Looking back on your decade of service on the town board, what do you consider your five most important achievements?
- Balancing the budget with a 10-year plan
- Completion of therecreation trail at EPCAL.
- Historic preservation on East Main Street
- As a goal to prevent water pollution and improve water quality, I coordinated efforts with the Conservation Advisory Council, building department and Suffolk County Department of Health Services to adopt strict sanitary requirements for properties within watershed areas with antiquated sanitary systems. The legislation was adopted successfully and unanimously requiring sanitary system upgrades when doing a substantial improvement to the home.
- Worked with the board to require public hearings and notifications to property owners for site plan approvals. Put legislation forth to require greater buffers from commercial properties to residential.
- Researched and advocated for enforcement software which manages permitting, inspection, violations creating greater efficiency and communication between code enforcement, building, planning etc. allows for swifter enforcement and prosecutions of violations. Worked on solutions to get the town off of the main frame.
- Prepared bid specs for the garbage contract and put out for bid saving each taxpayer hundreds of dollars in taxes per year since 2012. In that contract I required our carter to report to the town the tonnage for recyclables. Created a recycling fund through residential carter and construction and demo carters, revamped sanitation home page and created notices/education for helpful recycling information, S.T.O.P. days and e-waste.
- Helping restaurants reopen during COVID
- Getting all of our police officers taser trained and certified
What did you enjoy most about being a town council member?
What I most enjoyed about being a council person was getting to know the people. It’s funny, in this small town that we are, when I was sitting at a traffic light the others day waiting to make a left and watching cars go by I saw so many people of this great town that I have met through being a council person who I have gotten to know personally, and who I have so much love for. I met them all through the opportunity of serving them and through helping them find solutions to many problems in our great town.
What did you like least?
What I liked the least was when politics played a role and I found it difficult to move the town forward.
What are the first five things you’re going to tackle as a Member of the Assembly?
- COVID Recovery Plan
- Correcting Bail Reform
- Farmers Rights Act
- Mandate restoration of state funding for our schools and hospitals
- Infrastructure projects for roadways, water quality and parks and recreation — creating jobs!
What do you want to say to the people of Riverhead as a parting message?
On this closing note of this chapter of my life, I want to thank my family for always being by my side. For my constituents and friends, I am thankful for you, you have helped me be the person I am today. Please know that I am not far away and will continue to always listen and help. Being an elected official, serving you, for you all of these years has been an honor and a privilege. I read your letters, took your phone calls and then made a decision. I took every vote seriously with the same importance of making decisions for you as I do at my kitchen table for my family. I did my best always to respect your dollar and I always did my best to help each and every one of you who needed help. When I couldn’t help, you knew I did everything I could to help. When I disagreed, I never disrespected you. I let you know where I stood and why, I made myself available.
I am not leaving! I am right down the road in downtown Riverhead and I will continue to serve my district, all included, with heart and soul.
Wish me well as I grow and learn how to serve you better. We are family and stronger in undivided numbers. I ask that you not only trust in me, but depend on me to fight for the matters that mean the most to you. I’m looking forward to working with all of you and to create strong relationships between each other with an understanding that we all want what is good for our families, our employees and our towns.
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