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Gail Sternberg

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By Nasrin Zahed

Port Jefferson Board of Education convened on Tuesday, April 9, to kick off the start to the final quarter of the school year. The meeting highlighted achievements and initiatives, such as academic recognition and community engagement discussions. Updates on student activities were shared alongside discussions on budget and curriculum enhancements, reflecting the district’s focus on educational advancement.

John Ruggero, principal of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, announced the valedictorian, Eric Chen, and salutatorian, Michelle Wu, for the Class of 2024. Both students were congratulated on their exceptional academic achievements.

Capital projects

Following a few other brief presentations, Sean Leister, deputy superintendent, provided a comprehensive overview of the current status and future plans for capital projects. Leister began by addressing the delays encountered at the state level regarding project approvals, which contributed to the district falling slightly behind schedule.

For the 2022-23 period, Leister highlighted ongoing projects such as the middle school retaining wall and drainage, the high school bleacher project, the elementary pool repair and the completion of a segment of the high school roofing project. He noted that despite initial budget estimates, actual project costs varied with some coming in under budget while others exceeded projections.

Transitioning to the 2023-24 period, Leister outlined projects still under review, including the ADA bathroom and phase one of the windows replacement at the high school, while also mentioning completed projects such as the rear boundary fence at the elementary school and the cancellation of the stop-arm booth project.

Looking ahead to 2024-25, Leister proposed additional projects, including the renovation of the high school orchestra room, further pool maintenance and additional roofing work. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a contingency budget to address unforeseen circumstances, detailing the restrictions and limitations associated with such a budget.

Public comment

During the presentation, community member concerns regarding declining enrollment and long-term planning were raised. Leister acknowledged the importance of addressing these concerns and assured attendees that discussions regarding future plans were ongoing.

However, concerns raised by Port Jefferson residents during the public comment period shed light on broader community apprehensions. 

Village resident Suzette Smookler expressed worries about declining enrollment and long-term planning, emphasizing the need for transparency and proactive measures. She urged the board to consider contingency plans and engage in open dialogue with stakeholders to address these concerns effectively.

“Whether I look at BOCES reports, your reports, Newsday’s reports, we definitely have a significant declining enrollment,” Smookler said of the district’s current enrollment figures. 

Smookler asked the board how they plan to address the current enrollment numbers. “What is the plan B?” she asked. Smookler continued advocating for a more inviting conversation from residents. “Openness and communication go a long way,” she said. “I would appreciate it if maybe you [the board] can get a committee, a group together, some people from in town, some who have never had children, some who have put six through the distinct. I think by doing that you will foster less divisiveness and distrust.” 

Another resident, Gail Sternberg echoed similar sentiments, posing questions before the board with regard to the district’s current reserve fund status. Sternberg noted the current amount of reserves the district has, at approximately $23 million, though only $1.8 million can be used on an unrestricted basis, as Leister explained. 

Board President Ellen Boehm reassured attendees that discussions regarding long-term planning and enrollment were ongoing. Boehm noted the board’s intention to consider the formation of a committee to facilitate dialogue and collaboration among various stakeholders.

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Photo by Raymond Janis

The majority wins in a democracy

We are about to vote to confirm or change the people who comprise the majority of state and federal elected officials. Unfortunately, most of our information about the people who are running for office we get from the television news media, which is motivated by building an audience that they can sell to advertisers. This is true for virtually all news media outlets.

he owners and senior management of the news media know that “hate and discontent” builds the largest audience so they emphasize “hate and discontent” in their reporting. These people don’t want their audience to be reasonable and rational — they want you to be angry. They want you to march on the Capitol when the vote doesn’t come out your way. Don’t give them what they want.

We live in a democracy so, right or wrong, the majority wins. If you don’t like the rules, get off your butt and engage in the hard work that it takes to change them. That requires ignoring the media and learning how to change the state and federal rules. The most important of these rules are called the constitutions. It requires getting involved, at the grassroots level, in picking who will ultimately run for office. Accept that in this endeavor, as I said before, in a democracy, the majority wins.

Francis G. Gibbons Sr.

Terryville

Quality education is the answer, not grade reorganization

Anthony Dattero in his Opinion piece entitled ”Preserving what works in 3V school district” [The Village Times Herald, March 14] finds that “the notion of transitioning to a common middle school model is, frankly, mind-boggling and irresponsible.” I do not.

Preserving what works in the Three Village school district is no different from what works in any school district and has no relation to grade organization. What works well begins with a capable teacher with every student. Add capable support staff, effective administrators, budget support and an engaged community providing safe learning places — they make quality education possible.

I was with Commack school district from 1973-88 during which time the pupil enrollment fell from 15,000 students to 6,000. Thirteen of 21 schools were closed and the grade organization changed from K-6, 7-9, 10-12 to its current K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 organization. There were hostile public meetings, threatened lawsuits and negative press. There also was a resolute board of education that made wise decisions about present and future space needs. 

The change in grade organization did not change the quality of education in Commack. It would not do so in Three Village either.

Forrest McMullen

South Setauket

Supporting local journalism

The New York Local Journalism Sustainability Act would provide tax credits to local community based newspapers for hiring local news reporters. It is important to lobby Gov. Kathy Hochul [D], state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins [D], Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie [D], along with your local state senator and assemblymember to support this critical legislation. Most communities are down to one local daily or weekly newspaper. Newspapers have to deal with increasing costs for newsprint, delivery and distribution as well as reduced advertising revenues and competition from the internet and other news information sources.

Daily newspapers concentrate on international, Washington, Albany, business and sports stories. They have few reporters covering local neighborhood news. Weekly newspapers fill the void for coverage of local community news. 

I’m grateful that you have afforded me the opportunity to express my views via Letters to the Editor, along with others who may have different opinions on the issues of the day. 

 Albany needs to join us in supporting weekly community newspapers. Readers patronize advertisers, who provide the revenues to help keep the papers in business. Let us hope there continues to be room for everyone, including the Times of Huntington-Northport, Times of Smithtown, Times of Middle Country, Port Times Record, Village Times Herald and Village Beacon Record.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Try to be more responsible

In regard to the letter, “Women are not cattle,” published on March 14. Being a woman, I wholeheartedly agree with this. Yet, regardless where anyone stands on abortion, the last sentence totally lost me by quoting lesson No. 1: “Try not to be born with a uterus.” Heavy subjects regarding pro-life, anti-choice, etc., should not be taken in jest. Due diligence should have been taken into consideration before blatant sarcasm was quoted with lesson No. 1. 

It would have been more admirable and respectful to have simply stated, “Try to be more responsible” — and not get into the program “Financial Literacy for Women” sponsored by Assemblyman Ed Flood [R-Port Jefferson] at the Comsewogue Library by using the venue as a prop or to get an agenda and/or point of view across. 

Rhoda Angelier

Coram

Potential impact of school enrollment decline

The article, “Residents debate future of Port Jefferson School District at civic meeting,” in Port Times Record March 14 gives the incorrect impression that resident Gail Sternberg delivered a presentation at a Port Jefferson Civic Association meeting “advocating drastic measures such as closing the school district.”

 We attended that meeting and Ms. Sternberg never advocated closing or defunding the school district. Nor did anyone else present. There is an audio recording of the entire meeting that confirms this.

 In discussing ways to address declining district enrollment, Ms. Sternberg suggested retaining the elementary school and hopefully the middle school, while exploring sending the high school students to a neighboring district on a tuition basis should enrollment fall to such a low level that the high school would be unable to offer a viable academic, athletic and social experience. The current district enrollment in the Port Jefferson elementary grades suggests the real possibility of this, with eventual high school graduating classes of less than 50 students. 

It is important that all Port Jefferson School District residents be aware of the potential impact of the enrollment decline in this district as it is also adversely affecting most of Suffolk County school districts — including all of our neighboring ones — as Newsday recently reported and updated Feb. 12. The Board of Education should be proactive in examining ways to address this. Hopefully, this meeting will motivate the school board to begin this necessary dialogue with everyone in the community. be.

Robert Nicols, Darcel Weldon, Holly W. Fils-Aime, Molly Mason, April Quiggle

(all Port Jefferson)

A correction — and the challenges faced by Port Jeff school district

I am writing to correct the record, as an article in this paper misrepresented a report I gave at a recent Port Jefferson Civic Association meeting [“Residents debate future of Port Jefferson School District at civic meeting,” Port Times Record, March 14]. The article claimed I was “advocating for drastic measures such as closing the school district.” That is patently false. I never said a word about closing the district, nor did anyone else at that meeting.

My presentation was primarily focused on the alarmingly low student enrollment projected for the high school in coming years, and the fact that the district has yet to address this with residents — despite repeated calls to do so. I also suggested that while we should keep both the elementary and middle schools here, we might explore the possibility of tuitioning out only our high school students to a neighboring district, in the event that these enrollment projections prove true. I did not advocate for a merger, which could be more costly and complicated.

The reporter asserted that the information I cited was from documents I “allegedly” received from the Freedom of Information Act. I actually had those documents with me but she didn’t request to view them before reporting this story.

From the FOIA data, as of October 2023, present class sizes from pre-K to fourth grade reveal the projected size of each future graduating class: pre-K: 35 students; kindergarten: 49; first grade: 39; second grade: 49; third grade: 50; fourth grade: 55.

Based on these figures, projected total high school enrollment is also concerning: fall 2031: 193 students; fall 2032: 187; fall 2033: 172.

 I understand there is a great sentimentality for the high school. However, many alumni that speak so fondly of their experience attended when there were 250 or more students in their graduating class. We are now facing a situation where there likely won’t be that number in the entire school. The vitality of the school will not be the same — and neither will the number of academic, club and athletic offerings. I believe most Port Jefferson teenagers are ready by high school to attend a larger academic environment, especially one close to home and with their Port Jefferson pals coming with them.

Our school district faces many unprecedented challenges and only by the school board and community working together cooperatively will we find solutions that best serve our students and residents.

Gail Sternberg

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: 

We have now seen the FOIA data and can remove the word alleged with relation to Gail Sternberg. The recording of the meeting indicates remarks to another attendee suggesting some aspects of the district can be mitigated without advocating such. We express our apologies for any misunderstanding or discomfort our words may have caused.

School district should be more forthcoming

We were pleasantly surprised to see so many fellow residents with diverse viewpoints at the Port Jeff Civic Association’s March 11 meeting about the school district. Did the conversation get heated at times? Yes. But while there was passionate disagreement on how to achieve what’s best for our students, there was no conflict about the vital importance of the goal itself.

That said, we were disappointed by the paper’s coverage of the event. The article wrongly claimed that Gail Sternberg was advocating for “drastic measures” like closing the school district. Neither Sternberg nor anyone else at the meeting ever said that. It also cast doubt on the validity of the declining student enrollment numbers Sternberg presented. A follow-up call from the reporter could have verified the numbers.

The article omitted to mention Bob Nicols’ presentation regarding the potential impact of declining revenue from LIPA on our school taxes. His research indicates that every $100 paid in school taxes this year could escalate to $126 by the end of the glide path in 2027-28, with a worst-case scenario reaching $195 if LIPA successfully grieves its taxes. Nicols based his numbers on data sourced from four documents, including the glide path agreement and three reports by LIPA. He also prefaced his work with the urgent call for further research from the school board to prepare for various scenarios. Despite this, his numbers were dismissed as “scaremongering” during a school board meeting.

While our role as a civic association is to provide a forum to discuss issues of importance to the community, as a volunteer board we need our members to bring their research, viewpoints and vision to the discussion, as Sternberg and Nicols did.

To address school district challenges effectively, we need accurate, accessible data. Yet, obtaining essential documents like expenditure reports and enrollment figures often require FOIA requests and waiting, thereby hindering public debate.

Therefore, we urge the school district to be more forthcoming with the entire community, not just those with children in the district. If we work together and continue to engage in open and honest debate, we will find solutions that best serve our students and residents.

Our next meeting, which will focus on the future of the LIPA power plant, will be April 11, 6:30 p.m., at the Port Jeff Library. All are welcome.

Ana Hozyainova, President

Kathleen Mc Lane, Outreach Officer

Port Jefferson Civic Association

 

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The existing outdoor bleachers at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School. Photo by Lynn Hallarman
By Lynn Hallarman

The price tag for replacement bleachers at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School has prompted scrutiny from Port Jefferson Civic Association, which is seeking a full accounting of the project’s costs from the Port Jefferson School District.

District voters approved several capital projects in May 2022 as part of the 2022-23 budget, earmarking $561,000 for replacement bleachers.

During the Aug. 29 special meeting of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Jessica Schmettan said the bids for the bleacher replacement project came in at nearly double what the budget had allotted — $1 million for downsized seating of 650 from the current capacity of 750 seats.

“This [cost] includes a new press box, erosion control, removal and disposal of the existing bleachers, press box removal and disposal of the concrete slab, cut-and-fill leaching pools, an asphalt walkway, reinforcement of the concrete bleacher plant and the bleacher rows, press box power and topsoil,” according to Schmettan.

The school district’s media liaison forwarded an email stating that the district “is in the process of re-bidding the proposed bleacher replacement project through a series of six different configurations, each at various price points,” noting that “no decision has been finalized.”

At the Sept. 13 meeting of the civic association, several members advocated for finding an alternative to the proposed bleacher replacement project with greater clarity over the school board’s vetting process for incoming bids.

“We are not against the safety of our students and fulfilling [Americans with Disabilities Act] requirements,” civic board members said in an email to the superintendent. But, “this significant increase in expenditure has raised great concern among our members,” adding that PJCA members “still have more questions than answers.”

Civic president Ana Hozyainova said attention to district expenditures is linked to other worries among village residents, such as rising taxes amid an aging population.

The downtrend in student enrollment in Port Jefferson — a 25% loss between 2011 and 2021, according to a 2022 district report — is not isolated to Port Jeff but part of a nationwide phenomenon, with persons over 65 years of age predicted to outnumber children by 2030, according to the Census Bureau.

Retrofitting the existing 60-year-old bleachers was also discussed as a possible alternative during the August BOE meeting, though it is unlikely to save costs, according to Schmettan.

“While structurally sound, [the bleachers] present a liability risk because of gaps between the benches and must be brought to current code, including ADA compliance, if any modifications are made,” the superintendent said.

The BOE proposed that funds approved by the voters in May 2022 for pool deck repairs be put off until the next budget cycle and instead use current funds to cover the additional costs of replacement bleachers.

“The pool deck repairs won’t be able to be done this budget cycle anyway because the [Suffolk] County Board of Health hasn’t approved it,” Schmettan said.

Some civic members objected to this approach to cover the bleacher replacement’s additional costs.

“We live on an island, surrounded by water in a harbor, and a lot of kids go swimming and fishing,” PJCA member Gail Sternberg said at the August meeting. “I don’t think [the pool repairs] should be less of a priority than the bleachers.”

PJCA has formally requested through the state Freedom of Information Law to examine the complete, itemized bids received by the district for the bleacher replacement project to better inform its members about the potential costs.

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File photo by Raymond Janis

Residents deserve better than one-party rule

In the May 4 edition, the editorial board highlights that the Brookhaven landfill is a major issue in this year’s Town of Brookhaven elections [“The landfill election”]. We need bold leadership to tackle Long Island’s decades-long solid waste crisis. This is an issue of economic, environmental and racial justice that we can no longer afford to ignore.

Carting our garbage off of Long Island to another community is not a sustainable solution. We must reduce our waste, and this cannot only rest on individual households, but also on businesses and producers. We can incentivize waste reduction with pay-as-you-throw programs. We can also utilize the knowledge of experts like Stony Brook University’s research associate professor David Tonjes, whose work on waste management provides guidance on how we can address this crisis with innovation and ingenuity. We are capable of long-term, sustainable policy, but only if we have the political and moral courage to do so.

It is clear to me that the current Town Board are not the people to meet this moment. The past decade of one-party rule in Brookhaven includes a botched rollout of the recycling program, our roads in disrepair, and gerrymandering our council districts to bolster a weak incumbent in the 4th Council District. They have left us with a solid waste crisis, used nearly $250,000 of our taxpayer dollars to pay an EPA fine for air quality violations in 2020, and ignored the voices of the directly impacted residents of North Bellport time and again. They do not deserve to be reelected in 2023.

Outgoing Supervisor Ed Romaine [R] must be held accountable for his role in the failures of the Town Board he has led. Romaine is seeking the office of Suffolk county executive, and he must be questioned about the harm he has had a hand in creating in the Town of Brookhaven. We as voters must consider if he is fit to handle higher office, given the mismanagement of our municipal government under his leadership.

We deserve better elected officials than we currently have in our town government. The communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the landfill crisis deserve to be listened to by our representatives. There is too much at stake to accept the status quo and small-minded thinking of the current Town Board. It is time for bold solutions that meet the urgency of the moment. It is time for change.

Shoshana Hershkowitz

South Setauket

Still no funding for Port Jeff Branch electrification

Funding to pay for a number of transportation projects and pay increases for transit workers were items missing from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s [D] $229 billion budget.

There is no new funding to advance Hochul’s three favorite NYC transportation projects: the $8 billion Penn Station improvements; $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 2; and $5.5 billion Brooklyn-Queens Interborough Express light rail connection. Also missing was funding to advance the $3.6 billion Long Island Rail Road Port Jefferson Branch electrification project. All Port Jefferson LIRR riders have to date is the ongoing LIRR diesel territory electrification feasibility study.

There was no additional funding to pay for upcoming 2023 NYC Transport Workers Union Local 100 contracts for LIRR and Metro-North Railroad employees. The MTA only budgeted for a 2% increase. NYC TWU president, Richard Davis, will ask for far more so his 40,000 members can keep up with inflation. Both LIRR and MNR unions, with thousands of members, will want the same.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Maryhaven: a breakdown of process

Our village process is broken. Let’s take the Maryhaven project as a recent example of what’s wrong.

This proposed development should have been brought to the Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees via the Planning Board, which is responsible for overseeing all building-related matters.

But during the recent public hearing, we learned from the developer that he’d been in discussions with the mayor, deputy mayor and village clerk for well over a year, despite the fact there was still no proposal before the Planning Board. The first time the rest of the trustees heard about the project was when it was announced by the deputy mayor at a public meeting on March 6 of this year.

It’s likely the village attorney was also aware of these talks. As previously reported in this paper, he was pressing the village to be “proactive” and change the code to rezone the property in order to clear the path for the developers, whenever they were ready to apply. To that end, he proposed the May 1 public hearing. The attorney also suggested that if the code modification wasn’t suitable to the residents as is, there would be an opportunity to make adjustments. That is not entirely accurate.

We know this from our experience with the Mather Hospital expansion. Before the project came to a public hearing, the village made several decisions, from seemingly irrelevant (at the time) code changes to the most crucial, allowing the hospital a variance for extra clearance. The latter resulted in 2 precious acres of forest being cleared.

The impression the village gave at the time was that residents would still have a chance to weigh in. But when that time came, despite nearly 70 letters protesting the clearing of the forest and all the objections raised at the hearing, it was too late.

The Planning Board’s position was that its hands were tied by all those prior decisions, and it did not have the tools to consider the objections. In other words, we should have been paying attention when Mather first announced the master plan.

So forgive us if we’re skeptical when the village attorney tells us that we’ll have an opportunity to comment on the project overall at a later date.

Ana Hozyainova, President

Holly Fils-Aime, Vice President

Port Jefferson Civic Association

Declining public revenue in Port Jeff

The spirit of New York’s Freedom Of Information Act is transparency and access. Its introduction states, “The people’s right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.”

The issue of the future tax revenue from the Port Jefferson Power Station is critically important to both the Village of Port Jefferson and the Port Jefferson School District. So, it is surprising to me that the LIPA settlement agreement is not made available on the village or school district websites. And when I asked the village that a link be included, I was told that the village attorney advised the village not to put it on the website. I would have to complete a FOIL application. I did so. It had no redactions, and nothing in the document contained any confidentiality clause. The Town of Huntington puts its Northport Power Plant LIPA agreement on its website. So what is the objection to making the Port Jefferson agreement accessible to all on our websites? Would they prefer to have the fewest taxpayers know its full terms and potential consequences?

While both the village and school district are quick to tell us how little our tax bills will rise when promoting 30-year bond proposals, their assumptions are highly suspect given the lack of any reasonable assurance that the LIPA benefit will survive beyond the glide path expiration just four years away. Both the Port Jeff and the Northport agreements state that any extensions under the same terms beyond the 2027 expirations are dependent on power needs of National Grid. With repowering off the table, and the state’s goal of 70% renewable energy by 2030, it would seem there is little likelihood of any significant extension beyond expiration. The Port Jefferson Village budget for 2023-24 reveals LIPA taxes covering 36% of property taxes while the school district budget includes LIPA representing 42%.

It’s time for the village and school district to face the elephant in the room and (1) make critical information available on their websites and (2) for any discussion of potential costs to taxpayers, include calculations that consider a potentially abandoned power plant and taxpayers having to face 60%-plus tax increases to make up the LIPA loss.

Robert J. Nicols

Port Jefferson

Time to put the brakes on spending

Port Jefferson and Belle Terre residents are facing a school district budget and bond vote Tuesday, May 16, at the Port Jefferson high school from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.

It’s a rather hefty price tag being proposed: $47 million for the proposed 2023-24 budget and close to $16 million additional for a bond focused entirely on enhancements to the high school.

While district residents have been more than generous in past years in support of our schools, maybe it’s time to ask if spending over $50,000 each year to educate a student is really feasible. (That’s the amount when you divide the proposed 2023-24 budget by the 933 students in the district, as suggested by Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister as a simple approximation of the per pupil costs, at the village board meeting on May 1.)

Perhaps this is the time to put the brakes on this spending and take a hard look at the future of the high school and consider alternatives.

Charles G. Backfish

Port Jefferson

We need to say ‘no’ to the school bond

Port Jefferson School District residents will be asked May 16 to approve an almost $16 million bond entirely for the benefit of the high school building. The more crucial question to be asked is: “Why are we considering this enormous expenditure when our high school student population is still dwindling?”

According to the school district’s own numbers — found on the district website or online (Long Range Planning Study, Port Jefferson Union Free School District 2021-22) — our enrollment numbers are declining precipitously. On page 18 of the report, our high school’s total enrollment grades 9-12 by 2031 will be a mere 233 students. Divide that number by the four grades in the school and your average graduating class size by 2031 would be only 58 students.

Port Jefferson high school’s small size cannot be compared to that of a prestigious private high school. Even most of the top private schools like Choate, Phillips and Exeter keep their total high school enrollment over 800 students. Most parents want a high school atmosphere that is academically, athletically and socially rich for their children — a true preparation for college. A high school with less than 240 students can’t realistically provide that.

Our high school is presently functioning with the classroom configurations it has had for decades. Before we invest many millions to move art, tech ed and music to the main building to create team and trainer rooms, let’s first focus on what we do if the high school population keeps dwindling, as the district study projects. 

Perhaps we could maintain a strong pre-K through 8th grade school system here and investigate tuitioning out our high school students to Three Village and/or Mount Sinai. This solution has been used successfully by many small school districts. Other larger local districts are facing declining enrollments as well, undoubtedly because of the high home prices and high taxes presenting an obstacle to young families seeking to move to this area. Given that reality, neighboring school districts would welcome our high school students.

Right now, we need to say “no” to the school bond. Before we spend almost $16 million on the high school building, we must find a solution to this ongoing decline in enrollment. To keep ignoring this serious issue is unfair to our already stressed-out taxpayers — and equally unfair to our future high school students.

Gail Sternberg

Port Jefferson

Experience matters

Kathianne Snaden is running for mayor and Stan Loucks is running for reelection as a trustee for the Village of Port Jefferson. They have worked together on the village board for four years. 

Kathianne has shown to be tireless and dedicated to the betterment of every facet of our village. She has opened the doors to the internal workings of government by live streaming the board meetings, originating the Port eReport and the practice of responding to every and all questions from everyone. As the liaison to the Code Enforcement Bureau, she is totally committed to improving public safety and was responsible for increasing the presence of the Suffolk County Police Department. Kathianne is also our liaison to the Port Jefferson School District. This is an important relationship that was absent and created by Kathianne. 

Stan Loucks has been devoting his retirement years to the Village of Port Jefferson. Prior to his election to the village board in 2015, he was on the tennis board, the board of governors, the greens committee and the Port Jefferson Country Club management advisory committee for a total of 20 years, including chair. Stan has been the liaison to the parks and recreation departments, deputy mayor and liaison to the country club. 

He is a hands-on person who will always be directly involved in any issue related to his duties. He has been directly responsible for numerous projects and improvements such as renovation of the golf course; building a new maintenance facility, driving range, fitness center, membership office; upgrading village parks; initiating relationships with our schools and much more. 

Kathianne was TBR News Media Person of the Year in 2019, and Stan was Person of the Year in 2021. Seems like they would be the team that we would want to represent our village.

Experience, knowledge, integrity, dedication and hard working are qualities that we need.

Jim White

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: The writer is a former Port Jefferson Village trustee.

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