Susan Berland for Suffolk Legislative District 16
Susan Berland, Democratic candidate for Suffolk County Legislature District 16 Credit: James Escher
Democrat Susan A. Berland, seeking a third term, tries to avoid predictable bromides and takes clear positions on what she sees as the merits of issues.
Berland, 60, of Dix Hills, says when asked, without waffling, that she'd favor a county COVID-19 vaccine mandate for county police officers. She acknowledges the inevitability of a cannabis trade but speaks out against recreational drug use.
Berland knows hard fiscal choices lie ahead and supports new development where appropriate. She's Democratic majority leader and chairs the veterans and consumer affairs committee.
Republican Manuel Esteban Sr., 44, an East Northport attorney, chairs the Huntington Town Hispanic Advisory Task Force. He offers both clarity and muddle. He rails against the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association's clout, and expresses justified concern about low-paid landscape workers. A recent sanctimony-laden rant by Esteban that Berland should "stop being greedy" was pungently off-base.
Newsday endorses Berland.
Suffolk Legislative District 16 covers Central western Suffolk County, parts
of Huntington, Babylon and Islip.
ENDORSEMENTS ARE DETERMINED solely by the Newsday editorial board, a team of opinion journalists focused on issues of public policy and governance. Newsday’s news division has no role in this process.
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