Editorial: Garetano in Suffolk 17th Dist.
Dennis Garetano, Republican candidate for Suffolk County Legislature District 17 Credit:
This race pits polished three-term Democratic incumbent Louis D'Amaro, 50, a lawyer from North Babylon, against pet-show promoter and former South Huntington school board member Dennis Garetano, 59, a Huntington Station Republican who lost to D'Amaro in 2005.
Both want to bring sewers to homes in Deer Park and North Babylon, and restore 2012 funds for the Dolan medical clinic. But the contest has been overshadowed by gangs and crime in Huntington Station, which led to the closure of a middle school. D'Amaro says he increased police presence. Garetano wants to go further, advocating an anti-gang unit and the restoration of a police substation.
D'Amaro faults Garetano for fights and State Liquor Authority violations at a West Hills bar he ran until the mid-2000s, and for spotty attendance in his last year on the South Huntington school board, after excellent attendance in six prior years.
The incumbent was stripped of a key committee chairmanship this year after a failed coup to take over as presiding officer. His vote against hiring a special counsel for the legislature's 2010 inquiry into the county ethics commission was disappointing because D'Amaro's wife, county attorney Christine Malafi, was a counsel to the commission. D'Amaro says he did not recuse himself because the county ethics board advised that generally no conflict exists for him. But in this matter, good judgment required recusal.
A fresh start is needed. Garetano promises to bring an intense focus to a troubled area of Huntington. Newsday endorses Garetano.
This is a corrected version of the 17th District endorsement. An earlier version misstated the consequence of the legislature's vote on the county ethics commission.< />
