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Barbara Sakovich

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Port Jefferson Village Hall. File photo by Heidi Sutton

In a historic act, the Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees voted 5-0 on Monday to extend the terms of service for village mayor, trustees and judges from two to four years.

Prompting the vote, village clerk Barbara Sakovich recommended the term changes during her report, outlining the logistical challenges of holding elections every year. 

“As we have an election every year, and we’re gearing up for this June’s election, we know we’re not getting [voting] machines anymore because of the primaries,” the clerk said. “I just would like to maybe get everyone’s pulse on maybe changing the terms from two to four years so that we don’t have to keep doing this every year.”

‘If the public wants to have a referendum or wants to have a vote on it, then they will let this board know.’

— Lauren Sheprow

Village attorney Brian Egan advised the board the term extensions would be legal under the New York State Village Law. The change would not affect ongoing terms but would impact the incoming mayor and trustees elected this June. The resolution is subject to a permissive referendum, which under the state law would enable the public to put the resolution out for a public vote this June.

Before the unanimous vote on the resolution, some board members offered their opinions on how four-year terms may benefit the village. “I always look at how you can get a higher voter turnout across the village,” trustee Rebecca Kassay said. “Voter turnout is always relatively dismal, but having an election every single year, people don’t seem to know about it.”

Trustee Stan Loucks suggested the existing term lengths are inadequate for long-term decision-making and planning. “I’ve always thought two years is way too short,” he said. “The first year, you’re just getting your feet wet, and the next year you’re out there campaigning.”

Trustee Lauren Sheprow considered the permissive referendum an option available to community members if they choose to exercise it. 

“Let democracy happen,” she said. “If the public wants to have a referendum or wants to have a vote on it, then they will let this board know. Give them the choice to come forward on it.”

Mayor’s response

In an interview following the decision, Mayor Margot Garant explained what village residents could expect moving forward.

“This is a board decision that is subject to a public referendum,” she said. “What that means is that the public … has 30 days within which to garner the requisite signatures to bring it to a public vote.” 

Assessing the board’s motivations for approving the measure, Garant emphasized administering village elections has become highly problematic. She noted that the absence of electronic voting machines to conduct elections has placed undue strain on the village clerk, who must count the ballots by hand.

“I believe part of what’s really driving this is the fact that we’re not getting electronic voting machines from the Suffolk County Board of Elections,” the mayor said. “To count the ballots by hand is a six- to eight-hour exercise,” adding, “I think Barbara did not finish counting votes until 2 a.m. This year being a mayoral election, she’s probably going to be there until 3 or 4 in the morning.”

Garant, asked for her outlook on the electoral process in Port Jefferson, acknowledged that elections foster accountability for those in office. However, she stated the board must also weigh the challenges of administering such elections, especially when they are conducted by paper ballots and counted by hand.

Elections “create a sense of accountability,” she said. “But I think the resources it takes and the amount of energy it takes to run an election really does impact your ability to serve. A two-year term is not a long time to get things done.”

She added, “I think it’s always great to have your community engaged, and I think elections engage the public. … I made the motion because I think the pulse of the room was for that, and again, the 5-0 resolution shows you that the political will was there.”

Asked whether there was adequate public input before passing the resolution, Garant said the board used the appropriate procedures and operated within the confines of the state Village Law.

“If the Board of Trustees has the authority to make that decision, I don’t think hearing more public input would have swayed that decision,” Garant said. “There is a mechanism by which the people can speak, and that was exactly what Lauren said — let them exercise their right to a permissive referendum.”

Pressed on whether fewer elections translate to less democracy, the mayor responded, “I don’t think so.” Effective democracy, she indicated, takes a more holistic approach.

“I think that there’s a broader definition to democracy,” she said. “Democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. There are still a lot of mechanisms to keep that in place and working.”

She concluded, “I think we’re a little behind the times, and I think it’s time to catch up and let the people decide.”

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Warmer winters are likely contributing to the steady rise of tick populations and the spread of tick-borne diseases in the area. Illustration by Kyle Horne @kylehorneart
By Chris Mellides

As winters on Long Island become milder due to climate change, the existing tick problem on Long Island will likely intensify.

Already, municipalities along the North Shore have engaged the public to discuss the dangers of ticks and consider possible remedies. 

During a Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees meeting July 5, one concerned resident said, “Another child just got bit by a lone star tick and she can’t eat meat for the rest of her life.”

The meat allergy in question is Alpha-gal syndrome. AGS is a tick-borne disease commonly transmitted by lone star ticks, which are commonly carried by deer, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

The instances of the prevalent Lyme disease have nearly doubled in the years 1991-2018, based on findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the climate becomes warmer, the size of tick populations and the spread of tick-borne diseases are projected to increase. 

Village trustee Rebecca Kassay, whose background is in environmental community outreach, is well aware of the problem that these pests pose to the larger community. She considers recent public interest in tick activity to be worth the board’s attention. 

“As time goes on and as climate change is affecting our area, one of the effects is these more mild winters,” Kassay said. “When there’s not a deep freeze for a prolonged period of time, the ticks don’t have that die-off like they used to and, as that happens, we’re seeing a steady increase throughout Long Island and the Northeast of tick populations.”

Wooded areas and athletic fields are more prone to being havens for these external parasites that are carried by wild animals like mice and deer and typically affect mammals, though other organisms are also fair game to these blood-feeding, eight-legged insects. 

“I’m going to be looking into messaging, making sure that there’s accurate information that gets out to parents,” Kassay said, adding, “What are ticks? What are the dangers of [them]? And how important it is to regularly check for ticks both on their children and themselves?”

Barbara Sakovich, Port Jeff clerk, shared that while the village does not spray for ticks, private homeowners are permitted to spray their own properties.

Referring to the July 5 meeting, Sakovich said in a statement, “Deputy Mayor Snaden, as well as an attendee in the audience, discussed tick tubes and that they can be somewhat effective to manage the tick problem in the mice population.” The village clerk added, “A lint roller can be effective in removing ticks from clothing after being outside.” 

The New York State Department of Health lists several diseases known to be carried by ticks. However, the severity of symptoms has raised a number of eyebrows. Lyme disease is the most common but anaplasmosis, rickettsiosis, ehrlichiosis and tularemia are also contracted via bioactive molecules in tick saliva.

Tick bites affect parents and children alike, and the Port Jefferson Village website recommends that afflicted residents should “call your physician as soon as possible so appropriate preventative treatment can be given.”

“There’s a vigilance and an awareness that needs to be spread and hopefully our community will not be learning about these things through personal experience,” Kassay said. “Rather, [we need] neighbors talking to neighbors and parents talking to parents and sharing this information so that through information we can prevent other children from suffering [from AGS].”

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Concluding a hotly contested election season in the Village of Port Jefferson, Rebecca Kassay and Lauren Sheprow were sworn into office for two-year terms on Monday, July 4.

Joined by family and friends, Trustee Rebecca Kassay takes the oath of office. Photo by Raymond Janis

Immediately after dozens of groups and community organizations paraded through the streets for the Fourth of July celebration, community members gathered on the front lawn of Village Hall for the formal swearing-in ceremony. 

Members of Cub Scout Pack 41 performed the ceremonial raising of the flag, which featured a historic 46-star flag that was donated by the Squires family. For more on this flag, see The Port Times Record’s April 28 story, “Squires family heirloom returns to Port Jefferson.”

Following the flag ceremony, Mayor Margot Garant, Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden and Trustee Stan Loucks gathered on the steps of Village Hall to join their incoming colleagues. Barbara Sakovich, the Village clerk, administered the oath of office to Kassay and Sheprow, who each took the oath while surrounded by family and friends. 

Upon taking office for a second term, Kassay thanked members of the Port Jeff community for entrusting her to continue her work on the Village Board. 

“Thank you everyone for being here today, for being a part of this village and for entrusting part of it with me,” she said. “It’s truly humbling to be entering my second term, and I am so very much looking forward to continuing to add strength to this already strong community.”

Trustee Lauren Sheprow sworn in for her first term of office. Photo by Raymond Janis

Sheprow, a first-time public officeholder, was surrounded by a sizable party of family members, including children, grandchildren and her father, former Mayor Hal Sheprow. 

On a similar note as Kassay, Sheprow thanked the community members for their support. “I can’t express how grateful I am that the Village of Port Jefferson has put their faith and trust in me to represent them for these next two years,” the new trustee said, adding, “I hope that I can live up to that faith and trust.”

The trustees took their seats before the public the following night. For more on this meeting, see The Port Times Record’s July 7 story, “Port Jeff board of trustees updates public on recreation, vandalism and local heroism.”

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Port Jefferson Village Hall. File photo by Heidi Sutton

Port Jefferson village is looking to use a New York State Dormitory Authority grant to install a new emergency command center extension to the Department of Public Works’ storage facility.

The board voted unanimously to approve the $450,000 grant to put an extension on the left-hand side of the DPW maintenance and storage facility. 

The village voted to approve the grant at its Sept. 3 meeting, saying it could lose access to those funds should it not meet deadlines. According to Interim Village Clerk Barbara Sakovich, the project is still in the early planning stages.

At the Sept. 3 meeting, village officials talked about a 20- by 10-foot addition to the left side of the DPW building on North Country Road. Mayor Margot Garant said she wished to install emergency equipment in the facility along with the new addition.

“If we don’t do this, we’re going to lose the whole $450,000,” she said.  

Nicole Christian, the Port Jefferson grant writer, said she has already finalized the paperwork for the grant and has sent it up to Albany. 

The command center is going to allow communications during a public emergency including storm events or any other natural disaster, according to Christian. It should allow communications with any emergency rescue units that shows up at the scene.

Alison LaPointe, the special village attorney for building and planning, said the plans for the site are still in their conceptual stage, and they are working with architects to hammer out details on site plans.

“The village is in the process of engaging an architect to work out the plan in terms of size and facilities,” she said in an email. 

The village has not yet put any funds forward or gone out to bid on the project as it awaits confirmation of the grant funds from the dormitory authority.

*Editor’s note: Nicole Christian recently joined the TBR News Media staff as a proofreader. Her duties with the paper are separate from her work with the village.

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