A Farmer’s Daughter Walks in His Footsteps by Maureen Rossi
Lynne C. NowickLiving the quiet life of a farmer’s daughter in bucolic St. James, Lynne Cannataro- Nowick’s childhood was punctuated by excursions to her father’s softball games and her brother’s baseball games.“It was a very quiet community, no one was really around, most of my time was spent with my family,” says Nowick.
Her girlhood dream of becoming an English teacher faded and she went off to work in the Suffolk County Court System. After two decades in the courts, Lynne ran a successful campaign for Smithtown Receiver of Taxes. She served the people of Smithtown in that capacity for six* years before successfully running for a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature in the 13th Legislative District (LD).“It was a whole new ballpark, I had to learn about sewers, the Department of Health, maintaining county roads and getting grants for the police and sheriff departments,” she said.
For the last twelve years, Nowick has enjoyed her seat representing the people in the 13th LD which includes most areas north of Rte. 25 (Middle Country Rd) in Smithtown and parts of Huntington in Commack and E. Northport. She tells Smithtown Matters that the scope of the role of County Legislator is complex. It includes owning and operating a jail, consumer protection, overseeing a college and the county budget. “It was an eye opener and I had to learn it all, and learn it I did,” she added.
Known for bringing music to Smithtown with her Family Concert Summer Series, she has also advocated for land preservation and young people. Sitting on three legislative committees, (Economic Development & Energy, Parks and Recreation and Ways and Means), she has sponsored and co-sponsored pieces of legislation that affect the lives of Smithtown residents.
“My favorite piece of legislation was preventing the sale of cough syrup (dextromethorphan or DXM) to minors. The Suffolk County Legislature was the first county in the nation to pass this legislation,” shared Nowick. The abuse of DXM is known as “Skittling” and “Robotrippling” and it was an wide-spread problem with teens in Suffolk and around the country before the legislation came to fruition. According to KidsHealth.org, a national non-profit that works to ensure the health and development of the nation’s children, taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, blurred vision, paranoia, slurred speech, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, seizures, brain damage, and even death. She says when she became aware of this societal problem she sprang into action: however, the first piece of legislation was not supported in the legislature, so she continued to educate her peers until it eventually passed.
“I also co-sponsored the legislation calling for the formation of Suffolk County Opiate Heroin Advisory Panel; they showed up, they worked hard and they cared,” she added. Known to many in the field of addiction as the addiction-prevention dream team, the panel met many times and came up with dozens of recommendations to address the county’s youth opiate and heroin epidemic.
Nowick’s legislation falls into many categories: Consumer Affairs, Economic Development, Land Preservation, Public Safety and Real Property Taxes. After Hurricane Sandy she worked with Nassau County Legislators and Chambers of Commerces appealing to Senators Schumer and Gilibrand to obtain grants for small businesses.“If a local pizza place is closed for two weeks due to no power, they lose two big Friday night’s worth of business, that’s a mortgage payment for these people,” she lamented.
Nowick has helped to secure funding for sewer studies to advance downtown revitalization. She often works closely with her Smithtown counterpart, Republican Minority Leader John Kennedy. They recently gave a presentation about sewers to the Kings Park Civic Association.
As her last term on the Suffolk County Legislature winds down, what’s on the agenda for this life-long resident of Smithtown? Nowick tells Smithtown Matters that she would like to round out her political career on the Smithtown Town Board as a Councilwoman. “I want to sit in the seat that my father sat in for twenty-four years,” she explained. Her father’s path to Town Hall might sound unusual today, the late Eugene Cannataro went from St. James farmer to Smithtown Councilman, however, Nowick said “back then many farmers did go into politics.”
The recipient of many awards and accolades, Nowick speaks of none of them, however, she does share many sweet stories of her constituents and of raising two daughters in St. James while she pursued politics. She encourages woman who have a dream of being involved to pursue politics because it’s enormously gratifying.
Nowick has run cell phone drives to help domestic abuse victims, coat drives for the homeless and Sandy victims. She recently ran a pet drive for constituents affected by the recession to help feed their animals and keep their beloved pets.
“I want to do what’s right for the people of Smithtown and bring the town into the 21st century while maintaining the nice quality of life we have,” she said. To do this Nowick will run a primary against two incumbent Councilmen McCarthy and Malloy. She says there are more people who need help and she plans on winning that primary.
*The article incorrectly stated the amount of time Lynne Nowick was Smithtown Receiver of Taxes. The article has been amended to reflect that she served six years.