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| Suffolk County Executive-Elect Edward Romaine File Photo |
"We're looking for candidates with experience and competence to staff a team that will have a lot of work to do," Romaine said in announcing the site, www.servesuffolk.com. He stressed that his appointees could already be working for the county or come from the private sector or other government offices. "We're taking a bi-partisan approach," Romaine said. "Candidates must want to do the right thing for our county."
Romaine has made key appointments to his Transition Team: Serving as co-chairs will be Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter, who won re-election on the same ballot as Romaine, and Kevin Law, a long-time government operative who served as president of the Long Island Association. Michael Martino, an aide in the Suffolk Legislature, will serve as the transition spokesman, and Melissa Schlossberg will be a coordinator. "We have brought together leaders from government, labor, community organizations, not-for-profit groups, and the communication industry to assess the county's operations and provide suggestions on how to move Suffolk County forward," said Romaine. "With Angie and Kevin leading the efforts, I am confident that the transition team will provide my administration an invaluable insight into how we can begin building a safer and more affordable Suffolk County."
A top priority of the team will be vetting a new police commissioner and leaders for the county department of parks and public works, positions that have already been vacated by appointees of Steve Bellone, Romaine's Hauppauge predecessor. The county executive will also have the ability to name deputy commissioners and attorneys, as well as fill a few hundred non-civil service positions in a government that provides a myriad of services to a population of more than 1.5 million people.
Romaine, who currently serves as Brookhaven Town Supervisor, has also prioritized a top-to-bottom review of the Department of Social Services in the wake of the tragic death of Thomas Valva, who sat next to Romaine's grandson in class. "Such a failure of government can never happen again," he said. "Fixing our social services system is of paramount importance to my administration."
Romaine said he is also setting up a special committee to help revitalize Suffolk's downtown areas and commercial strips with Vision Long Island Director Eric Alexander on board, along with David Kennedy, executive director of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce, Robert Fonti, Suffolk Chairman of the Long Island Business Council, and Barbara Ransome of the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce.
Emphasizing the crime-fighting plank of his platform, Romaine attended a press conference Friday with state and law enforcement officials at Suffolk PBA headquarters in Brentwood to speak out against the "Clean Slate" bill recently signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul. "The act is contrary to what most of our law-abiding citizens and law enforcement officers want," he said. "Crime is on the rise on Long Island, and we cannot allow it to continue the way it's going. The criminals are getting a free ride, and that is wrong on every level. There needs to be consequences for their actions."
Romaine said he has met with Long Island Rail Road President Robert Free to discuss the electrification of Suffolk's three diesel rail lines and the relocation of stations that could be made possible using funds available under the $1 trillion federal infrastructure program. According to Romaine, commuters, as well as the regional economy, would benefit from creating a new station in East Yaphank that would be accessible to Brookhaven National Laboratory to relieve traffic and give Mastic-Shirley residents a better option to travel into New York City. He also proposed moving the Port Jefferson Station to the former Lawrence Aviation property to provide a modern facility with more parking and free up congestion on Route 112.
Under the headline, "A Safer, More Affordable Suffolk Plan," Romaine's Serve Suffolk website highlights his new administration's priorities, including: "Safer Communities For Our Families, Lower Taxes For You, Smart Immigration, Reforming Child Protective Services, Cyber-Security, and Streamline The Bureaucracy of Government." The County Executive-Elect said he will emphasize a working relationship between his team and the Suffolk Legislature, as well as the county's Albany delegation. His election gained national attention by turning Long Island red in a blue state dominated by Democrats. In the last few elections, Republicans took over all countywide positions in both Nassau and Suffolk–county executive, district attorney, sheriff, comptroller, and clerk–and Romaine said he looks forward to working with his counterpart, Bruce Blakeman, on issues requiring a regional approach such as transportation, waste management, and crime.