When residents in Suffolk County's 3rd Legislative District go to the polls on November 7, they will be asked to choose between Republican incumbent James Mazzarella, and Democrat challenger Thaddeus O'Neil, to represent them as their voice in the County. Mazzarella will appear on both the Republican and Conservative lines of the ballot. O'Neil will appear on the Democrat and Working Family Party lines.
Mazzarella was elected to the County Legislature in a special election in May 2021. Since taking office and throughout the span of his two year and four month tenure, a number of initiatives have been enacted. "I've implemented and was a part of the groundbreaking of the Forge Watershed Sewer District," Mazzarella said. "We will now move forward connecting 2,000 households and 200 businesses in the next several months. This project," Mazzarella continued, "will single-handedly have the biggest environmental and economic impact that this District has ever seen."
From a public safety standpoint, Mazzarella notes that he has led the successful move to increase the number of uniformed police officers in the streets, and initiated the first-ever foot patrol on Neighborhood Road in Mastic Beach. Mazzarella was instrumental in passing legislation to bring back a more technologically-advanced shot spotter gunshot detection system.
High on Mazzarella's agenda of priorities moving into the next term includes expansion of the sewer district into the commercial areas of Mastic Beach, and to move forward with the next phase of residential connections, (Phase III), of the Forge Watershed Sewer District.
Also on the forefront of Legislator Mazzarella's goals is to oversee the groundbreaking and construction of the new Smith Point Bridge, with a new focus on opportunities to develop the Smith Point Marina and a new recreational area on the beach side of the bridge. "The current Smith Point Bridge has come to the end of its useful life," Mazzarella said. "Construction of the new bridge will bring jobs to our area, and will ensure that our beautiful coastal community will have access to Fire Island for generations to come." The new bridge will be built to the west of the current bridge. Mazzarella said construction is slated to commence during the first half of 2024, and is projected to take two years to complete.
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| James Mazzarella File Photo |
From a fiscal standpoint, Mazzarella said he plans to clean up the county's finances and poor bond rating: "Through Ed Romaine's leadership as supervisor, Brookhaven Town has been able to achieve an AAA Bond Rating and pay off all of the municipality debts. With Ed at the helm in Suffolk County, I am confident that we will follow the same trend in Suffolk County under his leadership," Mazzarella said.
Mazzarella cites his experience and no time for a learning curve in the Legislature as his desire to continue serving the people of the 3rd LD and throughout Suffolk County. "As a Civic leader, library trustee, zoning board member and lifelong resident, I have acquired the experience to bring the pulse of the residents to my elected position," Mazzarella said. "In my current term, I have proven to be an effective voice for my constituency. More importantly," Mazzarella continued, "my accomplishments have had a positive impact on the entire legislative district. Going forward, my knowledge, experience, and relationships in Suffolk County government will further bolster the trajectory of progress in the 3rd LD."
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| Thaddeus O'Neil File Photo |
O'Neil was born and raised in Suffolk County. He is an associate adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design in New York City. O'Neil commutes to NYC twice a week where he teaches two half days. If elected, the challenger said he would further scale back his teaching duties.
O'Neil co-founded the Fire Place Initiative, a not-for-profit which facilitates community organized conservation efforts. The Bluewater Vagabond Surf Festival initiative falls under the Fire Place umbrella, which aims to raise funds and an awareness to create equal access to the natural environment. As an entrepreneur, O'Neil's small business, Thaddeus O'Neil, LLC, was a top 10 finalist to receive an award upon being nominated by the Council on Fashion Designers of America and Vogue.
This is O'Neil's inaugural run for elected office. The candidate said he was approached to run for the South Country School Board last year, but withdrew his name from the ballot because, he said, "there was a great slate of candidates on the ballot."
Asked why he is running for election to the 3rd LD, O'Neil told South Shore Press in a phone interview last week: "We need better representation in this District. There was a paper candidate, but with 85,000 people in our district, these constituents deserve to be given a real choice to elect someone to represent them, so I stepped up to the plate."
O'Neil is making the environment the cornerstone for his campaign. "The well-being of the environment and water quality are important for tourism and for agriculture," O'Neil said. "I grew up on the water clamming on the Great South Bay with my father, and surfing at Smith Point Beach. We live on an island, and we must protect our sole source (aquifer)," he said.
O'Neil said the Water Quality bill proposed to be put on the November ballot was rejected by a Republican majority vote of the Legislature. "It's incumbent upon us, as public servants, to show up if we're going to do the job properly; since records have been taken, we now have the worst water quality on record this year," O'Neil continued. "This legislation, just to decide whether to put it on the ballot for the voters to decide, was split right down partisan lines - republicans voted 'no' and democrats voted 'yes'. I'm not going to speculate," O'Neil continued, "but water quality should not be a partisan issue, because we live on an island and the water is our lifeblood. I can't understand for the life of me why they didn't vote just to get this on the ballot for the residents to decide," O'Neil stated.
Asked about plans he has to improve the county's low bond rating, O'Neil said: "It's an issue I definitely have to look more into; fiscal responsibility is paramount, and I can say that the state and federal governments place unfunded mandates on the county, and I would work to build a partnership with the county. Suffolk County is bigger than 11 states and needs to be run like a state," O'Neil continued, "and I'm going to fight like heck for our fair share, and I'll go up to Albany and down to DC to get this accomplished, because we as a county need to be strategic partners with our state and federal elected officials."
O'Neil criticized the state of Suffolk's roadways and infrastructure which, he said, "need to be tackled with the help of experts. We need to consult and hire people who know what they're doing and not give away political patronage jobs."
O'Neil said he is "excited" about the eventual construction of the new bridge that will replace the existing Smith Point Bridge. "Smith Point is a very heavy relied upon resource for our community," he said. O'Neil said he will place public safety, water quality and the environment as priorities on his agenda if he is elected. He did not return a text subsequent to his interview asking about endorsements.