Taxes are Hot Topic in Candidate Debate

If there is one thing on the minds of residents this election season, it's their wallets.

Taxes became the hot issue of the night during the Half Hollow Hills PTA Meet the Candidates event on Tuesday at Hills East. Incumbents and challengers running for seats in the Suffolk County Legislature, Huntington and Babylon Town Boards and the County Executive Office, faced off during a question and answer debate, which focused on the need to make Suffolk County more affordable.

“We are being taxed out of Long Island,” said Deborah Poulas (R), who is running for the 16th legislative district.

She told the crowd that if elected, she would support an audit of all county agencies to check for any wasteful spending. Incumbent Steve Stern (D) touted that the county has not raised general fund property taxes in six years. He also said that if elected, he would work to sell county-run nursing homes to private investors, which would lower the tax burden. 

The incumbent defended spending on the county organizations such as for veterans and emergency response teams: “Veteran organizations, senior organizations, the Half Hollow Hills School District, our fire departments and first responders…are these our special interests?”

The 17^th district candidates, Legis. Lou D’Amaro (D) and challenger Dennis Garetano (R) debated school taxes.

D’Amaro said that he supports “functional consolidation” of schools. “It’s just becoming to expensive to be here,” he said. He, along with Stern, supports the sale of county nursing homes.

When it comes to school taxes, Garetano said that he would stand up to Albany to fight against unfunded state mandates.

“Until we get the chutzpah to go after the state, nothing is ever going to be done,” he said. Garetano also supports merging the Parks Police and Sheriff’s office.

Angie Carpenter (R), the county treasurer and Republican candidate for County Executive, discussed the idea of having one superintendent per town, rather than in each school district. She also said that she would lobby for Suffolk County’s “fair share” of state aid. “We send far more money up to Albany than we get back,” she said. Her opponent, Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone (B), also said that he would re-establish a relationship with New York State to grow the economy.

Crime and density were the other two hot topics for the Huntington Town Board candidates.

After heated town board debates last year over the building of the Avalon Bay housing units and the closing of the Jack Abrams Intermediate School in Huntington Station, residents questioned the candidates on their thoughts of expansion and safety.

Incumbent Councilwoman Susan Berland (D) said that she wants to change the perception of Huntington Station being a “bad” place to live, despite recent instances of violent crime in the area. She and Glenda Jackson (D), also an incumbent councilwoman, said they would support sensible and responsible development so that all people within the Town of Huntington have housing and combat crime by enforcing the town’s code violations.

Berland also said that if re-elected, she would begin a project to remove graffiti in the area

Challenger Herb Morrow (R), mayor of Huntington Bay, emphasized illegal drug use being a problem in the town. He said that if elected, he would like to find a way to have an office in Huntington Station, not just the village, so residents have access to a leader in the area. Gene Cook (R), also running for the town board, said it is his goal to re-open the Jack Abrams school.

Also in appearance Tuesday were Matt Groh (R) and Tom Gargiulo (R) who are running for the Babylon Town Board. The candidates support zero-based-budgeting, in which each office in the town creates a budget by starting at $0 and determines each expense line-by-line. They also said they would give back 20 percent of their salaries to be put into a fund for residents.

Ester Bivona (D) and Robert Conte (R), candidates for the Huntington Receiver of Taxes also spoke, as well as Joe Lorintz who is running for a position on the Suffolk County Supreme Court. Jo-Ann Raia, who is running unopposed for Huntington Town Clerk also spoke.