Schaffer did not respond to interview requests about his dual roles or his town’s policy.

In Smithtown, spokeswoman Nicole Garguilo told Newsday, “we do not have a local law on the books that would prohibit an elected official from serving in a party role beyond committee membership. That said, Smithtown has long emphasized maintaining the highest ethical standards and avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.”

Sabatino, the municipal lawyer, told Newsday that it should be “common sense” not to combine political and local governance roles.

“In all honesty, I wouldn’t need a local law to tell me that I really don’t want to wear both hats at the same time because the two hats are not compatible,” he said.

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.