Ex-county execs to coach successors

Old-timers' day is a ways off in baseball, but it will come much sooner on Long Island.

This spring, six former Nassau and Suffolk county executives will gather in Melville for what will be their first session as members of a newly constituted board aimed at offering free advice on economic development, job creation and managing county government to the current executives, Edward Mangano in Nassau and Steve Levy in Suffolk.

The County Executive Board was established by Long Island Association chief Kevin Law, who wants to put the former executives' experience to use.

"They have a good perspective on things," Law said, adding that the ex-execs will meet for several hours a few times a year and come up with suggestions that might help run the counties. Law will then offer the advice to Mangano and Levy, who are aware of the group and said they generally support the idea.

Members will include John V. N. Klein, a Republican who was Suffolk executive in the 1970s; Michael LoGrande, also a Republican who was acting Suffolk executive in the late 1980s; Thomas Gulotta, a Republican who was Nassau executive in the 1980s; Patrick Halpin, a Democrat who was Suffolk executive in the 1980s; Robert Gaffney, a Republican Suffolk executive in the 1990s, and Thomas Suozzi, a Democrat and Nassau executive whom Mangano beat in 2009.

Halpin said he was approached by Law about a month ago. "Being a county executive on Long Island is like being governor of a small state," he said. "There are only a handful of people still alive who have that experience."

Business would be a key focus of the group, Halpin said, adding that his administration had been "pretty aggressive" about bringing business to Suffolk, noting he had attracted Computer Associates, now CA Technologies, from Garden City to Islandia.