Supervisor Saladino Delivers State of the Town Address

Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino delivered the first State of the Town address in recent memory on Tuesday.

Saladino was appointed to office in February replacing former Supervisor John Venditto who resigned after he was indicted on federal corruption charges along with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.

He made his speech in front of Town Hall North in Oyster Bay on Tuesday morning.

"Having served as your new Supervisor for nearly 6 months, I am proud of the many milestones this Town Board and our dedicated workforce have reached in streamlining operations, restoring the public’s trust and enhancing transparency while delivering important services in a fiscally-sound way," Saladino said.

During the speech, Saladino first referenced the efforts by him and the Town board to tackle the corruption within the Town by creating a new, independent Board of Ethics and appointing Joseph Nocella, a former Federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, to serve as the new Town Attorney.

"The past year was one of embarrassment in our town’s history books," he said. "Sunlight was needed, and we shined the light on all town functions."

In reference to the budget, Saladino reported that after facing a budget crisis last year, the Town's financing are now "headed in the right direction."

"I directed town departments to create greater efficiencies, cost savings and innovative programs designed to better serve residents and, quite frankly, save the taxpayers more money," he said.

One way Saladino found to save money within the Department of General Services was by eliminating the need for an outside consultant saving $40,000 annually. In addition, he mentioned that he has reduced annual expenditures by over 10 percent on all contractor services.

In addition, LED lighting was installed town-wide and the Town eliminated the need for leased space for the Communications Division, mailroom and storage. Instead, town facilities are being utilized saving a total of $434,000 annually.

Saladino also said that the Town froze capital borrowing for 2017 which reduced the town’s total debt.

According to him, by the end of this year, the towns overall debt will have been reduced between $75-80 million, the largest debt reduction in the town’s 364 year history.

"I can assure you without a shadow of a doubt, the Town Board and I continue to constrain the way in which this government spends your money, he said. "We hold departments accountable for their budgets. As you may know, the past administration saddled us with debt – too much."

Saladino also discussed upcoming Town projects, including the expedited plan to re-open the community center on Albany Avenue in North Massapequa, which had been closed due to a fire, under the direction of the new Commissioner, Rich Lenz.

He also mentioned that, the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs recently secured $350,000 in State grants to better track, monitor and combat the occurrence of abandon properties, also
known as Zombie Homes.

Also, in the past 6 months, the department has secured nearly $10 million in Federal funds through the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program for storm resiliency and hazard mitigation projects.

"While there are many fiscal challenges ahead, I am quite certain we will continue to clean up the mess we inherited, restore the public’s trust and achieve the noticeable savings our taxpayers deserve," he said.