Dobie: Ballot propositions can be predictor for Steve Bellone in 2015
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, seen at his Hauppauge office on Sept. 20, 2013, has long sought the Long Island Music Hall of Fame for Wyandanch Rising, the public-private redevelopment that he spearheaded while town supervisor. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Steve Bellone is not on the ballot today. But the outcome of two Suffolk County contests are likely to be an early indicator on the county executive’s standing with the electorate.
Let’s start with one of the two local propositions on Suffolk ballots — Proposition No.4, which would eliminate the elected position of county treasurer and merge its functions into the comptroller’s office.
Bellone is the face of the proposition. His ham-handed attempts to merge the offices began three years ago and he is advocating for consolidation now. With Bellone facing re-election next year, the proposition can be seen as a personal litmus test.
Bellone has been right about the issue all along. Suffolk does need to join the rest of the state — no other county elects both a treasurer and a comptroller — and start reaping the twin benefits of greater efficiency and cost savings by merging the two offices.
But his first stab at consolidation shortly after his election in 2011 came off as a personal attack on Republican Treasurer Angie Carpenter, who had three years left on her term and who had just lost to Bellone, a Democrat, in the race for county executive. Then his plan was struck down in court.
The current proposition came from Legis. William J. Lindsay III (D-Bohemia), who suggested eliminating the treasurer’s post at the end of 2017, which also is the end of Carpenter’s term-limited tenure. It’s the correct approach and Bellone has been an ardent proponent.
Leading the opposition is Republican John M. Kennedy Jr., Bellone’s principal foil in the county legislature — and his party’s candidate for county comptroller. Kennedy wants to keep the elected treasurer position. His opponent, Democratic Suffolk County Water Authority chairman James Gaughran, not surprisingly favors consolidating the offices. Bellone also is supporting Gaughran in what has become a pitched battle.
Bellone has recorded robocalls asking Suffolk voters to back both Gaughran and the consolidation. Whether they do, and by what margin, might give us an early clue about the race for county executive in 2015.
