Fresh off a decisive victory where he led a Republican red wave across Suffolk, County Executive-Elect Edward Romaine has already started to map what he needs to do to live up to his campaign promises to fight crime, lower the cost of living, protect the environment, and secure a share of the billions available in state and federal funds. The dean of Long Island politics with over 40 years of government experience, Romaine is looking to put Suffolk on a different track after 20 years of Democrat rule.
First on Romaine’s agenda is naming a transition team and ramping up the search for a new police commissioner after Rodney Harrison announced his resignation the week before the election to give the new county executive the opportunity, he said, to select his own top cop. The team will connect with the current executive for what both camps say they hope is a smooth transition after 12 years of rule by Democrat Steve Bellone. The new chief executive will have hundreds of non-civil service positions he can fill, including commissioners, deputies, and law department staff.
The new county executive said a top priority is filling dozens of detective positions in the Suffolk Police Department that were budgeted but left vacant by Bellone. Endorsed by every law enforcement organization in the county, Romaine said he is confident that under his leadership, the department will take a major bite out of the crime wave spurred by the pro-criminal, anti-law enforcement policies coming out of Albany and Washington. As Brookhaven Town supervisor, the Center Moriches resident formed a productive relationship with District Attorney Raymond Tierney, a fellow Republican, in going after quality-of-life crimes and pledged to continue the partnership. “I believe in the ‘Broken Windows’ theory that targeting the smaller crimes will cut down on the larger ones,” the county executive-elect said.
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| Suffolk County Executive-Elect Ed Romaine File Photo |
A former county legislator, Romaine expressed confidence that he will work with both sides of the aisle to craft a plan to expand the county’s sewer system while also providing funds to upgrade private cesspools as a way to keep pollutants out of the water supply. The issue became contentious–and was a key part of the Democrat campaign plank–when the Republican-dominated legislature refused to hold a voter referendum on increasing the sales tax for wastewater projects and creating a countywide sewer district. Romaine will need to work out a plan palatable to both the county legislature and the state, which has to approve any referendum measures.
Counting on his 11 years as Brookhaven supervisor and the relationships he cultivated during his long public service career, Romaine said he will put together an island-wide coalition to lobby for a fair share of President Joe Biden’s trillion-dollar infrastructure fund and the voter-approved $4.2 billion environmental bond fund controlled by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state’s Democrat-dominated legislature. “Suffolk has three major railroad lines that still operate with diesel locomotives,” Romaine notes, reporting that he already has a meeting with the new Long Island Rail Road president, Robert Free. “That’s unacceptable in this age of reducing carbon emissions,” he said, adding that he will lead the region in nailing down monies for environmental projects, repairs to roads and bridges, and affordable housing. Transitioning Suffolk to a green energy future will also be on the agenda.
Romaine is leaving Brookhaven government as it prepares for the scheduled closing of one of its top revenue sources, the Yaphank landfill, and will have a hand in any regional approach to handle the town’s solid waste. He will be succeeded in the town by his deputy, Councilman Daniel Panico, who is expected to follow through with Romaine’s plan to turn the solid waste facility into a green energy hub. The two had teamed up to preserve hundreds of acres of farmland and open space, and as county executive, Romaine said he will continue the acquisition of properties as a critical way to protect the environment.
Also on Romaine’s agenda will be making sure that the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived in the state are not brought to Suffolk at levels that will overwhelm the county’s social welfare system, schools, and emergency services. He will be left with a Bellone executive order calling for any plans by the state or New York Mayor Eric Adams to relocate immigrants to Suffolk to be vetted through a special county committee. Though he expresses concern for the plight of the migrants, Romaine said he is adamant that Suffolk taxpayers should not be saddled by excessive costs to support them.
Another challenge on Romaine’s plate will be steeling Suffolk’s computer network against cyberattacks of the caliber that caused the shutdown of the entire system last year, a multi-million security breach from which the county is still trying to recover. The legislature is conducting hearings on the issue and is expected to deliver recommendations on how the county can better protect itself. He will also look to make sure the government doesn’t fail any more children such as Thomas Valva, who was fatally abused by his father and his fiancé, a tragic chapter in Suffolk’s history Romaine spoke of often on the campaign trail.
Romaine stressed that his administration will only be as good as the people working in it and said he will emphasize experience and skill in putting together his staff. The vetting will begin with the transition team, and reports are that he is considering Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter, among many others that he has crafted relationships with over the years, to be part of it. He noted that his success in government has come from “not just getting into the weeds on details, but also looking at the big picture.” For Suffolk’s $1.5 million people, the big picture is affording to stay on an island that has among the highest taxes and fees in the nation with a pernicious crime problem, and a growing need to protect the natural resources that make the county such a desirable place to live–all issues Romaine vows to tackle when he takes the oath of office January 1.