Candidate Profile: Maria Scheuring For Smithtown Supervisor

TOWN OF SMITHTOWN, NY — Town of Smithtown residents are gearing up to head to the polls for Election Day on Nov. 2, where they will be voting on the Town of Smithtown supervisor. Democratic challenger Maria Scheuring is running against incumbent Edward Wehrheim.

Patch reached out to both candidates to hear where they stand on important issues affecting the community.

Here are the responses for those who participated. The answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Maria C. Scheuring

Age (as of Election Day)

50

Position Sought

Town Supervisor

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Maddox (13)
Chase (15)
Alexandra (17)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

High School: Preston High School, Bronx, NY
Undergraduate Degree: Franciscan University of Steubenville
Juris Doctor Degree (J.D.): Fordham Law School

Occupation

Attorney (23 Years), Small Business Owner (7 Years), Ethics Professor (3 Years)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None

Campaign website

SmithtownForward.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

"I'm running to stop Mega-Development, I'm running to preserve green spaces, I'm running to stop the neglect to environmentally-fragile communities, I'm running to revitalize our downtowns, I'm running for a Citizens Advisory Board, I'm running to calm our traffic crisis, I'm running to Keep the Town in Smithtown. I moved to Smithtown a while ago to raise my kids here, through the past four years I've noticed the town I love decline rapidly."

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

"The single most pressing issue facing our town is Mega-Development, and this is what I intend to do about it. Supervisor Wehrheim and the Current Town council have spent upwards of half a million dollars, and that cost might balloon past one million when it’s all said and done, to rewrite the zoning laws, in what they call the Comprehensive Master Plan. The Board consulted the public 3 years ago under the guise that they wanted to implement the suggestions of the community. And the Smithtown Community trusted Supervisor Wehrheim that he was sincere in his caring about what his constituents wanted.

"Then after 3 years of dead silence from anyone in the Town Board about the master plan, in December 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, the Comprehensive Master Plan was revealed. Three years in which an empty sewer pipe to nowhere was put under Lake Avenue, a Luxury Apartment Complex popped up across from Town Hall, that was supposed to be 55+ Community and mysteriously changed to high price luxury units, among other controversial parts of the Plan that were just back-door deals between Contractors and Supervisor Wehrheim and the rest of the Town Board, regardless of what was best for the residents of Smithtown.

"We need to hit reset on the master plan and start over. This time, we need the community to shape the plan, not high-priced firms from outside our town. We should build on the great strengths we have here in Smithtown. We should embrace, not disparage, the single family residential nature of our town. We should focus on walkability, traffic, pedestrian safety, preserving and creating more green space, and planting trees. We should be able to tell developers NO when it comes to density and height and destroying the character of our town, and we should attract the right kind of businesses in our downtowns and existing shopping centers. We should not be giving the green light to build new strip malls next to half-empty strip malls a quarter mile away. This plan is a failure and we need to start fresh with these principles.

"When we reboot this process, it should be with civic and community groups in each hamlet and it should adhere to the principles that I’ve outlined. It’s time that the residents, not the developers or the overpaid consultants, took control of this process."

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

"I'm truthful, my opponent is not. I want to preserve our environment, my opponent does not. I want to save Smithtown's character, my opponent does not. I don't support overdeveloping an already 97% developed town, my opponent does. I'm not in it for the money and power, my opponent is."

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

"Towns like Riverhead are getting millions of dollars for downtown revitalization. Brookhaven has received millions in grants for new parks. Meanwhile, residents of Smithtown keep footing the bill for everything in this town. Supervisor Wehrheim blamed Pat Vecchio for not being proactive, and then turned around and spent millions of dollars, with millions more in cost overruns, for ballfields.

"We need a proactive administration that will get the money that we deserve. We pay some of the highest taxes in the country right here in Smithtown, and I’m sick and tired of seeing our neighboring towns getting grant money while we keep taxing and spending off the backs of the residents. When they finally did manage to get a grant, it was for Wehrheim’s Folly – sewers to nowhere on Lake Avenue. We could have used that $4 million to improve our sidewalks that end in the middle of a road all over town, or to beautify our shopping centers, or to fix some of the most dangerous intersections in the entire county located in our hamlets. Instead, it’s $4 million down the drain with nothing to show for it."

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

"The current supervisor has basically flouted the current COVID-19 Protocols. He attended multiple anti-safety and anti-American protests. But I can't comment on what the Town Government has done in regards to COVID-19 response because they haven't done anything. I'm grateful that NYS took charge on this issue because what would happen if we led it up to the current administration. Disaster would strike."

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

"Our traffic has gotten worse, our taxes keep going up, and we pass half-empty shopping centers every quarter mile, only to see new shopping centers getting built right next door. A trip to go grocery shopping or drop your kids off at soccer practice that used to take a few minutes is now an ordeal, and forget about making that left-hand turn. The lights have all been synchronized to keep traffic from flowing and instead forces a series of stop and go fender-benders waiting to happen on Smithtown Boulevard in Nesconset, Lake Avenue in St. James, Main Street/25A in Kings Park and Smithtown, and there’s no relief in sight."

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

"As an attorney, I learned how to fight for what's right. As a mother, I've learned how to lead responsibly and with empathy. As an ethics professor, I advanced my learning in what is right and what is wrong. And as a small business owner, I learned how difficult it is to own a small business, and to always help support local businesses and open more small businesses."

The best advice ever shared with me was:

"The best advice given to me by my father was that if you take the time to do something, take the time to do it well."

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

"Nothing I am running on is partisan. Nobody wants to sit in hour-long traffic, or their air poisoned, or their communities character destroyed. Everyone wants progress and I believe I have the cross-party support to help bring that progress to Town Hall."