SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Senator Kenneth LaValle "The Educator" Not Running In 2020

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The thing about State Senator Kenneth LaValle, who just announced he will not be running for re-election, is that above all he is an educator. He has been a senator since 1977— indeed he is the longest serving member of the New York State Senate. Later in life he obtained a law degree. But it was Mr. LaValle’s experience in education that led him into a prominent role in government. 

Leon Giuffreda in 1966 took office as a state senator for the same district Mr. LaValle has represented, the lst S.D., which includes most of Brookhaven and all of the five East End towns. Mr. Giuffreda had a real estate and insurance business where he lived, in Centereach.

Mr. LaValle was a fifth-grade teacher and subsequently an administrator in the Middle Country School District. He has a master’s degree in education from SUNY New Paltz.

Mr. Giuffreda, a Republican, became chairman of the Senate Education Committee and Mr. LaValle of Port Jefferson, a GOPer too, became his aide and executive director of the committee. There was a family connection: Mr. LaValle’s uncle, his father’s brother, was married to Mr. Giuffreda’s sister.

It was in this period—way back more than 50 years ago—that as a journalist I got to know Mr. LaValle.

Mr. Giuffreda had a great interest in education. And Mr. LaValle knew the nuts and bolts of what education is about. I got to see this close up when Mr. LaValle, a senator then, was also an adjunct professor at Dowling College and invited me to be his guest speaker in his class on government. It was obvious that his relationship with his students was warm and supportive. 

That kind of warmth colored Mr. LaValle’s tenure—why even in years of Democratic election advances in Brookhaven Town, where most of the district’s population is located, and even with the expansion of Stony Brook University and its demographics altering the political affiliation of communities in northern Brookhaven Town, the popular Mr. LaValle stood strong.

The Democratic Party threw some of its best at Mr. LaValle. In 1980, Robert Gottlieb, a former assistant Suffolk County district attorney with a law office in Commack and who now is a highly prominent Manhattan-based trial lawyer, ran against him—and lost. In 1990, television and radio personality Sherrye Henry of East Hampton took Mr. LaValle on—and lost. In 2012, Bridget Fleming of Noyac, now a Suffolk County legislator and is seeking to run for Congress, took him on and got a strong vote. But she, too, lost.

At 80, Mr. LaValle could go on and on in the Senate, but he has decided to “pass the torch.” 

On issues as a state senator, Mr. LaValle has been involved in so many.  He was a co-sponsor with then Assemblyman, now State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, of the landmark Pine Barrens Preservation Act which has preserved 100,000 acres in Suffolk County. He has been a leader in pushing for accessible higher education not only as long-time chair of the State Senate’s Higher Education Committee but as a member of the New York State Commission on Higher Education and also the National Council of State Legislatures’ Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education. He was the Senate sponsor of the legislation that established the Long Island Power Authority and was a key to stopping LILCO’s Shoreham nuclear power plant from going into operation. He was a leading figure in the creation of the East End Hospital Alliance. He was responsible for legislation providing disabled citizens with greater access to educational opportunities. He had a great role in helping Stony Brook University grow; the sports stadium at the school is named after him. He has been active on initiatives aimed at helping senior citizens. He and State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor were the legislative foundation for the Community Preservation Act which has been vital in keeping the East End green. The two—who through the years have worked closely together—joined after Southampton College was shut down to have SUNY take over the campus and for it to become Stony Brook Southampton. 

 Mr. LaValle’s accomplishments go on and on.

 Extremely proud of his Italian heritage, he has long been involved with the Center for Italian American Studies at Stony Brook University. He received the title “Cavaliere al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” from the government of Italy for his work in promoting cultural exchanges between the United States and Italy.

Assemblyman Steven Engbright of Setauket, part of whose district is in the lst S.D., although a Democrat has no reservation in describing Mr. LaValle as “a great legislator.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.    

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - DuWayne Gregory Leaves The Legislature And A Legacy

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

This was the last week for DuWayne Gregory as a Suffolk County legislator. Until the start of this year, he had been presiding officer of the legislature, first elected to the post in 2014 by his fellow legislators. 

But because of term limits, Mr. Gregory, a Democrat from Copiague, chose to give up his legislative seat as of January 15 to become a member of the Babylon Town board. He was re-elected to the seat this past November. It would have been his sixth two-year term, the maximum for county legislators as set in a 1993 countywide referendum. 

There are positives and negatives to term limits. The positive is they provide new blood as for people in elected office. The negative is they eliminate some good officeholders. The latter is the case with Mr. Gregory.

As he explained, he “looked around” to see what elected governmental position he might transition to at the end of his last term. There seemed to be no county or state spots. So, he decided to take an appointment to the town board position held by Jackie Gordon. Also a Democrat, she stepped down to campaign for the Congressional seat held by Republican Peter King, who is retiring. He said “if this door closed” he was “not sure when the next opportunity” might arrive.

As presiding officer of the legislature—considered the Number 2 post in Suffolk County government after county executive—Mr. Gregory has been in one of the highest positions held by an African-American in Suffolk history. 

Rob Colarco of Patchogue was elected to replace him as presiding officer at the legislature’s organizational meeting as 2020 began. Mr. Colarco, a Democrat from Patchogue, had been deputy presiding officer beginning in 2016. In his acceptance speech, he praised Mr. Gregory for having “deftly led this body.” 

Mr. Gregory, in a statement about his departure, said: “Certain experiences become a part of who you are at your core. They change you, shape you, and prepare you for what’s coming next. And you carry them with you forever. My time on the Suffolk County Legislature is one of those experiences. I have spent the past 11 years here, first as a legislative aide and then as a legislator…as well as the presiding officer. I have loved every minute of my county service, but it is time for me to move on…I am grateful and excited for this opportunity in Babylon to continue serving the public in a place I know and love. In many ways, this new adventure is like going home. I got my start in government by working for the Town of Babylon in constituent services.”

In an interview, Mr. Gregory recounted how “I grew up in Central Islip, graduated Central Islip High School in 1987, went to North Carolina Wesleyan College and was in the ROTC.” He joined the Army after graduation, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. Then he returned to Suffolk and became special assistant for constituent services in Babylon. He moved on to other town positions, to the legislative aide spot, and in 2008 ran for the Suffolk Legislature.

As an African-American in Suffolk, he has encountered racism. He told of “walking home from high school and a man sitting on his porch called me the n-word” and ordered his dog to attack young Gregory, who was bitten. Or the time in constituent services “I got a phone call from a woman in West Babylon who complained, ‘This black family moved on to my street. What can the town do about it?” He emphasized to the woman, “’Ma’m, people have a right to live.’ She thought the town had a responsibility to discriminate against black people.”

As leader of the Suffolk Legislature, he had many accomplishments. Among them: creating a Next Generation Advisory Council “to get input from millennials,” establishing a Suffolk County Land Bank to spur clean-ups and put blighted property back on the tax rolls, “video-streaming of legislative committee meetings” to provide “more transparency,” forming a Superstorm Sandy Review Committee to review “progress” after the storm and identify “what work needs to be one,” establishing a Youth Anti-Bullying Task Force “made up of high school students,” forming a Marine Industry Revitalization Advisory Council “to protect and promote Suffolk’s $1.6-billion marine industry.” And there was more.

So importantly, Mr. Gregory made sure the legislature was independent of the county executive. “I believe in the institution of legislature as a separate branch of government and not subservient to the administration. We have to stay strong with that.” And, “on more than one occasion,” he noted, “I pushed back against the [county] executive.”

He will be missed on the county level.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.    

Editorial - Elected Office Should Not Be A Get Out Of Jail Free Card

The guilty verdict has been cast. Another elected official, Congressman Christopher Collins (NY 27th CD), has violated his oath of office and added a nail in the coffin of integrity and the public’s trust in elected officials. 

Collins has been convicted of insider trading and lying to the FBI.

Prosecutors have asked for a five year jail sentence for Collins. Letters of support from elected officials are going into the court record asking for leniency for the man who served alongside them in the U.S. Congress. State of Politics reporter Nick Reisman reported on January 8th that  Long Island Congressman Peter King, 2nd CD, wrote  to Judge Broderick “While I am in no way attempting to minimize the serious error in judgment to which Chris Collins has admitted, I would respectfully request that when imposing sentence Your Honor take into account his many positive contributions in public life and the genuine respect he has earned and the high regard in which he is held by those who have worked with him and know him well”. 

It is an honor to serve as an elected official. The public has every right to expect its elected officials behavior to be in accordance with laws.  Collins was elected to office in 2013 and served until he resigned September 30, 2019. He was charged in August of 2018 and continued his run for congress calling the charges that he has pleaded guilty to “meritless”.  As a congressman his responsibility was to legislate, make laws for Americans. Instead he violated the laws and lied to the FBI when questioned about his activity, lied to the public about his actions and ran for office again while knowing he was guilty of charges. Collins’ son Cameron Collins and the father of Cameron’s fiance Steven Zarsky pleaded guilty to charges. According to Buffalo News Mr. Zarsky stated “I’m truly sorry for my action,” Zarsky said. “It is a moment of weakness that will haunt me for the rest of my days.” as he pleaded guilty to charges. Collins’ corrupt act tarnished his reputation and dragged his whole family down.

This corrupt behavior by an elected official is not the first and will not be the last but it should be treated as a significant abuse of office that incurs a significant penalty.

Being elected to office is an honor not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Pat Biancaniello

Theater Review – 'Driving Miss Daisy' Theatre Three

Theater Review – ‘Driving Miss Daisy”  Produced by: Theatre Three – Port Jefferson

Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur 

Patrons of Long Island’s Theatre Three are being offered a rare treat thru February 1st; that’s when playwright Alfred Uhry’s bittersweet drama, based on the relationship between his elderly Jewish grandmother and herdevoted chauffeur, will ring down the show’s final curtain.  Those local theatergoers who have taken advantage of this delightful Linda  May-directed production will have experienced in DRIVING MISS DAISY legitimate theater at its very best. 

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With the supremely talented Phyllis March in the title role of DAISY WERTHAN, and veteran Antoine Jones playing her African-American driver, HOKE COLEBURN, the mainstage of Port Jefferson’s Theatre Three transports us to mid-twentieth century Atlanta. There the widowed septuagenarian, Daisy, finds it necessary to forfeit her driving license and rely on sixty-year-old Hoke to fulfill that mundane, if necessary, function. 

At first,  the formerly self-sufficient Daisy, and long-suffering Hoke are mutually standoffish, giving both actors ample opportunity to display their considerable thespian skills as the story progresses. It is the development of this unlikely relationship that moves the play, and won Uhry the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1988.

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Thereafter, many of the entertainment industry’s stage and film elite were cast in the production’s choice roles. They included, over time, such acting luminaries as Julie Harris, Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Ackroyd  Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, and Angela Lansbury. It is perhaps significant that while the show opened off-Broadway (at the intimate ‘Playwright’s Horizons’ studio theatre on 42nd Street) it nonetheless won the Academy Award for Best Picture when filmed. Tandy and  Freeman were also honored with Oscars by the Academy, as was Ackroyd in the supporting role of grandson BOOLIE WERTHAN. No other motion picture adaptation of an off-Broadway-pedigreed play had ever garnered such success. 

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The production made its Broadway stage debut in the fall of 2010 at the Golden Theatre where, to the surprise of no one, it promptly recouped its $2.6 million investment in record time. 

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I first met Phyllis March at the  funeral of our mutual friend, the actress Madeline Porter. I was immediately struck by the charm and sincerity of Ms. March and, convinced that she would one day land a blockbuster starring role at Theatre Three, vowed to keep a close eye opened for her. My  patient anticipation was rewarded last weekend when I discovered that not only was Phyllis quick to embrace the refined self-control that the audience expects from the widowed Daisy Werthan, March masterfully effected the smooth, lilting, Georgia accent that one hardly presumes the 72-year-old Jewish matron will possess. Whether that achievement is the result of Director Linda May’s insight, or March’s singular talent (or both), readers may be assured that the Atlanta drawl is certainly not New Yorker Phyllis’s normal off-stage inflection. 

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Not since watching Marci Bing’s wonderful interpretation of Maria Callas in MASTER CLASS has this reviewer been so spellbound by a stage performance. Ms. March owns the mainstage at Theatre Three as if born to it. Her timing is effortlessly exquisite, and she delivers her numerous lines with a combination of grace and elan. Indeed, March is the sort of actor whose command of the action and dialogue assigned to her, wins our hearts as surely as it ultimately captivates that of co-star Antoine Jones (chauffeur Hoke Coleburn).

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DRIVING MISS DAISY must have been a joy for the multi-talented Linda May to direct. Indeed, she (along with March, Jones, and Steve Ayle - a convincing ‘Boolie Werthan’), deserves all the stars in my kit. 

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It’s just too bad this theater gem isn’t scheduled for a couple of months’ run … instead of a few weeks. 

Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of a dozen novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. His recent hit, THE GHOSTWRITERS, explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Ladouceur’s topical thriller, THE SOUTHWICK INCIDENT, was introduced at the Smithtown Library on May 21st. The book involves a radicalized Yale student and his CIA pursuers. Mr. Ladouceur’s revealing website is www.JebsBooks.com

Suffolk Closeup - "Give light and the people will find their own way"

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

This new year marks my 60^th in journalism. It started with an Antioch College internship at the Cleveland Press, a newspaper known for investigative reporting. Above its entrance was the motto: “Give light and the people will find their own way.” Inspired by the what I saw, I returned east aiming to do this kind of work. 

Thinking of these years, what comes readily to mind are the people I’ve been fortunate enough to interview or otherwise get to know. I once considered writing a book I thought to title “Front Row at the Circus.” When the Cole Bros. Circus came to Long Island, we at the Long Island Press, where I did investigative reporting and in 1969 began writing this column, were sent tickets—for front row seats. I considered this a metaphor for being a journalist. However, much of what we see is not like simply watching acrobats and aerialists, and although some of those you encounter are clowns, you often connect with great people.

A prime example was baseball star Jackie Robinson, a stirring historical figure, who I interviewed when he spoke on Long Island. Or George McGovern when he ran for president—the interview with this brilliant guy was the front-page lead story of The Press.

There was New York City Mayor Ed Koch who I interviewed as anchor at WSNL, the island’s commercial TV station, when he was running for governor. I began by noting “you’re in Republican territory.” He quipped instantly: “I’ve come to save you.” Later I interviewed the eloquent Mario Cuomo who beat him in a primary and was elected governor. 

As a journalist on Long Island, my first big story was investigating the scheme of Robert Moses to build a four-lane highway the length of Fire Island. My interactions with him were not nice. Yes, some people can be crusty. Congresswoman Bella Abzug was at a gathering at a New York State Democratic Convention I was covering. I walked over to her, pen and pad in hand, and introduced myself as a reporter for the Long Island Press. “So what!” she scowled. 

I interviewed former President George H. W. Bush when the Watergate scandal was raging and he chair of the Republican National Committee. I asked whether it was possible that because of the scandal the GOP might end up “extinct.” Daggers flew from his eyes.

I met Hillary Clinton when she was senator from New York and I was deep—still am—in investigating the use of nuclear power in space. It started when I broke the story in 1986 in The Nation about how the ill-fated Challenger’s next mission was to loft a plutonium-fueled space probe. I wrote a book on the use of nuclear power in space: “The Wrong Stuff.” 

The nukes-in-space issue got me involved with an extraordinary Russian scientist, Dr. Alexey Yablokov, environmental advisor to Presidents Yeltsin and Gorbachev. He was long concerned about use by the Soviet Union and then Russia of nuclear power in space—and accidents with radioactive poisons released, as the U.S. has had, too. Dr. Yablokov, a biologist and author of numerous books, knew of my journalism on this and invited me to Russia. I went seven times and spoke—from Moscow to Siberia—at conferences, forums and the Russian Academy of Sciences. 

In pursuing nuclear power in space, I investigated President Reagan’s “Star Wars” plan and how it was based on orbiting battle platforms with on-board nuclear reactors providing power for hypervelocity guns, particle beams and laser weapons. This was despite the Outer Space Treaty designating space for peaceful purposes. I authored “Weapons in Space” and wrote and narrated a TV documentary, “Nukes in Space: the Nuclearization and Weaponization of the Heavens.” I gave presentations at the UN and twice before members of the British Parliament. With President Trump’s “Space Force” push, I’m doing much journalism on this issue again. 

There was the interview I did on my U.S. national TV program “Enviro Close-Up” (which I’m in my 29^th year hosting) with Dr. Vladimir Chernousenko, the physicist in charge of the clean-up of the Chernobyl nuclear plant. He told of many thousands dying as a result of the disaster. And he was dying himself of cancer from the radioactivity he received working at the Chernobyl site. The camera people were crying. 

There have been many other significant people. Some: physicist Dr. Michio Kaku; anthropologist Margaret Mead; Dr. Helen Caldicott, a founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility; Russell Means, leader of the American Indian Movement; physicist Vandana Shiva; actor Alec Baldwin; Dr. Victor Sidel, co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; environmentalist David Brower; epidemiologist Dr. Alice Stewart; scientist and physician Dr. John Gofman; Noam Chomsky—together we opened and closed a weekend conference on media; Prof. Robert Bullard, leader in battling environmental racism; Barney Rosset whose Grove Press published my book “Power Crazy” about LILCO’s scheme to build seven to eleven nuclear power plants on Long Island. The list goes on and on.

It’s been a good and interesting 60 years.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.