Senator Materra One Party Government In Smithtown Is Not Working

One Party Government in Smithtown

NYS Senator Materra recently said, “One-party rule in Albany is bad for Long Island.” Although he would not have said that if it were his party, it started me thinking about Smithtown.  I have lived in the Town of Smithtown since 1980.  My career and family occupied my mind in the early years, so I did not think much about local politics.  But when my wife became involved in local politics, I began to pay more attention to regional issues.  

My wake-up call came when an asbestos cloud appeared across the street from Town Hall when the property owner leveled the old buildings on a Sunday without consideration for asbestos abatement to avoid taxes. Did our one-party Town government react to the public health violation with criminal charges or sanctions?  No, they allowed them to build a housing complex with nine new vacant store fronts.  There is no concern for the people who live here but profits for the landowners, developers, builders, and contractors. They raised the vacant storefront count on Main Street from 18 to 27.

Recently our Town Council gave themselves raises which will further increase our Town taxes which have sky-rocketed since 1980. Our part time council members salaries are being raised to $91,780, perhaps the highest salaries for part-time council members in Suffolk County. I can’t think of an additional service that has been added since I came here in 1980, and the roads are worse than ever.  They are considering making residents pay for the parking stickers!  

I also learned that the party for smaller government populates the employment roles with family members—obvious for those with familiar surnames, but surely there are more who would be harder to identify.

It’s a question that has always puzzled me-why do we, the citizens of this community, continue to elect the same people chosen by the party in power? It’s time for a change, for a more accountable and responsive local governance.

Thomas Biancaniello, MD

Smithtown, New York

click here for town budget