Candidate Profile: Greg Doroski For Southold Town Supervisor

SOUTHOLD, NY —Suffolk County residents will be hitting the polls next month to elect local representatives.

The race is on in local town and village races leading up to Election Day, which, this year, falls on Tuesday, November 5. Patch asked those running for office to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles in the days leading up to the election.

Greg Doroski, 38, of Mattituck, is running for the Southold Town Supervisor's seat.

His opponent is incumbent Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell (R).

Doroski, a Democrat, and his wife Liz have two daughters, Emerson, 7, and Jane, 6. He graduated from Mattituck High School in 1999, and from Drew University with a BA in Philosophy in 2006. In addition to campaigning for supervisor, he is a former brewery owner and head brewer.

Check out Patch's full Q&A with Greg Doroski below:

Patch: The single most pressing issue facing our community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Doroski: We need to act to address the looming threat of climate change, which portends to be particularly harsh in Southold, with its 161 miles of exposed coastline. The perils facing our surface and groundwater cannot be ignored.

This administration is taking a dangerous wait-and-see approach to addressing these effects, as it has with so many of the other issues facing Southold Town. This is unacceptable. We can do better and we must. We need to mandate action on emissions, erosion and sea-level rise before it’s too late. We literally lose ground on a daily basis. The current administration has not adequately supported the trustees, on the front lines of coastal protection, with requested legislation. Although we finally signed the New York State Climate Smart Community pledge at the end of September, it is unacceptable that we were the second to last town on Long Island to have done so — it also shouldn’t be forgotten that our failure to sign the pledge was something I campaigned for since March.

Nitrogen pollution, emanating from cesspools and septic systems, and from yards and lawns, farms and roads, is a danger to our water. Local government must act to address risks to our fishing and aquaculture businesses, water-based recreation and the long-term health of our sole-source aquifer.

I plan to set a timeline mandating the use of innovative and alternative wastewater treatment systems. I will promote the use of these systems by using a small portion of local Community Preservation Funds to provide grants, loans and other incentives. These could bridge the funding gap after county and state money is applied. I will also implement a strong educational program to raise awareness about the importance and affordability of these systems with current grant opportunities.

P: What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

D: After 29 years in elected office and 14 years as supervisor we see stagnation where we need forward-looking leadership. In the face of unprecedented change, I believe we need new energy and innovative thinking — for leadership with real world experience and the business acumen to guide our community.

The biggest difference between me and the incumbent is how we handle challenges associated with change. Far too often we have witnessed this administration allowing manageable problems to become crises that blow up into expensive lawsuits, as we see with Brinkmann’s hardware in Mattituck. In spite of repeated recommendations by numerous studies since 2005 for the town to preserve the land, this administration failed to take any action to address this issue until the Mattituck Laurel Civic Association started advocating for its preservation. The town didn’t accelerate their efforts until the Brinkmann’s came to town.

P:If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community?

D: The current administration has failed our community with their reactionary decision-making and passivity in the face of change.

In 2009, the Russell administration began work on a Comprehensive Plan to guide future growth and development in our community. Although the timeline to complete the plan was originally 18 months, here we are in 2019, 10 years later, and it’s just now nearing completion. Even with the long delay, the plan, at least in its current form, fails to prioritize its goals and objectives, and it doesn’t offer a road map for implementation. A plan for the future shouldn’t take a decade to create. A plan without a plan for implementation is merely a wish list.

While waiting for the delayed Comprehensive Plan, we have witnessed sluggish, disjointed and reactionary decision-making by our local government. Without an overall plan, our community has faced continuous and growing challenges affecting farming, housing, traffic, water quality, the economy, the environment and other areas that do not have thoughtful, up-to-date policy and supporting code to address them in a coordinated way.

P: Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

D: I will work to generate intelligent economic opportunities and innovation. I will work to create workforce and middle-class housing. I will address the public health crisis associated with deer and ticks. I will promote a positive and supportive government culture. I will focus on improving our quality of life. These are the other issues that define my campaign and will serve as the focal point of my administration.

Many other communities have faced, and met, similar challenges to those facing Southold. Unlike the current administration I will actively connect with these communities. I will also deepen our government’s engagement with our local community members, non-profits and other organizations. As we face a multitude of 21st century challenges we need to look to our neighbors and exchange ideas leading to solutions.

P: What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

D: My business partners and I launched and ran a brewery in Brooklyn. We transformed a raw 10,000 square foot warehouse space into one of the country’s top breweries. We grew from 5 to 50 employees. We developed and implemented all of the systems to manage staff, operations and finances. I’m proud to say that we built a multimillion-dollar business, still thriving today. During this time, I leaned the importance of accountability and results. In business, any good leader knows the importance of accepting personal responsibility for outcomes. In Southold Town, inaction or suboptimal outcomes are usually blamed on outside entities. That’s not acceptable.

P: The best advice ever shared with me was ...

D: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 28:18)

P: What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

D: The most important thing to know about me is that I listen and I learn. Flexibility is a key to effective leadership in business and in government. I will always listen to constituents and act in a timely manner; not only when situations devolve into a crisis.