Separated from the role 12 years ago, former County Executive Steve Levy weighed in with some friendly advice for the new executive, Edward Romaine, in an open letter that keyed in on some of the successes--and challenges--of his administration. Looking to assist the former Brookhaven supervisor in his transition to the highest post in county government, Levy proclaimed, “His success will be ours.”
Levy notes that Romaine is fortunate to be taking the helm when local governments are flush with cash, thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars given nearly unconditionally from the federal government during COVID, but urges him to tread with fiscal caution as further one-shot revenue enhancers may not be on the horizon.
Referencing the new county executive’s inauguration speech, Levy wrote: “Mr. Romaine wisely noted that in the year prior to COVID, Suffolk was ranked as the most fiscally stressed county in the state. His predecessor inherited a balanced budget (contrary to the claims that there was a deficit) and a record-high bond rating but faced an economic storm due to a crippling recession. The national economic downturn, coupled with a huge police contract and use of one-shots such as selling the fully paid off Dennison building, only to lease it back, led to numerous rating agency downgrades.” In addition to the Dennison deal, which former county Executive Steve Bellone announced was now back in county hands just before leaving office at the end of the year, Suffolk’s coffers were flooded with sales tax revenue generated by government stimulus checks. “Those one-shots will run out, so implementing efficiencies is essential,” Levy advised Romaine.
Levy enjoyed a popular run in Hauppauge, having previously served as a state assemblyman and county legislator at the same time Romaine also sat at the governing horseshoe. His challenger in his first election for county executive in 2003 was none other than Ed Romaine, who was serving as county clerk at the time. A Democrat, Levy switched to Republican to run for governor in 2010 but didn’t make it into the GOP primary in a year that saw Andrew Cuomo take the Albany throne. Levy’s ambitions raised the political ire of then-District Attorney Tom Spota, a former Republican who switched to Democrat, who came after him on campaign funding charges. The two cut a deal that saw Levy give up his office and turn over hundreds of thousands of donor dollars to Spota, the details of which have never been publicly disclosed despite various court challenges.
“Mr. Romaine wisely stressed the building of sewers, supporting economic development, and cleaning our environment,” Levy went on. “Good priorities, but let's hope these measures could be pursued without seeking a sales tax increase when so many hundreds of millions of dollars are available in the present budget due to COVID surpluses.” Levy has been an outspoken opponent of Bellone’s plan to create a countywide sewer district and raise the sales tax an eighth of a percent to build new sewers and upgrade private cesspools. Romaine is in favor of the plan, pledging to broker an agreement on a 50-50 split between sewer and cesspool funding and take it to the state for approval with a home rule message from the county legislature. The measure would then need to go to the voters in a referendum, which Romaine said will take place in November.
“The best thing to spend one-shot revenues on is a one-time, nonrecurring expenditure such as constructing a sewer,” Levy opined. “That’s preferable to adding positions or programs that will have to be supported every year thereafter.” He patted himself on the back, stating that Romaine “chose wisely in placing my former chief deputy county executive, Kevin Law, and Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter to guide his transition. Hopefully, the team can share with the executive the success we had in 2004 in creating a Workforce Housing Department that provided grants for municipalities willing to build up their housing stock in downtown corridors. It was remarkably successful, as witnessed with Patchogue’s renaissance, and dovetails nicely with Mr. Romaine’s housing policies,” he said.
Levy also recommended the reconstitution of the Long Island Purchasing Consortium, which brought together Suffolk and Nassau, as well as towns, fire departments, and schools, to coordinate high-volume purchases. “Having different jurisdictions buy 1,000 cars at one time gets you a much better discount than buying ten at a time,” Levy noted. The program had been discontinued under Bellone.
“We’re also happy to see the search for a qualified police commissioner,” Levy continued. “We cannot have a repeat of a rogue police leader being allowed to dismantle the FBI task force I created. Kicking out the feds led to a slowdown in the Gilgo search and a reconstituting of MS 13 throughout the county (which led to the murders of dozens of Suffolk youth).” A scandal involving former police chief Jim Burke, the rogue leader referred to by Levy, along with Spota and his deputy, Chris McPartland, has left an indelible stain on Suffolk law enforcement. Spota is currently in federal prison for covering up a beating by Burke of a man accused of stealing a bag containing ammunition, sex toys, and pornography from Burke’s police vehicle. McPartland was recently released from jail for the coverup, while Burke, having served his sentence, has charges pending for exposing himself to an undercover county Park Ranger.
Levy touched on the Thomas Valva scandal, stating, “And to build on his goal to further protect our children, the new executive can reinstate my policy of requiring automatic backfills for vacancies in Child Protective Services.” Romaine, who has said revamping CPS is one of his priorities, was not immediately available to comment on Levy’s advice.
Finally, the former county executive said, “There was a dire need to push back against Gov. Hochul’s contentious plans to overrule local zoning, impose an MTA tax on Suffolk businesses, and enact congestion pricing fees. Hopefully, Mr. Romaine will lead that charge. He can start by replacing Suffolk’s present rep on the MTA board who, remarkably, voted in favor of congestion pricing that will crush Suffolk commuters.”