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Suffolk County Clerk Judith Pascale says she wants to run for reelection in 2022. Photo from the Suffolk County Clerk Facebook page.

This week, TBR News Media sat down with Suffolk County Clerk Judith Pascale (R). In our interview, Pascale was candid about Women’s History Month, the controversy surrounding her upcoming bid for reelection and her legacy in the county clerk’s office. 

What is your professional background and how did you get to the county clerk’s office?

My husband has a business, and I was the chamber president for the Mastics and Shirley Chamber [of Commerce] many years ago. I was the first woman that was ever running for president of that chamber. It was kind of a contentious race of predominantly men and, to cut a long story short, I won by one vote. 

Later on, I went to work on a congressional race as a volunteer for Ed Romaine’s [R] campaign. After that, I worked on a district attorney’s race. When Ed Romaine ran for county clerk, he asked me to join him and that’s when I first went to the county clerk’s office, which I believe was 1989.

I went in as senior deputy, in charge of court actions. Ultimately, I became the chief deputy county clerk and served for him for about 16 years. He decided to leave to go back to the [county] Legislature — he was term limited — and when he left, I became the acting county clerk because in New York, you have to have a county clerk, a sheriff and a DA. It’s a state constitutional office.

I screened for the position, amongst many others. On March 10 of 2006, then-Governor George Pataki [R] appointed me after months of investigation. Luckily, as I like to say, I led a very dull life and got appointed and became the acting county clerk. Subsequently, I ran for the open seat. I got elected and was elected again in 2010, 2014 and 2018. 

March is Women’s History Month, and you are just the second woman in the history of Suffolk County to hold the office of county clerk. What does that distinction mean to you?

I think that it’s important that women are judged by their capability, and I think there are certain industries and certain professions that women have broken the glass ceiling, broken the marble ceiling. I think that’s important, and I think that’s a mantle that I’m very proud to carry.

As far as other women are concerned, I think it’s very important for people to know that no matter what you are, you have the capability. I’m very proud to be the second woman. There are a lot of county clerks that are females, there are a lot that are males, but I’m only the second woman to hold it in Suffolk County. 

How has the landscape changed since when you first started out? Do you notice any more women holding leadership roles in government now?

I think it has become more acceptable, more accepted that women have a great contribution to make. I don’t think it should matter whether you’re a man or a woman. If you have the capability and you have the drive and you have the ethical standards, then I think certainly the door is open for women.

Transitioning into this year’s race for Suffolk County clerk, we spoke with Republican nominee, Smithtown Town Clerk Vincent Puleo, last week and he was under the impression that you were going to retire after this term. We’d like to give you an opportunity to clear that up. Do you intend to retire after this term, or do you plan to run for reelection?

Any elected official that tells you that they’re never running again — first of all, if they say that, it may be in the heat of a moment. 

They are saying that I made a commitment that I would not run again. I believe that commitment was that I wanted another term. They’ll say that I absolutely said that I would not run again, and that is not something that I said. I said at the time that I wanted another term.

Listen, do I expect to stay here forever? No. I’ve given 30-plus years of my life to the county clerk’s office. I’m very, very proud of everything that we’ve done there. We moved this office light-years ahead and that’s because I have a great staff.

The issue that I have is the way it was handled. I asked at the end of the year if I could do a kickoff fundraiser. I was told I could. I planned one in the beginning of February and the Friday before my fundraiser, I was told that I had no support. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done. We’re an award-winning office throughout the state. The fact that the party that I supported — I mean, I broke bread with these people — then all of a sudden I was being thrown out like last week’s trash. 

Primaries are very difficult and running a primary is a herculean task. They have an army. Anybody that has wanted to help me has, I’m going to say, been intimidated. Basically, I’m on my own and I don’t know if I’ll be successful. If I can get enough signatures to get on the ballot for a primary, I will. 

They want me out and, to me, that’s pretty devastating. I’ve served with integrity and dignity, and they should have told me six months ago. At least let me leave with some dignity. And I will tell you this: Women have come up to me and have thanked me for doing this. I’m the only countywide elected official that’s female. It’s not easy, it’s exhausting, and no one can help me. The fact that I’ve served this party and served this committee for all these years, and now I’ve become a pariah. That’s upsetting. 

As a follow-up, you have won reelection multiple times. You do have name recognition and an electoral track record. If you do get the signatures, are you interested in running in a primary race against Vincent Puleo?

I hate it. Nobody wants to go into a primary. The purpose of getting enough signatures is that if you get enough signatures, you do a primary. Primaries get ugly and, like I said, he’s got an army and I don’t. It would be very ugly and it’s not something that I look forward to, but sometimes you do things that you have to do. 

With all of that being said, if you were to win reelection in November, what kind of vision do you foresee for your office over the next four years?

When COVID hit, it was like the perfect storm. COVID hit and everybody moved to Suffolk County, so that meant that all of those land and real estate documents had to be processed and they were initiated. We not only had a shutdown order, but also this influx of this crazy real estate market in Suffolk County. We were able to do a remote system, so there was no interruption in the real estate economy, none. No financial disturbance was caused and, as a matter of fact, it was actually enhanced.

We would like to add more things to the system: more documents, more document types. I would just like to continue along that trend, add a few more documents to the electronic recording system. 

I’d like to amend the mental hygiene law for those people that have been determined to be mentally incompetent. My concern is that these people may have considerable assets, and we want to change the law to say that only the appointed person from the court can view that file. We don’t want “Cousin Mary” to be able to say, “Oh yeah, she’s got $300,000 in the bank.” These are vulnerable people that need to be protected.

Also, one of our primary concerns is cybersecurity, which is a concern everywhere. We’re working on that now and have a couple of capital projects that we’re working on to ensure our records are maintained and secure. There are a few more things that I would like to finish up, and if that happens it would be beneficial to Suffolk County residents.

Could you summarize your legacy in the county clerk’s office over the last three decades? What do you hope to be remembered for?

I would like my legacy to be that I have brought this office into this century and beyond, that I have made this office more user-friendly while simultaneously protecting the privacy of those people whose privacy needs to be protected. My legacy should be that we have won the ‘Best of New York’ award, and we’ve gotten an award for bringing government closer to the people. 

Government is a maze for most people. People have a difficult time navigating the government. My goal was to make it more accessible, more user-friendly, and we’ve won awards for this. I’m very proud that we put together a great IT team. I’d like my legacy to be that I improved the county clerk’s office, picked up where the last county clerk left off and brought it into the next phase. 

I think you have a responsibility as an elected official to leave the office somewhat better than the way you found it. Despite some of the wonderful county clerks that we’ve had, I am pretty confident that I will leave the office better than I found it, all while serving the 1.5 million Suffolk County residents.

Click here to view our interview with Puleo, “One-on-one with Vincent Puleo, GOP and Conservative candidate for Suffolk County clerk.”

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Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine. File photo by Erika Karp

Fund reallocation would help up to 100 more households

In a letter to the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (NYS OTDA), Supervisor Ed Romaine advised that the Town of Brookhaven return and reallocate $1.5 million in administrative funds received from the United States Department of Treasury as part of a second round of Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA-2) funding to address the unmet needs of eligible Town of Brookhaven tenants and landlords. 

In the letter, the Supervisor requested to have the NYS OTDA return the money to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program application portal, which is controlled by NYS OTDA for the benefit of Brookhaven residents. It is estimated that the reallocated funds can help an additional 80 to 100 eligible households that need assistance to pay for rental arrears and prospective rent. 

“Although it appears that the pandemic is nearly behind us, there are still many Brookhaven Town residents who are experiencing economic hardship. The funds are available, and we should do whatever we can to provide assistance so they can stay in their homes,” said Supervisor Romaine. 

“Because the Town worked well with our partnering non-profits and community-based organizations to perform outreach and get the word out, the response from residents was overwhelming. Now, we want to help even more people,” he added.   

In his letter, Supervisor Romaine stressed the urgency of his request since the moratorium on evictions in New York State expired on January 15, 2022. To date, more than 3,700 applications have been submitted to the NYS OTDA and $21,837,851.00 in ERAP funding has been administered to 1,257 households through the Town of Brookhaven’s Department of Housing and Community Development. 

 

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Jonathan Sanders on assignment in Moscow. Photo from CBS News

Stony Brook University Associate Professor Jonathan Sanders, who won an Emmy and an Edward R. Murrow Award, reported on Russia for a range of news organizations, including as CBS News Moscow correspondent.

Jonathan Sanders on assignment in Moscow. Photo from CBS News

Sanders, who knew several important figures in late 20th century Russian history, spent considerable time with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who is the immediate past president of Russia before Vladimir Putin.

“I knew Yeltsin extremely well, I know his kids,” Sanders said.

Sanders believes the late Yeltsin’s extended family is “appalled” at Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. He also thinks the late Andrei Sakharov, who helped build the hydrogen bomb for Russia and then was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for opposing the abuse of power and working for human rights, would also be similarly shocked at Putin’s attacks

While Sanders thinks noteworthy and important Russian families likely oppose the invasion of Ukraine that has cost thousands of lives, forced millions to flee their homes and disrupted stock and commodities markets around the world, the associate professor said the Russian population itself is likely divided in its response to the war.

“People whose sole source of information is the Russian central media are aggressively listening to the message coming out of the Kremlin,” he said.

The people in this group tend to be 45 and older and are less urban. They know of events in Ukraine in the context of a military operation in Donetsk, rather than an outright war against a neighbor.

For many people in this older crowd, the message connected to hostilities between Russia and the rest of the world has echoes of earlier times, during World Wars and the Cold War.

After losing millions of their fellow Russians in World War II, many Russians “had a grandfather or great grandfather who served” in the military, “this makes rallying around the national cause important. The Cold War is radioactive material with a long half life,” he added.

They believe the West, and, in particular, the United States, “wants to destroy” them.

The culture and mythology that informs their world view comes from the country’s own tradition of spies and spy novels that are similar to the ones many Americans have read, except that the “bad guys” are the Americans and West Germans the way the protagonists of American spy novels are often Russian.

Younger people who are 35 and below, however, particularly those in cities, get their information from places like TikTok and foreign press, where they don’t receive the Putin party line.

These information lines have created tensions during family gatherings. Sanders described reports of students at teaching colleges getting into arguments with grandparents who believe in the state media, if not in Putin

Sanders has lectured in Russia, where the students in Moscow are “more astute and more diligent in reading the New York Times and watching the BBC than my students here in the United States.”

Sanders said the reason Russians who are protesting the war are younger not only reflects the reality that protesters in general tend to be younger, but also the fact that these are the people seeing and hearing firsthand information about the damage the invasion has caused to Ukraine and to the Russians rolling into the country in tanks.

Over time, pressure might build on Putin when the number of Russians killed continues to climb, although the pace of sharing information about the safety of the troops may remain slow enough that Russians families may not know about their lost loved ones, Sanders said.

Sanders was impressed with the military intelligence released just prior to the invasion of Ukraine.

The information that came out before the war was “remarkable. It’s going to mean there’s going to be a witch hunt of enormous proportions conducted by Putin for who is leaking things out of the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense.”

Sanders is not particularly optimistic about the outcome of this war for Ukrainians.

Sanders, who produced and edited the documentary “Three Days in September” that was narrated by Julia Roberts and described the siege of a Russian school by Chechen rebels in 2004, recognizes critical differences in the way Putin thinks tactically.

In a hostage situation, most countries and leaders put a priority on saving hostages. Putin, however, puts a priority “on killing the terrorists doing the hostage taking,” Sanders said.

Putin is likely hunkered down and isn’t listening to anyone else closely, even those who might try to tamp down on his most militant impulses, Sanders said.

Former President Donald Trump (R) “didn’t want to listen to anyone [about the 2020 election]. He only wanted to hear about election fraud. He didn’t want anyone to contradict him. That is mild compared to how Putin has isolated himself.”

As for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Sanders hailed the embattled leader for his ongoing commitment to the country and inspirational messages. After Zelensky spoke to the British parliament, echoing sentiments expressed by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the onset of World War II, Zelensky may be “the first charismatic hero of the digital age,” Sanders said.

While Americans and British saw Zelensky’s address as a tribute to his commitment to his country and his eagerness to preserve a democracy, Russians saw images of Zelensky with a different spin.

“He’s sucking on the teat of the West,” Sanders said. Members of state media believe Russia attacked Ukraine because of “great conspiracy” against the country.

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Elected officials and community members, above, stand by a table of donations. Photo by Raymond Janis

By Raymond Janis

Last week, Long Island leaders and community members met in Huntington to announce the Long Island-Ukrainian Emergency Response Drive, a collection to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Dr. David Buchin, right, and U. S. Rep. Tom Suozzi. Photo by Raymond Janis

The gathering was held outside the offices of Dr. David Buchin, director of bariatric surgery at Huntington Hospital, and Suffolk County Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport), vice chair of the Committee on Health, who both share a business address. Buchin, an immigrant from the former Soviet bloc nation Uzbekistan, says donation drives such as these will help to alleviate the sufferings of Ukrainians.

“The horrors in the Ukraine, I mean we all see it,” Buchin said. “It breaks my heart like it does for all of us. We must do something to help them all. The hospitals are full, their supplies are low, so we’ve created this Long Island-Ukrainian Emergency Response Drive. We’re calling on everyone to help, anything that can help the Ukrainian people, like blankets, sleeping bags, medical supplies and first aid.”

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY3) was present for the announcement. He applauded the altruism of ordinary Americans doing their part to support Ukraine. He also emphasized the dangers of factionalism amid so much uncertainty abroad.

“Taking action like this to give people an opportunity to make a contribution is a great way to feel that we’re doing something, but we’ve all got to do more,” he said. “We have to hold together. We have to keep Democrats and Republicans holding together. We have to follow the old idea that partisanship stops at the water’s edge. We have to all hold together like we are today.”

Bontempi described growing up in Sweden, a country now endangered by the war. She fears the conflict may spill over into Swedish territory and asked for immediate support.

“My family, I speak to them every day, is very frightened,” Bontempi said. “We need to all be very, very concerned about what this madman [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is doing. I urge everyone to please talk to friends, neighbors [to] donate items. It needs to happen now — not in a week, now. People need help right now.”

Town of Huntington officials praised this public expression of solidarity and humanitarian assistance for the people of Ukraine. Town Councilman Sal Ferro (R) said he believes that Americans and Ukrainians are united under a common purpose, likening this local initiative with the cause of the Ukrainian resistance.

“Every little bit that we do can make a difference,” he said. “We can show the human side, why we live in a free country, why we live in a democracy. That’s what they’re fighting for in Ukraine: to stay free.”

Huntington Town Clerk Andy Raia (R) discussed his own Ukrainian roots. He said his relatives chose to remain in Ukraine to support the war effort and encouraged Long Islanders to do the same.

“The time to act is now,” Raia said. “It was really yesterday, but we need to do more to ensure that Europe stays stable, that democracies around the world are allowed to flourish. This is just a small token of what we need to do to ensure that the fight continues in Ukraine.”

For those seeking to donate, the Long Island-Ukrainian Emergency Response Drive is establishing repositories throughout the Island. Buchin’s and Bontempi’s offices, located at 224 Wall St in Huntington, collected items until the end of the day March 4, and the donations were delivered to the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge.

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Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta at a press conference in October. File photo by Julianne Mosher

By Raymond Janis

The Suffolk County Board of Ethics issued an advisory opinion Feb. 16 regarding campaign contributions from police unions to elected officials.

In May 2021, county Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) requested an opinion regarding donations made by the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association to the campaign of former District Attorney Tim Sini (D). Trotta asked the board whether Sini, or any other elected official, could accept a donation exceeding the $5,000 limit imposed by New York State election law 14-116.

“This board opines that if an elected official accepts contributions from a police union or any political action committee that have been made in violation of election law 14-116, a violation of the Suffolk County code of ethics would occur,” the board wrote, adding that “a definitive ruling … falls solely within the province of the New York State Board of Elections and/or a court of law.”

The board concluded that the donation created an “appearance of impropriety” due to the unique relationship between a prosecuting attorney and the police department. 

The PBA has pushed back against these charges. In an email, PBA president Noel DiGerolamo defended the union’s involvement in the election and accused Trotta of making false allegations. 

“Last year, Legislator Trotta made false allegations about the PBA’s election activities. Every other agency in the state has rejected his nefarious claims,” DiGerolamo said. “The recent decision by the Suffolk County Board of Ethics, even if valid, does not even suggest any wrongdoing by the PBA.”

Trotta, who was a police officer with Suffolk County Police Department for 25 years, said he sees an unhealthy arrangement between the county government, police department and police unions

“The reason why other law enforcement agencies didn’t do anything is because they took hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars from this union,” he said. “It’s corrupting the government and it’s making it unaffordable for anybody to live here.”

According to DiGerolamo, the PBA has donated to political campaigns for decades. He said these donations have fully complied with all state and federal election laws.

“The Suffolk County PBA has been 100% compliant with all rules and regulations regarding political contributions,” he said. “We have supported candidates in every political party for decades and will continue to do so.”

Trotta argues the existing practice of donating is precisely the problem. He claims that he and two others are the only elected officials in county government who do not accept police union money.

DiGerolamo said the BOE does not have authority to interpret federal or state election law. He viewed the advisory opinion as a significant jurisdictional overreach. 

“The advisory opinion is a tremendous overreach of the board’s authority,” DiGerolamo said. “It attempts to supersede federal and state law and undermine the democratic process. This unethical opinion cannot be allowed to stand.”

According to DiGerolamo, the PBA intends to clear its name of any wrongdoing. He said the PBA will exhaust all legal options necessary to defend itself and the voting rights of police officers.

“The Suffolk County PBA will seek all legal remedies available to ensure law enforcement’s hardworking men and women are not disenfranchised from the election process,” he said.

Last November, Sini lost his reelection bid to incumbent District Attorney Raymond Tierney (R). Trotta said he is optimistic that Tierney can root out corruption and restore electoral integrity in Suffolk County.

“I’m counting on the new Suffolk County district attorney to enforce the laws,” Trotta said. “I’m very confident he will.”

Sini could not be reached for comment.

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Nick LaLota, shown with his wife, is ready to run for congress. Photo from Nick LaLota’s campaign site

By Raymond Janis

Last week, members of the Suffolk County Republican Committee unanimously endorsed Nick LaLota, chief of staff to the county Legislature’s Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), in the race for New York’s 1st Congressional District.

Nick LaLota, shown with his family, is ready to run for congress. Photo from Nick LaLota’s campaign site

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) is vacating the seat to run for governor, triggering a primary election for the Republican nomination in that race. With the county committee’s endorsement, LaLota appears to be a frontrunner as congressional nominee.

“I’m proud that I have been unanimously nominated by more than 500 committeemen from the Suffolk County committee and from all of Suffolk County’s 10 towns,” LaLota said in a phone interview. “I intend to represent them well on the ballot.”

LaLota, of Amityville, hails from a line of servicemen, who include several police officers and combat veterans. He sees this race as an opportunity to continue the family tradition.

“I was a military officer for seven years, deployed overseas three times and visited 20 countries with the Navy,” he said. “My family has a strong sense of service. We love this country and we’re willing to fight for it and to sacrifice for it. If elected a member of Congress, I intend to do just that.”

LaLota was not alone in the field when he received the endorsement. Anthony Figliola, of East Setauket, and Robert Cornicelli, of St. James, both pursued the endorsement as well. In the wake of the announcement, Cornicelli is suspending his campaign for NY-1 and redirecting his energies to unseat Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY2). 

“It was definitely not an easy decision, but this is more about the people than what had happened over the last few weeks,” said Lawrence Bialek, Cornicelli’s campaign manager in a phone interview. “For right now, we’re really focused on getting into the second [congressional district].”

Figliola remains in the primary for NY-1. He criticized the county GOP’s endorsement of LaLota, arguing that Republican leaders are in danger of forfeiting the race to the Democrats.

“Obviously some deals were made and they chose an individual who doesn’t even live in the district,” he said in a phone interview. “I can’t help but think they’re just looking to throw this race away. For me, I believe it’s winnable for a Republican. I love my country and I want to be in a position to represent the people of the first congressional district.”

Figliola said he intends to use his private-sector background to alleviate the economic hardships Americans are facing. He cites rising inflation, gas prices and health insurance costs as motivating his candidacy.

“The reason I am in this race is because I see the way our country is going,” he said. “I see working class men and women of this district are being forgotten and are being ignored by this administration. I want the people to know that there’s someone in this looking out for them, someone who pays bills just like them, pays their own health insurance just like them and is feeling this pinch just like them.”

Both remaining NY-1 Republican primary candidates believe their party is operating at a competitive disadvantage come November. Each has said the new redistricting scheme will inevitably favor the Democratic candidate, also subject to a primary, in the general election.

“Albany Democrats did Long Island a tremendous disservice when they gerrymandered this district, stretching it from west of Amityville to east of Amagansett,” LaLota said. “They have separated a lot of like communities and have made it extremely difficult on constituents who will have to travel many miles just to see their congressman.”

The primary election is scheduled for June 28. 

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, at podium, and Town of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim at a press conference Feb. 25. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) stopped by Smithtown’s senior citizens center to talk about COVID-19 and distribute at-home tests to center visitors Friday, Feb. 25.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone talks with visitors at the senior citizen center. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Before the press conference, county Legislator Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset) began delivering the 10,000 at-home COVID-19 test kits received by the town courtesy of the county. The kits were distributed on the day of the press conference and Monday to local assisted living communities, faith-based and small food pantries and community centers in the greater township.

Bellone said he reached out to New York Gov. Kathy Hocul (D) for help with continuing aid to vulnerable populations. 

“This was the time to really begin the conversation about how we transition back to normal, to the stage where we are living with the virus, essentially the endemic stage of the virus, and you’re seeing that conversation happening now around the country, as well, which I think is very important,” Bellone said. “As we do that, as we move to that different stage of the virus and manage that risk moving forward, we do still need to be making sure we’re doing everything we can to provide the resources necessary to protect vulnerable populations, senior citizens, those who may have issues with immunity, etc. We need to make sure that things that we know work that are available that they are easily accessible and available to those residents.”

Suffolk officials have been working with various partners such as nonprofits and law enforcement agencies since the beginning of the year to distribute at-home tests, masks and hand sanitizer to the most vulnerable. Bellone said the county has distributed at this point over 200,000 test kits and expects over the next six months that Suffolk will be distributing several hundred thousand more test kits, focusing on the most vulnerable populations.

Bellone added that vaccines, testing and therapeutics have been making a difference.

The county supervisor thanked Wehrheim for his help during the pandemic.  

“Supervisor Wehrheim has been an example of the kind of leadership that you need in unprecedented times, and I truly appreciate his partnership and the work that we were able to do together during the pandemic,” Bellone said.

Wehrheim also thanked Bellone for helping the town ensure that no one went without essentials during the pandemic and for the county’s continued support, especially for those on fixed incomes.

“Now families can visit loved ones in nursing homes with easy access to at-home test kits,” Wehrheim said. “Our older seniors can come back to a great senior community and our great senior citizens department to enjoy socializing. Most importantly, we can get back to living again, safer.”

New phase

Bellone said Suffolk County is moving into a new phase of the pandemic. 

“We just recently went through what I would characterize as the second most impactful wave of this virus,” he said, adding the omicron wave’s variant infection and hospitalization rates were as high as at the beginning of the pandemic and the county once again saw double-digit deaths.

“We know that this pandemic has caused incalculable devastation, and there will be impacts that we’ll be dealing with for a long time to come, no doubt,” he said. “But, what is clear now is — I think a couple things — we’re moving into a different phase, and this virus is not going to go away. It is going to be here with us. It is something that we are going to be living with.”

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File photo

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY3) announce he will run for New York State governor in 2022.

The announcement came during a virtual press conference Nov. 29.

Suozzi at the beginning of November said he was seriously considering running in the Democrat primaries in June of 2022 and wanted to meet with political consultants before making his final decision.

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Suffolk County Legislator William "Doc" Spencer. File photo

Suffolk County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) was indicted Nov. 8. The indictment includes drug and prostitution-related charges. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.

Spencer, 54, who is currently serving as legislator for the 18th District, was arrested Oct. 20, 2020. According to police, authorities had arranged a sting operation, and the Centerport resident allegedly planned, via text message, to meet a prostitute, who was an undercover agent, in the parking lot behind the Goodwill store in Elwood to trade sex for the pills. Spencer was allegedly found with two oxycodone pills, a legal form of opioid, in his possession.

According to a press release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the county legislator is also facing charges for allegedly filing false information in a police report. In the report, he claimed to be a victim of an extortion scheme involving prostitution.

The charges include criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree; criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree; tampering with public records in the first degree; falsifying business records in the first degree; offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree; perjury in the second degree; making an apparently sworn false statement in the first degree; patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree; and attempted patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree.

“Following his arrest, my office conducted an extensive, thorough investigation in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, which resulted in this grand jury indictment,” District Attorney Tim Sini (D) said. “Investigators found that multiple women had allegedly been paid in either cash or drugs for sex acts with the defendant over the course of several years, as corroborated by text message exchanges and other evidence.”

According to the DA’s office, in July of 2020, Spencer filed a complaint with the Suffolk County Police Department. In the complaint, he said he had been the victim of an extortion scheme. In a written statement to detectives he said, “I have not sought the services of prostitutes or call girls.”

After his October 2020 arrest, he agreed to the suspension of his medical license “during the pendency of the case,” according to the DA’s office. Spencer is a physician who operated a private medical practice in Huntington and was also chief of otolaryngology at Huntington Hospital. He is married and has three children.

On Nov. 8, he was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court on Dec. 8. He faces a nine-year maximum sentence in prison if convicted of the top charge. Attorney Anthony LaPinta, of Hauppauge, is representing Spencer.

LaPinta said the indictment wasn’t a surprise.

“We were all aware of the investigation and the witness involved,” the attorney said, adding his office has been doing its own investigation.

“Up to now, there’s been only the prosecutor’s version of the facts,” LaPinta said. “There’s a different side to these facts that we will in time come out with.”

Spencer, who has served nearly 10 years as county legislator and was Democratic majority leader and chairman of the legislative health committee, decided not to run for reelection this year. Town of Huntington Councilman Mark Cuthbertson ran on the Democratic ticket for the district but lost the race to Republican Stephanie Bontempi.

 

Updated Nov. 10 to included quotes from Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini and Spencer’s attorney Anthony LaPinta.

 

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File photo

During a virtual press conference Nov. 4, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY3) said he has a lot to think about before the end of the month.

Suozzi said he has been seriously considering running for New York governor in 2022, but he said he will not make a decision until the end of November.

“I’d love to be the governor of New York State, and I think I’ve got a great record of accomplishment,” he said. “I think I’d be great at the job. I have a vision for the state of New York. I know what needs to be done.”

Over the next few weeks he will meet with political consultants to determine if he has a good chance of winning. He added he believes he could win a general election but he wasn’t sure about a Democratic primary.

To date, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Attorney General Leticia James and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams have stated their intentions to run in the Democratic primary in June of 2022.

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