Opinion

Endorsements

OPTOWNSG2023

With its mammoth, moneymaking landfill slated for closure, its southern shore threatened by rising sea levels, and an affordability crisis wracking its residents, Brookhaven Town faces serious challenges. Now add the task of replacing steady-as-he-goes Supervisor Ed Romaine, who is stepping down after 11 years to run for Suffolk County executive. 
 Embracing the theory that stability and continuity matter, Republicans have nominated Daniel J. Panico, 45, of Center Moriches, as Romaine’s successor. A town board member since 2010, Panico currently is deputy supervisor, and has learned the ropes from Romaine. 
 Panico knows the town intimately. He understands the affordability crisis and pledges to continue to minimize town tax increases. He is a strong advocate of sewers to remove nitrogen from local waters and boost economic development to produce more tax revenue. He can rattle off every housing development in every corner of town completed or underway, and is proud of the affordable units built recently while acknowledging the need to do more. 
 Panico complements that preparation with enthusiasm for public service and interesting proposals on pressing problems. He wants to consolidate services with the county, like having Suffolk deliver veterans services in the town while Brookhaven maintains the county’s parks. Panico also offers to perform all inspections of county social-service housing to ensure facilities are safe and up to code. 
 Panico’s opponent is Democrat Lillian Clayman, 70, of Port Jefferson. She is commended for stepping up after former Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant dropped out for health reasons. Clayman, the party’s former town chair, has some good ideas like starting a townwide compost program for food waste to reduce garbage collections, and she has executive experience from six years as mayor of Hamden, Connecticut in the 1990s. But she can’t match Panico’s granular knowledge of the town and how to make the machinery of government work for residents. 
 Panico’s biggest challenge is shepherding the landfill’s closure. He says Brookhaven will compensate for the multimillion-dollar budget hit with a green energy park at the landfill, a large bond coming off the books, and benefits packages from offshore wind developers connecting to the grid in Brookhaven; welcoming these projects and siting cables is the right approach but he must make sure the dollars are realized amid industry struggles. A proponent of taking garbage off the Island by rail, he would be a strong partner for a county executive seeking a regional approach to the looming solid waste crisis. But he must ensure that the last few years of the landfill’s existence are marked by the most rigorous standards for safe transport and transfer of ash and construction and demolition debris so that nearby communities suffer no adverse effects. 
 Newsday endorses Panico.

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Daniel J. Panico for Brookhaven supervisor

Newsday endorses Panico for Brookhaven supervisor

slVOTE

Housing affordability, traffic, airport noise, rising sea levels and adjusting municipal services after a big population spurt are challenges facing the next supervisor of East Hampton Town. The problems aren’t new for one of the Island’s most high-profile communities but are getting more acute. 
 Post-pandemic population growth of 32% drove property values to stratospheric levels, leaving workers who keep the town running even fewer places to live. More cars bring requests for more stop signs and designated bike lanes for better road safety. The long-standing fight over noise and air pollution at East Hampton Airport is at a standstill as a court order has paused town restrictions. 
 Deputy supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez seeks to replace Peter Van Scoyoc, who is retiring. The Democrat says she has the experience to better manage the town’s shifting needs, noting the board has added more police, fire marshals and code enforcers. She worked to obtain land in Amagansett for a new senior center to be built next year. 
 To attract and keep municipal workers, Burke-Gonzalez wants to introduce career development training for employees, increase their compensation, and construct more housing designated for residents who perform essential services. 
 Until she stepped away from responsibility for the town-owned airport last year, Burke-Gonzalez, who turns 62 next week, was directly involved in efforts to impose flight restrictions and increase landing fees. But she declined to discuss the airport because of ongoing litigation. 
 Burke-Gonzalez, of Springs, is deeply versed in the effort to develop a coastal resiliency plan to prepare the town for rising sea levels and more frequent storms. She said the town needs to start a discussion on managed retreat by establishing thresholds for parcels where rebuilding would not be allowed. 
 Republican Gretta I. Leon, a new face on the political scene, said she has a degree in dentistry science but does not practice and declined to disclose where she works. Her focus is on keeping working-class residents in town and amplifying their voices, especially on the need for better bus service. Leon, 36, of East Hampton, said some money in the Community Preservation Fund which protects land from development should be freed up to build affordable housing, though a separate community housing fund was established last year for this purpose. 
 Leon is a passionate voice but does not have the experience or the vision needed to run the town. Burke-Gonzalez has the management and consensus-building skills to move the town forward. 
 Newsday endorses Burke-Gonzalez.

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Kathee Burke-Gonzalez for East Hampton supervisor

Newsday endorses Burke-Gonzalez for East Hampton supervisor

Many eyes will be on the Town of Hempstead in the coming year. 
 As Las Vegas Sands prepares to bid for one of three available downstate gaming licenses for a casino at the Nassau Hub, town leaders must navigate the process and oversee the potential rezoning of the Uniondale property. That requires an experienced, careful hand, a supervisor willing to consider all options while listening, negotiating and approving a plan that takes the needs of the town and region into account. 
 Hempstead Supervisor Donald X. Clavin&nbsp;Jr. has shown he can do the job. 
 Clavin, 54, hasn’t always been known as a supporter of development. Initial delays on Baldwin’s downtown revitalization, and the decision to extend a moratorium on development in Inwood and North Lawrence, were setbacks. But the Garden City Republican has had recent successes, including breaking ground on 428 apartments near the West Hempstead train station and newer efforts to jump-start housing and other development in Baldwin, Inwood and elsewhere. 
 But developing the land around Nassau Coliseum has been Hempstead’s biggest challenge for decades. Clavin isn’t taking a position on the casino itself yet, but says: “Something’s going to be built there.” The town’s zoning work, along with community approvals, will come before the state’s licensing decisions, making Hempstead’s role even more important. Clavin’s plan to assess the casino in the context of the proposed NYU Langone medical center at Nassau Community College makes sense. 
 Democrat Olena Nicks, a senior financial analyst at NYU Langone, is a resident of Uniondale, president of its library board, and an ex-captain in the fire department. She doesn’t favor a casino, preferring health care uses and housing at the site, and rightly notes the need to address the area’s infrastructure and traffic concerns. Nicks, 31, wants a less partisan town government that’s more open to residents, and says she’d develop a community-by-community housing plan, update the town’s climate action plan, and emphasize the need for improved public transit, especially buses. Nicks is smart, thoughtful and well-versed in the issues. She has a lot to contribute on policy and in politics and the town would benefit from her voice. 
 Clavin, first elected supervisor in 2019, works well with his colleagues. His attention to and understanding of the nuances of community benefits agreements, infrastructure investments, and key issues like water quality are essential to effectively running the town. In his next term, he should lift the existing development moratoriums, build on recent housing successes and, perhaps most significantly, shepherd any zoning changes at the Hub with the right mix of public input and rigorous review, in a thorough yet expeditious way. 
 Newsday endorses Clavin.

VPHEMPSTEAD231015

Donald X. Clavin Jr. for Hempstead supervisor

Newsday endorses Clavin for Hempstead supervisor

Governing the Town of Islip, with more than 330,000 residents and a diverse social and economic makeup all its own, requires a deep knowledge of all its communities and a fair amount of political seasoning. The challenges are varied and always changing. 
 Republican incumbent Angie M. Carpenter, who over&nbsp;the past 30 years also&nbsp;served as a Suffolk County legislator and county treasurer,&nbsp;now seeks her third full term in the job she’s held since 2015.&nbsp;Her Democratic challenger is a newcomer to local elections, Kenneth A. Col&oacute;n, who has worked in the health technology field, studied patterns of&nbsp;addiction, and most recently served as data manager for suicide prevention initiatives in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 
 Comparing their arguments for why they deserve&nbsp;the job means contemplating a competitive tale of two Islips. The Islip touted by Carpenter has cleaned up and improved a notorious haven for drugs, Ross Memorial Park in Brentwood, while making slow but steady progress in housing development, maintaining important services, keeping&nbsp;budgets in order, and confronting the COVID-19 pandemic as effectively as possible.&nbsp;The town as evoked by Col&oacute;n&nbsp;underserves the jobless and desperately drug-addicted, has patronage hires and inadequate infrastructure, and fails to plan comprehensively for the future. 
 The candidates are sharply different in what they choose to describe, and how, about Suffolk’s second-biggest town. Meantime, both frankly acknowledge that affordable housing will require hard effort and community outreach to negotiate, and that solid waste disposal will require a regional approach, and perhaps a new incinerator. The winner&nbsp;must zero in on those areas with newly focused plans. 
 Long Island MacArthur Airport is another challenge. While administrators have had to dip into a fund balance to keep the place operating, Carpenter, 80, of West Islip, seems to work well with other interested parties, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, to boost business. As announced last week, Breeze Airways is adding nonstop flights from MacArthur&nbsp;to Vero Beach, Florida, starting in late December. She has also helped bring in more professional management for the facility. 
 Col&oacute;n, 27, of Brentwood, argues that a major priority shift is needed by creating a Department of Social Services like those that work on a town level in Babylon and Brookhaven. Given this is mainly a county function, it seems unlikely that the funding for such a new governance structure would be available. But there does seem to be a need for strategic approaches on addiction and mental illness; the town would do well to listen to Col&oacute;n&nbsp;as an adviser or administrator on these matters. 
 For her experience and knowledge, and what's been a generally successful tenure so far, Newsday endorses Carpenter.

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Angie M. Carpenter for Islip supervisor

Newsday endorses Carpenter for Islip supervisor

North Hempstead residents have the choice between giving freshman incumbent&nbsp;Jennifer S. DeSena&nbsp;another term to grasp the reins of town government or returning to office Jon Kaiman,&nbsp;who ran the town for 10 years. 
 DeSena, who is not a registered Republican but runs&nbsp;on the&nbsp;party's line, broke through three decades of Democratic control of the Nassau County town amid&nbsp;a strong backlash in 2021 to Albany's changes to criminal justice laws. 
 DeSena, 54, has not increased town taxes in two successive budgets, instead drawing down on town reserve funds, and&nbsp;says she has delivered on her promise to repave more roads. The Manhasset attorney cites improved transparency by&nbsp;putting town meetings, previously only&nbsp;viewable online,&nbsp;on a public access cable channel. She contends that Democrats who currently control the town board made her tenure difficult by holding closed meetings with town commissioners and setting agendas to which she was not privy.&nbsp; 
 Kaiman, 61, did not seek reelection as supervisor in 2013, and since then has served as chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority and as an administrator of the state's relief program after Superstorm Sandy. He is currently&nbsp;a deputy to&nbsp;Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. He says that those 10 years of administrative experience have given him new insights on how to run the town as well as some &quot;humility.&quot; In the past, Kaiman's drive for innovation and improvement of services sometimes ran ahead of building the community consensus needed for success.&nbsp; 
 In his earlier tenure, Kaiman established the town's 311 program and created a better transportation service for&nbsp;older residents to help them age in place.&nbsp;Kaiman said he would review town code and projects for their environmental impact such as making sure building codes protect homeowners from the dangers of flooding.&nbsp;Kaiman said he would work with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on infrastructure improvements to allow expanded service on the Port Washington line. And he is critical of DeSena's budgeting strategy, saying a few dollars in tax relief now puts the town in a precarious position if there is an economic downturn. 
 Newcomers to elected office do need time to understand the governing process, and&nbsp;Democrats who currently control the town board by one seat clearly&nbsp;have made DeSena's tenure difficult. But she&nbsp;doesn't seem willing or able to work on bridging&nbsp;the partisan divide to move the town forward. North Hempstead did not have a comptroller for about 16 months and the person hired in April resigned five months later. Other personnel disputes seem to have paralyzed town hall.&nbsp; 
 There is little doubt that Kaiman can jump-start the town to address its challenges, especially with his skills to engage&nbsp;state and federal partners. 
 Newsday endorses Kaiman.

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Jon Kaiman for North Hempstead supervisor

Newsday endorses Kaiman for North Hempstead supervisor

Drive through the Town of Oyster Bay this election season and you'll see &quot;protecting our way of life&quot; signs from coast to coast. 
 That&nbsp;is this year’s slogan for Joseph Saladino, 62. Unfortunately, Saladino’s way of life is troubling. 
 In his current&nbsp;term as supervisor,&nbsp;he resisted attempts to build&nbsp;affordable housing&nbsp;arguing there is insufficient infrastructure —&nbsp;even at the former Sears site in Hicksville — yet he doesn’t share that concern for a proposed luxury waterfront complex in Oyster Bay.&nbsp;Saladino's way of life is similar to that of his predecessors, who blocked&nbsp;prime opportunities for development.&nbsp;Saladino fails to lead on the most critical issue facing Long Island. 
 Despite promises&nbsp;to untangle town government from the party in this&nbsp;Republican stronghold, he still has political leaders in key roles. During his tenure as supervisor, Saladino created an inspector general position to&nbsp;clean up the contracting process, a laudable goal.&nbsp;But then he hired politically tied Brian Noone, who later had to be let go for misconduct in a contract matter. While Saladino defends the hiring process and says 200 patronage positions have been cut, he fell into the typical traps. 
 The&nbsp;inspector general debacle&nbsp;pushed Democrat Jared Behr, 38, of Plainview, to run. Managing his family’s former Behr Furniture business, as well as time as a Suffolk County assistant district attorney and personal injury lawyer, give him a fresh perspective.&nbsp;He&nbsp;is critical of the town’s lack of transparency and its recent inability to spend federal COVID-19 funding to assist renters. He vows&nbsp;never to hire political leaders in his administration. 
 But Behr does not have the experience needed for this role yet, and there is always hope Saladino can leave a significant legacy&nbsp;if he chooses. 
 Under Saladino, a&nbsp;budget surplus, better bond rating, newly paved roads, well-maintained parks and same-day building permits&nbsp;add up to a well-run town that serves the needs of its residents. That’s a strong record, but finishing your chores doesn’t renovate your home. 
 The Massapequa Republican&nbsp;shines&nbsp;when he talks about Long Island’s environment. He is passionate about&nbsp;the shellfish hatchery he opened that doubles as a water remediation tool, the only one of its kind on the North Shore. He has also overseen&nbsp;flood mitigation projects and green technology improvements, like those at&nbsp;Alhambra Park where&nbsp;bio-retention areas are used to&nbsp;naturally treat and filter stormwater runoff. With this vital expertise, he should help make Long Island the suburb of sustainability, and develop a comprehensive recycling plan that the whole region can implement to help solve&nbsp;the garbage crisis. Maybe then he could&nbsp;finally get affordable housing in Hicksville over the finish line. 
 All that would be a way of life in Oyster Bay worth protecting. 
 Newsday endorses Saladino.

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Joseph Saladino for Oyster Bay supervisor

Newsday endorses Saladino for Oyster Bay supervisor

Riverhead has lacked a steady leadership hand for too long. The town has had three supervisors in seven&nbsp;years&nbsp;— and it shows.&nbsp;Too often, bickering and finger-pointing&nbsp;have blocked&nbsp;progress. But with the right leadership, attention and oversight, Riverhead could be on the cusp of&nbsp;renewing its economy, uniting&nbsp;its disparate communities, and moving toward stability and growth. 
 Riverhead supervisor Yvette Aguiar's decision not to run for a third term has left&nbsp;another leadership vacuum. Vying to replace her are Riverhead Town council member Timothy C. Hubbard and civic activist Angela M. DeVito.&nbsp;They face many familiar issues,&nbsp;from&nbsp;the development of Enterprise Park at Calverton, or EPCAL, to&nbsp;downtown revitalization&nbsp;to public safety. 
 Eight-year council member Hubbard&nbsp;said he didn't vote for the controversial EPCAL contract with&nbsp;developer Triple Five and its venture known as Calverton Aviation &amp; Technology. The Riverhead Republican says the deal is a bad one and sees an exit through the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, which he expects will find Triple Five&nbsp;unqualified. If that happens, he said, he'd&nbsp;advocate for zoning code amendments to support&nbsp;development, especially for industrial uses like solar energy, aviation or technology. 
 Hubbard, 63, says&nbsp;downtown Riverhead should emulate&nbsp;communities&nbsp;like Patchogue and Farmingdale, and supports the mix&nbsp;of apartments, hotels, restaurants and entertainment coming there. He wants a moratorium on warehouse development in some areas. A 32-year member of the Riverhead police department, he unsurprisingly opposes merging&nbsp;the town's police force&nbsp;with the county's.&nbsp;Still, he recognizes&nbsp;the need to recruit more officers to reflect the town's diverse population and says&nbsp;the department has a role in bridging the&nbsp;divides. 
 DeVito&nbsp;ran for supervisor 10&nbsp;years ago and has extensive experience in public health and service to her civic association, the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, and the board of education. She, too,&nbsp;advocates walking away from the EPCAL contract,&nbsp;then subdividing the land. But the South Jamesport Democrat argues&nbsp;there's no rush and was unwilling to commit to specifics&nbsp;until the town completes its comprehensive plan.&nbsp;DeVito, 75,&nbsp;took&nbsp;a similarly cautious approach on Riverhead's downtown revitalization,&nbsp;voicing&nbsp;concern about the lack of services, especially urgent care.&nbsp;She said she'd consider&nbsp;bringing in Suffolk County police rather than a town-run force, but isn't prepared to commit to the idea. 
 DeVito voices&nbsp;residents' concerns well&nbsp;and could be effective at building consensus in this fractured municipality. But she's tentative about putting forward the&nbsp;ambitious plan the town needs.&nbsp;Hubbard has a deep understanding of&nbsp;Riverhead's most complex challenges, but his town council experience placed&nbsp;him in the midst of past infighting and intransigence. He must&nbsp;put those quarrels aside to change the culture of town hall and become the unifier Riverhead needs.&nbsp;That will help him&nbsp;fulfill&nbsp;his promises to&nbsp;diversify the police department, develop EPCAL, and move the town beyond past stumbling blocks. 
 Newsday endorses Hubbard.

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Timothy C. Hubbard for Riverhead supervisor

Newsday endorses Hubbard for Riverhead supervisor

Southhampton Town residents have the good fortune of deciding between two skilled and community-focused&nbsp;public servants seeking to succeed Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who is term-limited. 
 Both Democrat Maria Z. Moore and Republican Cynthia M. McNamara live west of the Shinnecock Canal, giving them a solid&nbsp;grasp of the challenges in the&nbsp;hamlets of residents who don't live behind privet hedges. While both are supportive of&nbsp;workforce housing in environmentally suitable places that would give a priority to essential workers such as&nbsp;firefighters and teachers,&nbsp;they also said the western part of the town and those areas that are not incorporated villages get the development and the associated traffic while the most expensive&nbsp;land in the east is designated for preservation.&nbsp; 
 Both support expanding a town program of providing stipends to qualified homeowners who want to create affordable&nbsp;accessory dwelling units as well as the current moratorium on commercial battery storage in residential areas. The candidates also strongly emphasize that listening to constituents is the key to forging consensus. 
 Moore, 63, is the longtime mayor of Westhampton Beach and a resident of the 3-square-mile village. She is widely credited with overseeing an ambitious project that installed sewers and&nbsp;replaced stormwater infrastructure by utilizing&nbsp;grant money from the state, county and town and not raising taxes. After the underground work was completed, which included burying&nbsp;electrical cables, Moore ensured&nbsp;the downtown streetscape&nbsp;was attractive&nbsp;and more walkable. 
 Moore, an attorney, said to decrease the traffic she would urge the Long Island Rail Road to fund&nbsp;more sidings to increase the use of scooter trains on the East End. 
 McNamara, 45, is two years into her four-year term as a&nbsp;Southampton Town council member. A resident of East Quogue, former member of the school board, and owner of a landscaping company, she began her foray in activism opposing standardized testing and then formed a civic group that was able to get Suffolk County Water Authority hookups for residents whose wells were contaminated&nbsp;with PFAS. She supported the&nbsp;Lewis Road project of single-family homes and recreational facilities that drew controversy because it was in the Pine Barrens Overlay District. 
 While Moore understands the larger issues facing&nbsp;the town, McNamara has a very granular view of all those concerns&nbsp;and the larger frame of how they fit together that would allow her&nbsp;to hit the ground running. As a council member,&nbsp;McNamara&nbsp;made it clear that she wants to hear from everyone in the town;&nbsp;now she must make sure that happens as she takes on a&nbsp;larger role.&nbsp; 
 Newsday endorses McNamara.

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Cynthia M. McNamara for Southampton supervisor

Newsday endorses McNamara for Southampton supervisor

The Editorial Board

The Town of Southold keeps striving to maintain its rural way of life in the face of 21st century changes. More and more, that challenge involves protecting the water, improving infrastructure, and adding housing. The supervisor’s job demands someone with experience, focus, and a deep understanding of North Fork communities. 
 Scott A. Russell, the seasoned Republican supervisor of the past 18 years, whom we’ve endorsed in the past, decided earlier this year to forgo reelection to another four-year term. Albert J. Krupski Jr., 63, a Cutchogue Democrat and a fourth-generation local farmer, seeks to succeed Russell. He’s leaving the Suffolk County Legislature after a decade representing its 1st District. 
 The Republican candidate is Donald J. Grim, 66, of Cutchogue, who operates a local towing and trucking company, manages a recycling yard and has long been a contractor for the county. He ran unsuccessfully for town highway superintendent two years ago. 
 Krupski’s intent to shift roles from county to town government, where he served before as trustee and then town board member, gives him an extra edge, since many key town and county governance issues — from sewers to waste disposal to tourism, traffic and roads — are inextricable.&nbsp;As nine-year chairman of the legislature’s public works committee, he knows the details of wastewater treatment and the need to convert septic systems for waterway protection. “It needs to be addressed. Yes, it’s a Suffolk County issue, but the towns play a role as a partner,” he told Newsday’s editorial board, expressing disappointment at the legislature’s failure to put the Water Quality Restoration Act on the county ballot. 
 On affordable housing, he poses the question: “What mix of incomes are you going to try to accommodate with housing so that you have your workforce in town?” Krupski sees the need for a mix — for both lower-end laborers and professionals such as nurses and emergency medical personnel — and talks of adding housing above stores. He&nbsp;shows a rooted awareness of how Southold’s growing needs blend with the region’s: roadway redesigns, some forced by climate change; maintaining a commercial waterfront;&nbsp;and preventing lithium battery fires. And he speaks of getting the Long Island Rail&nbsp;Road to better serve as a local transportation alternative, and keeping an eye on how federal plans may proceed on Plum Island. 
 Candidate Grim&nbsp;didn’t offer a comprehensive platform. He shares a suggestion worth discussion: Get high school guidance counselors to connect graduating seniors with local elderly in need of home health care — a paid job that could start young people toward further training in the medical and social work fields in need of qualified employees. 
 Newsday endorses Krupski.

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Albert J. Krupski Jr. for Southold supervisor

Newsday endorses Krupski for Southold supervisor

Newsday's 2023 picks for town supervisors

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