Candidates for legislative offices in northeastern Brookhaven step forward

Local offices are on the ballot this November, with legislative positions at the county and town levels up for grabs.

Suffolk County’s 6th District

Six-term incumbent Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker is termed out, setting up an open contest to fill her seat. In Anker’s absence, two major party candidates — both attorneys — have emerged.

Dorothy Cavalier, Anker’s chief of staff, has received her party’s nod. Cavalier began her legal career with AIG and Dime Savings Bank of New York, later transitioning to a small family practice in Ronkonkoma.

She joined Anker’s staff in February 2019. Asked why she entered the 6th District race, she told TBR News Media that her four years in Anker’s office had opened her to the possibilities of government.

“I started to see all of the good things that can be done in government,” she said. “I would like to stay in office, hopefully taking her seat, so I can continue those good works and the good things that we started.”

She added, “There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, and I think I’m the one who needs to be in the office to do it.”

If elected, Cavalier offered to prioritize environmental issues, focusing on measures promoting water quality and preserving open space.

“We need to protect our sole-source aquifer,” she said. “We need to continue to work on getting our water, keeping it clean and making it safe for everybody.”

The Democratic candidate cited coastal erosion along the North Shore as a critical situation for the 6th District. She also noted affordable housing and expanding mental health programs for veterans are priorities.

Representing the Republican Party in this race is Chad Lennon, an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and an attorney focusing on military and veterans law. 

He has worked part-time for state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) as a special assistant for veterans affairs and U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY1) as a congressional aide.

“I have been someone who’s served my country, and I wanted to continue to do that at the local level,” he said. “I believe my experience with being an officer in the military, being an attorney, as well as the other positions I have held bring a level of leadership that no one else is bringing.”

He added, “I think I have an ability to lead from the front, put myself at the point of friction and make myself available to the constituents of the district.”

Lennon committed to tackling issues associated with public safety, stabilizing the county’s budget and finances and thoroughly investigating the September ransomware attack against the county’s information technology network.

He pledged to “work with the county to make sure we find out what happened with the cybersecurity breach and make sure that we have accountability, policies and training put in place to make sure that this kind of breach does not happen at our county in the future,” he said.

The Republican also cited the need for “standing with local officials to stop the ‘Queensification’ of Suffolk County that Gov. [Kathy] Hochul [D] is seeking.”

Brookhaven’s 2nd Council District

The boundaries of Brookhaven’s 2nd Council District underwent a considerable transformation during last year’s redistricting process. Most notably, the district stretched southward, now encompassing a sizable swath of Coram.

Incumbent Town of Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) is up for reelection this year, along with the other six members of the Town Board. Before entering office in 2007, Bonner served as a legislative aide to Dan Losquadro (R), then-Suffolk County legislator and now incumbent Brookhaven highway superintendent. 

Bonner also served as a trustee on the Rocky Point board of education and president of the Rocky Point Civic Association. In an interview, Bonner said she is running for reelection to continue working on various long-term projects.

“Every year you serve is like peeling another layer on the onion to tackle long-term issues,” she said. “In my years in office, we’ve done major stormwater remediation projects all along the North Shore, upgrades to our parks,” adding, “I would say, succinctly — to continue to do the good work on behalf of the residents.”

If reelected, Bonner said she would focus on the environment, noting, “We continue to battle and deal with climate change. The North Shore is always under attack, and there are more projects that I’d like to see come to fruition.”

Referencing examples of initiatives she has worked on with the Town Board, she cited cybersecurity, tax and spending caps and anti-nepotism legislation. The incumbent added that she would “continue fighting for Long Island to be a suburb and not a city.”

Challenging Bonner is Carol Russell, a resident of Coram. A retired nurse and trial attorney, she spent nearly 30 years defending doctors, nurses and other health care providers in litigation. Russell has also served as a mentor for the Dress for Success Brookhaven initiative and has volunteered to coach the mock trial team at Longwood High School.

“I look at our society, nationally and locally, and I see it is so divided and so broken,” she said. “I think people want to be listened to and included. I think our Town Board can do a better job at that, and I want to be a part of that.”

She referred to existing dynamics within the town government as “sort of a one-party rule for a good number of years now, and I’m not really sure the Town Board understands its residents or at least part of its residents.”

She regarded the two central issues within the town as the affordability crisis and the looming Brookhaven landfill closure.

“I’d like to see what can be done to alleviate some of the tax burdens on our residents,” she said, adding, “And I’m particularly concerned about the closing of the landfill, which is going to leave a huge gap in our budget.”

She further cited homelessness as an area of concern, particularly in Coram. “Homelessness is not exclusively but predominantly a mental health issue,” she said. “I think that there are ways that we as a town, in partnership with the county and the state, can do better.”