Town of Brookhaven Chief Deputy Commissioner of RSMM,Daniel Johnson; Commissioner of RSMM Christine Fetten; PaintCare Program Coordinator for Long Island, Sandra Torres Vera; RSMM Recycling Coordination Aide Zachary Sicardi and town Supervisor Ed Romaine. Photo from Town of Brookhaven
own of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) recently visited the Residential Drop-Off facility at the Town of Brookhaven Landfill to announce the town’s participation in the New York State Paint Stewardship Program.
Operated by the nonprofit PaintCare and administered by the Town’s Department of Recycling and Sustainable Materials Management (RSMM), this program enables the recycling of architectural paints such as oil-based, latex-based and water-based paints, as well as stains, varnishes and lacquers.
The program, which is funded by a fee on the sale of paint, keeps thousands of gallons of paint from being improperly disposed of each year in the Town of Brookhaven alone.
The paint collected by the town is recycled to the highest extent possible, being remixed into recycled paint; used as fuel; made into other products; or safely disposed of when no other beneficial use can be found.
Brookhaven residents may bring up to 10 gallons per day to the Town of Brookhaven’s Landfill Residential Drop-Off at 350 Horseblock Road in Brookhaven. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Many paint vendors have also signed up as paint recycling drop-offs. A map of all local drop-off locations and a complete list of acceptable items is available at paintcare.org. If you have 100 gallons or more of paint at your home or business, go to paintcare.org and submit a Large Volume Pickup Request form for free large volume pickup service.
Brookhaven Redistricting Committee member says residents must stay engaged
George Hoffman, a member of the Brookhaven Redistricting Committee, congratulated the residents who have mobilized throughout this process, but he believes their work is unfinished. Photo courtesy Hoffman
The redistricting committee recently approved the creation of three new draft maps, one of which you voted ‘no.’ Could you briefly explain your ‘no’ vote?
Ali Nazir, the co-chair, requested taking one of the first maps — which created all this controversy — and refining it by putting Council Districts 1 and 2 together but leaving everything else as it is.
Ali’s resolution solves the issue of Mount Sinai and Terryville. Still, it keeps [Council District] 4 the way the mapmaker drew it. I voted ‘no.’ Rabia [Aziz] voted ‘no.’ Gail [Lynch-Bailey] had left because she had to go to a civic meeting by that time. The rest of the [members] voted ‘yes’ [for a 5-2 vote] and that’s very concerning.
What is your message to those who have successfully resisted the first two draft maps?
I congratulate the communities of Mount Sinai, Terryville and Port Jeff Station because they mobilized quickly to preserve their communities of interest. They wanted to stay with the original council district boundaries we have had for 20 years, so I would not minimize their involvement. And it was a very personal involvement: they were defending their communities and protecting their backyards. If they hadn’t come out in such strength, maybe the majority on that commission may not have put it back. But I think the bigger goal is still to crack CD4.
In your eyes, does the transfer of Ridge into Council District 4 constitute an act of partisan gerrymandering?
Yes, and I think it may even violate the [John Lewis] Voting Rights Act. It’s pretty clear that Ridge is a solid Republican-leaning area. To put it into a diverse community solely because it will affect the outcome of that district, I think, is certainly the definition of gerrymandering.
With a few adjustments to Council Districts 1 and 2, Hoffman said Proposal 2 (above) is still in play. Map from the Brookhaven Redistricting Committee’s website
How can concerned residents help to deter an unfavorable redrawing of CD4?
To all the residents of Brookhaven, we should be concerned. They should care about their own community — it’s important to fight for your own community of interest — but help as much as you can to have a fair and balanced redistricting townwide because what’s going on is not fair and it’s not balanced. My recommendation would be that everyone has to stay engaged.
What changes are you looking for in the coming weeks?
I think all six districts have a right to stay close to what they are currently. I recognize that Council District 2 is down a couple of thousand in terms of population, so you need to balance that. Council District 6 had a lot of growth, so you do have to remove some of the people there. But there shouldn’t be mischief in doing that.
What is your reaction to the committee’s recent meeting with David Schaefer, the mapmaker?
Last night [Aug. 18], we met with the mapmaker for the first time in a month and a half. We should have met with him at the outset, or at least after the first six public hearings. Because so few people showed up at the initial hearings, he should have at least asked us what our vision or goals were for the first map. To do a map without even talking to us is like an interior decorator designing your house without consulting you.
I don’t think he’s politically motivated. I think he has good skills as a demographer and was pretty candid with us. But I do believe that he’s responding to some instructions. I think he’s data in/data out, and I don’t think you can do redistricting that way. Maybe he’s too much on the statistical side and not sufficiently understanding of communities.
Isn’t that the real purpose of redistricting? To balance out the populations but don’t destroy communities.
What is your understanding of the history of councilmanic districts in the Town of Brookhaven?
For years, the town used to elect its council people at large. There were always seven members — six board members and a supervisor — but they ran townwide. What happened was that they were not very responsive to local communities. You could vote against a community and still survive if you had the rest of the town, and it got very bad.
A civic network was formed called ABCO, the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organizations, and it became huge. They would do a meeting and have dozens of civic organizations throughout the township meet to talk about how unresponsive the town was to their needs. It culminated in a movement for a referendum for council districts to divide the Town Council into six districts based on regional community interests. It went to a vote. The community was very organized, and they prevailed.
Council District 4 was seen as the most diverse district in the town. People saw it as the district that probably would be most successful at electing a diverse candidate, and both parties understood that. That was 2002, so for 20 years now, we’ve lived under these districts, more or less.
I’m a bit taken aback by what’s happening in this redistricting. It’s pretty clear to me now that the goal is to change CD4 into a more favorable district, almost partisan gerrymandering to help the incumbent there [Councilman Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge)].
What are the risks of an overly analytical redistricting process that neglects the complex realities on the ground?
This is sort of a digression, but it has been over 75 years since splitting India into India and Pakistan. The map was done by a British guy who never went to India and just drew a straight line down the middle of the country following rivers, and over a million people died because the partition was done without any understanding of communities.
You can’t just do demographics without understanding the consequences of your mapmaking. I think [the mapmaker] has been much more on the statistical side, and I would like for the map to reflect a keener understanding of the communities of Brookhaven.
Staff shortages, a growing issue nationally, have made their way to the Village of Port Jefferson.
Earlier this month, the Port Jeff Village Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Joe Palumbo, the village administrator. This departure comes on the heels of various other vacancies throughout the village government.
Public sector staffing shortages are not unique to Port Jefferson. Americans are voluntarily quitting their jobs at record numbers, likely compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruptive effects on the workforce. Climbing quit rates nationwide have given rise to a phenomenon called the Great Resignation.
In an exclusive interview, Mayor Margot Garant gave her thoughts on the issue of staff shortages, outlining the challenges of keeping positions filled.
Mayor Margot Garant, above. Photo from Port Jeff Village website
‘The challenge we have in general when filling these positions, of course, is competing with the private sector.’ — Margot Garant
“The challenge we have in general when filling these positions, of course, is competing with the private sector, which is allowing for a much more flexible work environment,” she said.
Garant said the recent departures from the village government are out of her control. The private sector often offers higher pay with a better work-life balance.
“We cannot do a work-from-home program because people are bound to the collective bargaining agreements, which doesn’t give us that flexibility,” the mayor said.
The civil service system also imposes a set of strict criteria that complicates the staffing of small municipalities, according to Garant. To remediate these concerns, the administration has emphasized hiring and promoting internally, and dispersing responsibilities between multiple offices, a maneuver Garant said can save time and energy.
“Right now, we’re looking to absorb some of the responsibilities of the village administrator between Barbara Sakovich, our clerk; the treasurer’s office; Kevin Wood, who’s in charge of all our technology; and Rich Harris in the Building Department,” Garant said, adding, “We are also bringing on a new deputy clerk. … That is an appointed position, and we’re thrilled to have that happen because she knows us, she’s a resident and it’s a promotion from within.”
Village resident Ana Hozyainova closely followed the issue of staffing shortages during her recent candidacy for trustee. In an interview, she criticized consolidating multiple responsibilities to a single person, arguing that this practice leads to conflicting obligations and confusion for village employees.
“The head of the [building] department, who resigned in March, was replaced with a temporary person who shares a prosecutorial role in the village administration,” she said. “To me, these two positions should not be combined because one role is a prosecutor who addresses negligence or incompatibility with the code, and the other helps to resolve those things.”
Hozyainova said that a growing number of vacancies on various boards are also causing concern, adding that she is most alarmed by the vacancies in the Building Department.
“The Building Department provides permits and helps the village residents and businesses navigate the building code,” she said. “There is no plan reviewer at the moment, no senior planning person, and these are essential positions that help interface between the businesses, the residents and the government.”
Hozyainova believes there may be unnecessary delays for residents and business owners if these positions remain unfilled: “When there’s a lack of those positions on a permanent basis, the communications start to break down and the permitting process is extended unnecessarily.”
Hozyainova fears staffing shortages will result in two principal consequences: a lengthier permit application process and rising costs.
“At the moment, many of the plans are being sent to an external agency for review,” she said. “An external agency generally costs more than an internal agency.” With too many transient agents, she also believes there is less institutional memory within village government, which can be exhausting for permit applicants.
Garant presented a contrasting judgment, stating that the critical positions within her administration are in place. With these spots filled, she maintains that there will still be an effective administration and delivery of village services.
In areas where diminished services may be of concern, the mayor said outside consultancy firms can operate as a “stopgap” at a reasonable expense to the taxpayer.
“We’re very careful not to give them carte blanche,” Garant said. “Usually, we’re very conscious of making sure that compensation does not exceed the amount we would be spending on the individual employee.” She added, “Nine times out of 10, we’re actually saving money because we’re not responsible for the benefits package for the outside consultant.”
On the whole, Garant suggests difficulties staffing a small municipality are inevitable given growing nationwide economic uncertainty.
Despite a few job openings, local school districts are ready for the new school year. Stock photo
With schools across the nation facing issues filling positions, including vital teaching jobs, local school districts, for the most part, are looking toward the new academic year in a good position with staffing.
While COVID-19 created severe obstacles for schools in the last couple of years, local districts are moving past them.
Some difficulties
Kevin Scanlon, the new Three Village Central School District superintendent, said the district is among those well staffed regarding teachers. Slight shortages involve jobs such as teaching assistants and monitor positions. Substitutes for teaching and various openings, including custodial, are also hard to find. Scanlon said that with more than 500 teachers in the district, 30 to 50 of them could be out on any given day.
Neil Katz, Smithtown Central School District assistant superintendent for personnel; Jim Polansky, Huntington school district superintendent; and Roberta Gerold, Middle Country Central School District superintendent, all said their districts are in the same position with permanent teaching positions being filled, but there are small issues finding noncertified employees.
Routinely, it can be challenging also to find candidates in the fields of English as a New Language, family and consumer sciences, technology and language classes. Scanlon added that it’s difficult to find certified American Sign Language educators.
“Also, business teachers, which is unusual because 25 years ago you probably had your choice of teachers,” he said. “Some of the local colleges in New York also used to produce 120 candidates a year in tech teachers, now they’re producing maybe 12 to18. So, the numbers are quite short of where they were years ago in those specialized areas.”
Scanlon added finding such teachers is even more difficult than finding math and science teachers.
“We are all competing against each other trying to find them,” he said.
Polansky said, from time to time, there can be last-minute resignations at the end of the summer.
“Those can present issues, but those are few and far between, and sometimes if you have an added aide position that comes up due to class formation, that doesn’t take place until late in the summer,” he said.
Gerold said, “One of the many byproducts of the pandemic has been a smaller pool of applicants, which has impacted the Middle Country school district’s ability — as it has school districts across Long Island and the country — to hire talented educators.”
Like other districts, Middle Country found ways to ensure it was properly staffed.
“While the hiring process has been particularly challenging heading into this school year, our human resources and personnel teams have worked hard to creatively find new solutions to attract the next generation of educators to lead our community into the future,” she said.
There has also been a need to stay proactive regarding teacher retirements. While student enrollment has declined in some local districts, the number of teachers retiring has increased.
Katz said the number of employees currently retiring makes sense as the population was growing in the area 25 to 30 years ago and schools were expanding, which led to the need to hire more teachers at the time. Those employees are now meeting their retirement requirements.
“We’re hitting that point that there’s this balloon of the number of teachers that are eligible for retirement,” Katz said, adding COVID-19 exacerbated the problem in recent years.
Polansky agreed.
“You’re going to see more in the next couple of years because it is kind of generational,” he said. “That’s another thing that we need to take into account.”
According to New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, 33% of active members could potentially retire in the next few years.
Solutions
Some news outlets have reported states such as Florida dropping the requirements for people to secure a teaching position such as having a bachelor’s degree. Polansky said, “There’s a fine line between helping your teacher availability and compromising quality. You don’t want to be in a situation where actions are being taken that actually lessen the quality of the educator that’s in front of your children in the classroom.”
He added that such a move could cause more problems in the long run.
“We have to make teaching a desirable profession,” he said. “There are a couple of ways to do that, and it’s incumbent upon states and local school districts to make that happen.”
Administrators said their districts always start the hiring process early in the calendar year to prepare for the first day of school, attending recruitment events at colleges in New York state, hosting their own career fairs and placing ads in papers.
Scanlon said the Three Village school district will run an ad in The New York Times at the end of January or early February. He added that advertising in the paper is something many high-caliber schools do. Looking toward the future, the superintendent said there are talks about bringing back a Future Teachers of America club to the high school to encourage students to choose teaching as a career.
Gerold said one of the Middle Country school district’s “initiatives has been our successful partnership with Stony Brook University to fortify our roster of substitute teachers. During the pandemic, the district partnered with Stony Brook University to place student-teacher substitutes in schools. Through this, we’ve been able to satisfy the substitute teacher needs throughout the district and identify strong educators who are poised to excel in leading classrooms.”
Katz said the Smithtown Central school district tries to reach out to different associations and offer more competitive salaries. However, even using various hiring methods and starting early, sometimes a new hire will get a better offer right before the academic year begins.
“We’re getting into bidding wars,” he said. “Candidates are pushing one district against the other in bidding wars. Kind of like the housing market.”
Despite a few job openings, local school districts are ready for the new school year. Stock photo
EveryAmerican can learn from what’s going on in Brookhaven.
Congratulations to the its residents who for weeks have turned out to participate in the ongoing redistricting process for the Brookhaven Town Council.
Those on opposite ends of the political spectrum have found common ground, united in resistance to the two draft maps that first appeared on the redistricting committee’s website. During a virtual meeting on Thursday, Aug. 18, the committee demonstrated that it could listen to the public, approving three proposals that return Council Districts 1 and 2 to their current form, notably involving Port Jefferson Station/Terryville and Mount Sinai. Congratulations to the committee for its democratic response.
Despite this progress, residents in Brookhaven must understand that their work is unfinished. Beware of an incoming map that holds together the spirit and intention of the original draft maps while restoring the boundaries of Council Districts 1 and 2. This map, which passed the committee 5-2 on Thursday, has troubling implications.
The prospects of partisan gerrymandering are real for Council District 4. Any attempt to move Ridge into that district will blunt the voting power of historically disenfranchised and underrepresented communities, likely barring these voters from a representative voice on the Town Council for another decade.
Council districts do not operate on an island. We cannot stand by idly while the committee gerrymanders CD4. If the proposed cracking of Port Jeff Station/Terryville was an offense to that community of interest, then the transfer of Ridge into CD4 is a moral affront to the entire process.
The Brookhaven Landfill has been a blemish in the town history since 1974. This historical injustice is reflected by the area’s lowest life expectancy rates on Long Island, revealing the fatal consequences of a lack of political representation.
It is time for the Brookhaven powerbrokers to release their 50-year stranglehold on the people of that area since the landfill was started. With a fair redistricting of CD4, the people there can for once have an equal stake in town government and a champion at Town Hall.
To those who have fought valiantly for their own communities, redirect your energies to CD4. To the civic and business leaders, local organizers and every Brookhaven resident who demands better government, turn your focus to CD4. The people cannot rest until the committee puts forth a map that serves all communities of interest.
To the redistricting committee and the Brookhaven Town Council: Put an end to this long and regrettable chapter of local history. Do not silence the people of that district for another 10 years.
Upon prompting from tour boat operator Reggie Domangue, a 10-foot alligator approaches the covered boat amid a steady drizzle. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
Inches from its unsuspecting processed prey, an alligator closes in on a marshmallow. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
A self professed walker of the fine line between crazy and stupid, Reggie hand feeds an alligator marshmallows. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
Capable of swimming 10 miles an hour on the surface of the water, an alligator swims alongside the boat. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
A tug boat pushes a barge through floating plants along the Intracoastal Canal in Louisiana. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
By Daniel Dunaief
Daniel Dunaief
The drive to the Louisiana swamps took over half an hour and was a world away from the incredible jazz, po’ boys and other sites, sounds and tastes of New Orleans.
Once we left the highway, the road curled so dramatically that 15-mile-per-hour speed limit signs seemed unnecessary.
Homes along the way provided a snapshot into the sobering reality of the lives of people who live along the path. The roof of a dilapidated front porch looked like a crushed soda can, blocking the entrance to a house. Across from another home, a white hearse with a rusted roof was parked feet from the intracoastal canal. In a steady drizzle, the driver’s side window remained open.
Once we parked at the Louisiana Tour company’s parking lot, we waited on a small dock, watching a tug boat push an enormous ship about 50 feet from us through floating plants.
Our tour guide and driver Reggie Domangue provided a compelling commentary.
Passing a cemetery along the water’s edge, Reggie described how flood waters pushed a friend’s grandmother above ground twice, forcing his friend to bury his grandmother three times.
Downstream from the cemetery, a fishing boat called Perfect Coup rested on its side, its decaying carcass a testament to the destructive force of an earlier hurricane.
Reggie didn’t let several missing teeth slow him down. Sharing a narrative that mirrored the winding path through the water, he offered a few verbal gems. When talking about edible parts of the alligator, he suggested, “You fry it, we’ll eat it.”
Warning passengers about the dangers in the water, Reggie cautioned some clothing was more problematic than others. “You go swimmin’ out here, you don’t want to wear no white.” Moving slowly along the canal, he pointed out the ubiquitous Spanish moss. Years ago, Reggie said, people stuffed it in their pillows until they realized the dried-out moss was flammable.
Heading toward a highlight of the trip, Reggie described the territorial alligators. Noticeable from the ripples atop the water and its v-shaped wake, a 10-foot alligator approached, as Reggie yelled in French, “ici,” for “here.”
Reggie tossed marshmallows to the alligators. He hand-fed one of the alligators, whose mouth closed so rapidly its teeth snapped. As we coasted slowly through the bayou, alligators swam up to the boat. Two raced toward the same marshmallow. After colliding, the only thing left temporarily unscathed was the floating marshmallow.
Reggie said alligators swim on top of the water at 10 miles per hour and below the water at 15. On land, they can move as quickly as 25, although they can’t make quick turns.
Alligators eat small animals and birds. If they catch deer, they can’t eat them because the meat is too tough. Instead, they trap them under a branch, marinating them for two weeks.
The gender of newborn alligators depends on the temperature of the water. Below 86 degrees, the alligators are female. Above that, they’re male.
Female alligators maintain a territory of half a mile, while males have one-mile territories. A male in search of a mate can travel 10 miles a day.
Louisiana has strict poaching rules. Anyone caught poaching an alligator can receive a mandatory 10 years in prison. “People have done less time for murder,” Reggie said.
If you think Reggie sounds like he’s straight out of central casting, you’re not alone. The writers of Disney’s “Princess and the Frog” movie agreed. According to Reggie, Disney executives came on one of his boat rides and modeled the character Raymond, the firefly who’s also missing teeth, after Reggie.
Disney thanked Reggie in the credits. His passengers, including my wife and me, felt the same way after a memorable journey.
The Brookhaven Redistricting Committee met Thursday, Aug. 18, in a virtual meeting with the committee’s mapmaker, David Schaefer.
This meeting marks the first time throughout this process that the eight-member committee has met with the mapmaker. Before speaking with the various committee members, Schaefer gave his rationale for two draft maps that generated significant public interest and opposition.
For Schaefer, political redistricting aims to balance populations across council districts. “Equal population is the reason we’re doing redistricting,” he said. “This is about one person-one vote, and all other criteria are secondary to that.”
Aside from this primary condition, Schaefer said that the New York Municipal Home Rule Law states several additional criteria that factor into the mapmaking process. Among these items are drawing maps that promote political participation of racial or language minorities; contiguity; compactness; unifying communities of interests; and facilitating the efficient administration of elections.
George Hoffman, a Setauket resident and committee member, pressed Schaefer on the two draft proposals that have generated significant public opposition throughout this process. He asked the mapmaker whether he had received any testimony that suggested swapping Mount Sinai and Terryville between Council Districts 1 and 2.
Schaefer said that though he had read through the public testimony to familiarize himself with the issues, those suggestions did not weigh into his drawing of the original maps. He considers the two proposals as rough drafts only.
“I don’t take it upon myself to put any weight on any of the testimony, whether it’s positive or negative,” he said. “I leave that for the commission to do, and I don’t think my draft is one that the commission should accept as anything more than a first draft.” He added, “If there are changes to be made or big issues to consider, those are in the next pass of what I would do.”
Committee member Krystina Sconzo, of Mastic Beach, raised the issue of evaluating election districts versus communities of interest. She said that she would like for the committee to prioritize communities of interest.
Sconzo and Gail Lynch-Bailey, of Middle Island, both reiterated one of the frequent complaints from the public regarding the legibility and accessibility of the draft maps. They both asked for future draft proposals to present as many details as possible.
Schaefer acknowledged the request, indicating that a detailed draft proposal is relatively simple. “I can create individual maps that have every road, most of the street names on those roads, and I can do it very quickly,” he said.
Lynch-Bailey motioned for the mapmaker to produce a map addressing the population imbalances between Council Districts 2 and 6. She said these districts are the only ones falling outside the 5% deviation allowable under town code and, therefore, the only ones requiring change.
“I request a map that addresses just those two districts, and please put back Mount Sinai and Terryville,” she said. The motion passed the committee unanimously.
Co-chair Rabia Aziz, of Coram, cited the considerable public testimony regarding the proposed changes to Council District 4. She said that while the initial draft proposals keep the diverse communities of Gordon Heights and North Bellport within CD4, they dilute the voting power of those areas through the incorporation of Ridge into CD4.
“If you dilute the ability of people of color to be able to elect someone that has their community of interest at heart, then I think that is not in concert with what the community would want,” she said. “It should be a council district of least change.”
Aziz moved to send all of the public map submissions to Schaefer and have him produce a map that loosely follows the boundaries set forth by the Logan Mazer map. Aziz’s resolution passed the committee unanimously. For more on the Mazer map, see the TBR News Media story, “Residents, elected officials fight to keep PJS/Terryville intact” (Aug. 11).
Ali Nazir, of Lake Grove, made the final motion of the evening. He asked to produce a map that follows the boundaries of Proposal 2, currently on the website, but restores Port Jeff Station/Terryville and Mount Sinai. Nazir’s resolution passed the commission 5-2, with Hoffman and Aziz voting “no.”
Members of the committee agreed to give Schaefer at least a week to prepare the three draft maps requested during this meeting. The committee decided to reconvene in the first week of September to mull over the new maps. To watch the entire meeting (starting at 4:21:50), click here.
Nick LaLota, above, who won the Republican nomination on Tuesday for New York’s 1st Congressional District, will face Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) in the general election this November.
Photo from LaLota’s campaign website
After a contentious primary contest for New York’s 1st Congressional District, Nick LaLota won the Republican nomination on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
LaLota, chief of staff to presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), has also served as a commissioner on the Suffolk County Board of Elections and a trustee of Amityville Village. He will face Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) in November in a race to fill the seat of U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-01), who is running for governor.
With over 95% of precincts reporting as of 9 a.m. Aug. 24, LaLota received just over 47% of the total vote count. Responding to the election result, LaLota put out a statement on social media.
“Thank you, the voters of Suffolk County, for placing your trust in me,” he said. “Tonight, we celebrate a primary win against $3 million in outside special interests. Tomorrow, we fight for our community and country against a liberal rubber stamp for [the] Biden-Pelosi agenda.” He added, “Together, we’ll stand up for hardworking Long Island families, hit so hard by their tax-and-spend agenda, and always put #LongIslandFirst.”
Michelle Bond and Anthony Figliola received 28% and 25% of the vote, respectively. Left photo from Bond’s campaign website, right courtesy of the candidate
Although he received the endorsements of the Suffolk GOP and the Suffolk County Conservative Party, LaLota faced two primary challengers before receiving his party’s nomination.
Michelle Bond, chief executive officer of a cryptocurrency trade organization, and Anthony Figliola, a former Brookhaven Town deputy supervisor, received roughly 28% and 25% of the vote, respectively. Neither candidate could not be reached for comment for this story.
Following the primary election result, the Fleming campaign also put out a statement. The Democratic nominee condemned LaLota for running on what she considers an extremist platform, arguing that his views are detrimental to the political process.
“Nick LaLota wants to govern from the extremes,” she said in a press release. “He has proven time and time again that he doesn’t know what’s right for our district. From trying to defund the police, to weakening gun safety laws, to disenfranchising Suffolk County voters and supporting efforts to strip women of their fundamental freedoms, LaLota is only committed to exploiting division and advancing his own dangerous agenda.”
Voters will have the final say on Tuesday, Nov. 8, when LaLota and Fleming face off in a general election showdown.
Enjoy traditional Greek dancing on Saturday and Sunday evenings. File photo by Giselle Barkley/TBR News Media
By Heidi Sutton
Lovers of all things Greek will gather at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption in Port Jefferson this week when the church presents its annual Greek Festival on Thursday, Aug. 25 from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday, Aug. 26 from 5 to 11 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 27 from noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 28 from noon to 10 p.m.
Held rain or shine, the fun event will feature carnival rides, games, a variety of vendors, fireworks, church tours, live Greek music by Asteri Entertainment, dancing and of course, culinary delights.
Authentic mouth-watering foods such as gyros, tiropita (cheese pie), moussaka, souvlaki, and spanakopita (spinach pie) will be served up, along with sweet desserts such as galaktoboureko, koulourakia, baklava and loukoumades, a fried dough pastry favorite.
One of the main attractions at the festival is the over-the-top sweepstakes that the church holds. This year 170 prizes will be awarded from cars — a 2023 Mercedes Benz A-Class is first prize — to a boat, Apple Watch, iPad, cash, Smart TV and more. Tickets for the sweepstakes are $100 each and limited to 3,999 tickets. The drawing will be held on Aug. 28 at 8 p.m.
The event is also an opportunity to see traditional Greek dance performances by the Blue Point Hellenic Dancers on Saturday and the Greek School Dancers on Sunday.
Fireworks will be held on Friday and Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m., weather permitting. Free shuttle buses will pick up attendees from Ward Melville High School, 380 Old Town Road, East Setauket to transport them to festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. Parking is also available at BASF Corporation across the street from the church. Tickets are $2 per person; children under 12 can attend for free.
The Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption is located at 430 Sheep Pasture Road in Port Jefferson. For more information, call the church office at 631-473-0894 or visit www.portjeffgreekfest.com.
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