Suffolk's MTA reps, those maps, and N. Hempstead posts a job

Daily Point

New faces and old faces at the MTA

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has nominated three individuals to fill the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board seat vacated by Kevin Law, who resigned last month.

In a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul dated Friday and obtained by The Point, Bellone nominated Samuel Chu, the chief executive and founder of Edgewise Energy, a clean energy startup; Terri Alessi-Miceli, the chief executive of HIA-LI, also known as the Hauppauge Industrial Association; and Suffolk Chief Deputy County Executive Lisa Black.

Hochul can now choose one of the three to go before the State Senate for confirmation or ask Bellone for other choices. In the letter, Bellone specifically spotlighted Chu, who has served on the Suffolk County Planning Commission and has chaired the county’s Workforce Development Board. Chu previously served as Bellone’s chief of staff and as county commissioner of Labor, Licensing & Consumer Affairs.

“While each of these individuals would be an outstanding addition to the MTA, I would like to point out Samuel Chu’s exceptional career representing the interests of this county and the Long Island region, both in and out of government,” Bellone wrote. “I am proud to have Sammy call Suffolk County home and know that he would be an excellent addition to the MTA board.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman sent his nominees to Hochul as well. As The Point previously reported, Blakeman’s top pick is current MTA board member David Mack, who was initially appointed to the board by former County Executive Laura Curran. Mack’s term officially expired when Curran’s term ended, hence the need for a new appointment. Blakeman also nominated North Valley Stream attorney John Ragano and Jack Libert, who currently serves as Hempstead Town’s chief of staff.

“We may disagree from time to time on policy issues, but I believe we can both agree that Mr. Mack is a great public servant,” Blakeman wrote in his letter to Hochul.

Mack told The Point Friday that Hochul already sent his name on to the Senate and that he expects to attend Senate confirmation hearings via Zoom on Monday. He said he is prioritizing the “good repair” of the region’s bridges and other crossings, along with keeping the Long Island Rail Road trains running on time, adding more express service and finding ways to “keep the millennials here on Long Island.”

The MTA is holding its monthly committee meetings Monday and its full board meeting on Wednesday. It’s unknown whether the Nassau and Suffolk picks will be confirmed by the full Senate in time for Wednesday’s meeting.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

LI’s electoral musical-chairs games set to begin

Players in the musical-chairs game of redistricting prepared to make their moves Friday in State Senate and House races around Long Island, with final maps about to be issued out of state Supreme Court in faraway Steuben County. The intrigue and speculation of who makes what choices grew out of a few regions of interest.

In the 7th Senate District, former Sen. Jack Martins has petitioned for his former seat against incumbent Democrat Anna Kaplan, and from all indications so far he will stick to that plan rather than take a new shot at the newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District. With longtime Queens resident George Santos having filed for that nomination, an entry by Martins or any other additional Republican would mean a primary and additional party expense.

Another Martins bid for that House seat (incumbent Democrat Tom Suozzi beat him in 2016) may suit the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, whose strategists prefer a stronger candidate in a district now drawn by a special court master to give the Republicans a better shot. But sources told the Point that the Nassau County GOP, under chairman Joe Cairo, opposes passing up that new Senate advantage in favor of an intramural congressional competition.

Other sudden crossings of the House-state border may include the prospect that Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who’d been running in the Democratic-proposed five-county CD3 that stretched all the way to her home turf in Westchester, will file instead for her current seat. She’s been mum on the topic since the master’s maps came out in draft form. Other Democrats in the crowded primary are expected to continue in that CD.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, the sole Republican in the Long Island delegation seeking reelection, represents CD2, but insiders suggest he’d do better to switch to the now-redder CD1. Will congressional hopeful Robert Cornicelli, who comes out of Nassau County anyway, switch gears and run in the more western CD2 rather than challenge an incumbent with better fundraising? Nobody in those parts was saying for sure as the finalized maps were awaited by evening. The GOP moves will likely determine whether Democrats not already in contention will join the scramble for CD2.

Off the Island, one of the big results of this year’s re-redistricting came with ex-NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing for CD10, now expected to run from Brooklyn to lower Manhattan. This, after feeble bids for president and governor.

Given his record de Blasio is not even assured of winning a Democratic primary in a single district where not only do many residents feel they have no use for him but where other candidates have already been vying to gain ground. These include State Sens. Brad Holyman and Simcha Felder and Assembly members Robert Carroll, Jo Anne Simon and Yuh-Line Niou.

Elsewhere in the borough an agitated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries charged racial regression in the court’s draft maps as his residence was placed in the same district as fellow Democratic Rep. Yvette Clarke. Further north, internal party scraps were brewing for Reps. Mondaire Jones, Jamaal Bowman, Sean Patrick Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney. The group has some key committee positions in the currently Democratic-led Congress.

For the state’s dominant party, the music in this game is atonal where it isn’t discordant.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

Pencil Point

Congressional bawling

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Final Point

Wanted: A highway superintendent

During an often heated, lengthy town council meeting Thursday night, the North Hempstead town board voted to table the resolution that would have rehired former Highway Superintendent Thomas Tiernan. A search for a new superintendent is expected to begin next week.

The move came after a public comment session that included numerous residents complaining about the lack of a search process, with several citing Newsday’s coverage, including an editorial Thursday that supported the start of a full search, as the way they learned of the issue at all.

“I’m here… really because of the editorial in Newsday,” one resident said during the public comment period on the resolution. “I have some questions on it… Is there really only one person, this Mr. Tiernan, who’s qualified for this position? I really find that hard to believe.”

Tiernan resigned as highway superintendent in 2016 after controversy over his accrual of overtime and accusations that he had bullied vendors and others, which resulted in internal and outside investigations.

According to a separation agreement obtained by The Point, the town ultimately agreed to withdraw disciplinary charges against Tiernan in exchange for his resignation.

But on Thursday, Councilman Robert Troiano argued that Tiernan was an “incredible highway superintendent.”

“There really is no need to go and conduct a whole search,” he said.

Other town residents, along with civic association and union leaders, backed Tiernan.

“I really have a lot of faith in Tom,” said Pablo Sinclair, president of the Westbury Hills Civic Association.

After a recess, Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey, a Democrat, said the board would commence a search for a new superintendent, but hoped Tiernan “will be given every consideration.” She moved to table the motion on Tiernan’s hiring.

Troiano, a fellow Democrat, passed when his name was called, but then at the end of the roll call said he’d support the motion ‘with great, great regret.” Town spokesman Gordon Tepper told The Point that the position would be posted on Monday, and that the council hoped to hire a permanent highway supervisor in June.

Later, the council approved removing current acting Highway Superintendent Harry Weed from his position. That, combined with not hiring Tiernan, leaves the department without a superintendent.

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, a Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans, told The Point Friday she hoped to “aggressively look for someone who’s qualified, who has experience and who shows the necessary integrity and management skills to be a trustworthy highway superintendent…”

DeSena also raised questions over whether Tiernan could be rehired. The separation agreement includes a phrase that says “This resignation shall be permanent and irrevocable…”

“There are questions about whether the separation agreement that he signed precludes him from resuming his position as highway superintendent,” DeSena said.

But municipal law expert Paul Sabatino told The Point that the clause seemed to refer only to that particular resignation and did not indicate a lifetime ban on employment in the town.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall