Campaign Finance Board Meets And Elects Smithtown Resident Chair

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.  – The board tasked with creating a system to publicly fund campaigns for certain Suffolk County offices met on February 13 and elected Lisa Scott chairperson. 

Lisa Scott, president of the Suffolk County League of Women Voters, was elected to lead the three-member Suffolk County Campaign Finance Board, which also includes retired County Court Judge Jack Toomey and Adrian Fassett, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, Inc. 

Lisa Scott, center, was elected to serve as chair of the Suffolk County Campaign Finance Board, which also includes Adrian Fassett, left, and Jack Toomey, right. “Now that all three members of the Suffolk County Campaign Finance Board have been appointed and our first meeting held, we will work diligently to ensure that our fellow citizens in Suffolk County and those wishing to be candidates for public office are served transparently, responsibly and fairly as we build the rules and staff required in the Suffolk County Charter Law,” Scott said. 

Scott, a Democrat, was appointed by the Suffolk County Legislature’s Majority Leader and Toomey, a Republican, was appointed by the legislature’s Minority Leader. Fassett, who is unaffiliated with any political party, was appointed by the County Executive. 

At their meeting the board members also discussed their next steps, including hiring an executive director, as they seek to make the system operational for the 2021 county legislature election. Under the new system, participating candidates running for a county legislator seat can receive up to $50,000 in 4-to-1 matching funds for small donations – $250 or less – from voters who live in the legislative district in which the candidate is running.

“Creating a program for public funding of elections from scratch is an important and historic undertaking, and I know the highly qualified and impressive people who make up this board are up for the task,” said Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer Rob Calarco, who sponsored the county legislation establishing a Fair Elections Matching Fund to provide for public campaign financing. “The Fair Elections Matching Fund will reduce the influence of big money interests in our politics by empowering small donors who actually live in our communities. This program will help make elections more competitive and elected officials more accountable to their constituents.”

Participating legislature candidates must agree to limit their total spending to $100,000 and not accept more than $1,500 from any individual. Starting in 2023, participating candidates running for County Executive could receive as much as $1 million and must limit their spending to $2 million. The funding comes from profits Suffolk OTB generates through the operation of Jake’s 58 video lottery terminals.