Screenshot of the BOE meeting panel. Courtesy Northport-East Northport Union Free School District
By Aramis Khosronejad
The Northport-East Northport Board of Education met Wednesday, Aug. 22. The board began with an executive session on contract negotiations, potential litigation and property leases, emphasizing the need for a respectful environment.
Public comments followed. A community member raised concerns about transparency regarding the Bren building and supported its community use. Support was voiced for leasing agreements, particularly for Bellerose and Dickinson Avenue buildings, despite some concerns about short-term leases. Denise Schwartz discussed two major lease agreements: The Variety Child Learning Center will lease Bellerose Avenue Elementary School, starting summer 2025 for approximately $7 million, and Western Suffolk BOCES will lease part of Dickinson Avenue Elementary School for its Elementary Applied Behavior Analysis program.
The board approved the formation of four committees with goals in Student Growth and Development, Belonging and Safety, Long-Range Financial Planning and Stewardship and Communications and Community Engagement. These committees will focus on student growth, demographic trends affecting education and summer programs. New teacher orientation, including community tours, mentoring and ongoing support throughout the academic year, was introduced. The board also addressed declining attendance in the summer learning program, initially funded by a grant set to end next year.
Additionally, the student dress code was discussed. Village trustee Joseph Sabia raised concerns about bias and stereotypes in the current policy, suggesting Seattle’s dress code as a model. Lauren Bindelglass supported incorporating student input.
The board explored strategies to generate additional income, including leasing district buildings and seeking other revenue sources. The long-range planning committee will investigate potential opportunities and the impact of recent legislation allowing districts to seek outside income.
Plans to improve public accessibility to board meetings include adding links to the board agenda and installing Promethean boards in seating areas for easier presentation viewing.
The next Northport-East Northport Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5.
Longtime trustee Damon McMullan running uncontested for village mayor
Northport Village Hall. File photo
By Kevin Redding
Three candidates — an incumbent and two challengers — are vying for two open seats within the Northport Village Board of Trustees, hoping to tackle financial, safety and quality of life issues within the town. The trustee candidates who receive the most votes March 20 will each serve a four-year term.
Thomas Kehoe
Kehoe is no stranger to the village board, having served as trustee for two terms from 2006 to 2014. He was the commissioner of commerce, police and sanitation.
Thomas Kehoe. Photo from Thomas Kehoe.
While a board member, he wrote the village’s outdoor dining code, created the Northport Business Development Committee, and said he routinely helped members of the local business community, professionals and merchants with any business-related issues in the village. If elected, he hopes to
reinstate that committee and assume the police commissioner responsibilities again.
“I’m looking forward to getting back on the board,” Kehoe said. “I’ve always enjoyed public service and giving back to my community. And plus, I understand business and know how to make things happen.”
As the owner and operator of East Northport-based K&B Seafood for more than 30 years, Kehoe has traveled extensively throughout China, Japan and Russia, importing and exporting seafood and opening up markets. But he said he will focus his time and energy on the local front as trustee. He wants to make sure the Suffolk County Police Department doesn’t take over the village’s police force, preserve Northport’s status as “one of the 50 safest places to live in New York state” as ruled by the National Council for Home Safety and Security and keep the village in the 21st century.
“We want to always be evolving,” he said. “Northport Village is a very unique place. It’s a real melting pot of different ethnic, religious and political groups and there’s a great tolerance and respect here for others.”
Ian Milligan
Milligan, 48, a Northport native and the owner of Harbor Electric Inc. on Willis Street, became a trustee in 2014 after regularly attending zoning and board meetings. He often voiced ideas on how to better the Northport Village Dock.
Ian Milligan. Photo from Ian Milligan.
Upon election, the lifelong boater was appointed commissioner of docks and waterways. He proposed new fees for the dock, which successfully brought more boaters to the area during dinner hours, helped boost downtown businesses and discouraged boaters from docking all day.
He said by talking to hundreds of local boaters, shopkeepers and residents during that process, it prepared him well for his day-to-day tasks as a trustee.
“What I did there is consistent with all issues in the village,” said Milligan, who also served as the board’s commissioner of sanitation. “I always strive to talk to as many people as I can and understand all sides of an issue, then take all the information and share it with the rest of the board, so we can make a decision in the best interest of the residents.”
If re-elected, Milligan said he wants to continue making Northport a safe and healthy environment for residents, keep a line on taxes and roll out new projects — among his most anticipated is the implementation of a rain garden into the village to absorb rainwater runoff and keep the waterfront clean.
“I have enjoyed this work and there is more work to be done,” he said.
Joseph Sabia
Sabia, 62, is a former member of the Northport Police Department, Northport-East Northport school board and owner of Sabia’s Car Care on Fort Salonga Road since 1977. Hesaid he’s an advocate for the village and wants to work for the taxpayers within it. He believes in transparency, commitment to community, respect and courtesy, and fiscal discipline.
Joseph Sabia. File photo.
“While on the board of education for three years, I watched our tax money and never voted to raise our tax dollars,” Sabia said. “So, I’m very interested in our finances and want to see where our money is going.”
Sabia said besides keeping taxes at bay, he hopes to be able to restore the village’s crumbling roads and sidewalks, bring a full-time paramedic to the village’s firehouse, oversee the upcoming sewer plant project in Northport Bay Estates, and update the village’s antiquated zoning codes and building department.
“We have to move forward and be business-friendly,” he said. “We need people to be able to get building permits in a timely manner.”
Sabia previously ran unsuccessfully twice — against outgoing Mayor George Doll in 2014 and for a trustee seat in 2016. He points to those experiences, as well as his years as a successful business owner and school board member, as building blocks for this election.
“I have skin in the game here, I own a business here, I’m in the village 24/7 and have never left,” he said.
The Vote
The polls will be open March 20, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Northport Village Hall on 224 Main Street in Northport.
