Riverhead Council Member Tim Hubbard received a $1,000 contribution to his supervisor campaign from a lobbying firm that represents EPCAL buyer Calverton Aviation and Technology, campaign finance records filed last week show.
Praxis Public Relations, a lobbying and public relations firm run by former Suffolk County Legislator Paul Tonna, has been lobbying for the company since 2019, according to state lobbying data. In addition to CAT, the firm has lobbied for two downtown Riverhead developers, G2D Group and Heatherwood, the filings show.
Hubbard said in an interview that he would refund the money. “That money will be returned then. I did not know that,” he said about the contribution, received on Aug. 7. “I stated publicly I would never take any money from CAT, Triple Five or anybody else.”
Hubbard initially said he did not know of Praxis Public Relations. When he was told Tonna was a partner in the firm, he said he knew Tonna and had talked to him about CAT this year.
“I imagine at some point in time, he would work for them if they came to fruition,” Hubbard said, referring to the development by CAT at the Calverton Enterprise Park. “But I don’t think it’s coming to fruition. So I don’t think it’s really even going to become an issue.”
Hubbard said he did not know Tonna was a lobbyist for CAT when he talked to him. “He said he may. He was trying to decide whether he was going to work for them and he wanted to know if I thought they were legit — legit and aboveboard,” Hubbard said. “And I wanted to know from him, do you think they’re above and legit? And that’s kind of where our conversations ended.”
Tonna’s firm has been lobbying for CAT, Triple Five’s single-purpose business entity that has been in contract with the town since 2018 to purchase more than 1,600 acres of town-owned industrial land at EPCAL. The lobbying filings, disclosures required by state law, do not disclose what government or governments Praxis is lobbying for the companies. The initial contract between Praxis and CAT relates to “municipal procurement.”
Praxis also provides consulting and management services, and works with “organizations seeking state and local tax incentives and Industrial Development Agency (IDA) advice and assistance,” according to Praxis’ website. CAT is currently in front of the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency seeking financial assistance for its development at EPCAL.
Tonna did not return calls and an email requesting an interview.
Riverhead IDA Executive Director Tracy Stark-James said in response to a FOIL request that the IDA has not received or sent any correspondence with representatives of Praxis Public Relations. A FOIL request for correspondence between Riverhead Town officials and representatives of Praxis Public Relations is pending.
Hubbard said in a follow-up interview that he met Tonna through Greg DeRosa, G2D Group’s CEO. Hubbard said he has talked to Tonna several times throughout the year.
Hubbard has supported both of G2D’s development projects in downtown Riverhead, which required special permits from the Town Board.
When he talked to Tonna about CAT, Hubbard said, it was a small aside in a larger conversation inviting Hubbard to the Energeia Partnership, a program Tonna runs at Molloy University. The program’s goal, according to the its website, “is to recruit proven ethical leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors of Long Island and furnish them with the information, network and support necessary for corrective action, namely: to serve as change agents, imagining new possibilities for the Long Island region, a necessity for improving the quality of life for all Long Islanders.”
Supervisor Yvette Aguiar and town council members Ken Rothwell, Frank Beyrodt and Bob Kern said they had not had interactions with Tonna or anyone from Praxis Public Relations.
Hubbard’s contribution from Praxis was one of many to his campaign committee, Tim Hubbard for Supervisor, during the most recent campaign reporting period, which began July 13 and ended Oct. 2. Campaign finance disclosure reports for the period were due Oct. 6.
Like the contributions reported by Hubbard’s committee during the prior reporting period, which began Jan. 14 and ended July 13, most came from developers, business owners and consultants.
MORE COVERAGE: Developers, business owners and consultants drive town Republican campaign finances in the first half of 2023
“I can’t be bought,” Hubbard said when asked whether he could assure voters that the contributions he received would not influence his decisions in office. “I’ve never been able to be bought 32 years as a police officer. I’ve been an honest police officer — I’ve been an honest person my entire life. People can give me money from wherever they want to give me money for. At the end of the day, I have to vote for what I think is right for the town. Very simple. Nobody can buy me. Nobody.”
Hubbard, who opened the reporting period with $16,770 on hand, raised a total of $28,361 and spent $27,619, according to the filings. The committee has $17,512 on-hand, according to the filings.
The largest contributions came from Praxis Public Relations ($1,000); Al Amato of Amato Law Group of Garden City ($1,000); Riverhead businessman Brian Stark ($1,000) and his company Stark Homes Inc. ($1,000); Apple Honda ($1,000); and the campaign committee of former Suffolk County executive and former assembly member Bob Gaffney ($1,000).
Hubbard also received a $1,000 contribution from Anthony Lomangino, a former waste management businessman. Lomangino purchased Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River in 2021, according to the Riverhead News-Review. The golf club was rebranded to The Rock Golf Club soon after.
Hubbard received $500 from Alec Ornstein of Ornstein Development, which is developing a 165-unit mixed-use apartment building at 203-213 East Main Street. The building received final approvals last week with unanimous support from the Town Board.
The councilman’s campaign has received money from various businesses operating in the town including Eagle Chevrolet of Riverhead ($500); the Hotel Indigo East End and Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites management company Jaral Management Corp ($500); construction company J. Petrocelli Contracting, which is also developer of downtown buildings and town-designated master developer of the town square ($500); and Riverhead Ciderhouse owner John King ($500).
As in the prior reporting period, Hubbard received thousands of dollars from development consultants and attorneys, including Michael L. McCarthy, P.C., a land-use and real estate attorney from Huntington ($500); Perry M. Petrillo Architects of Ridge, N.J., the firm that designed the recent expansion of the Riverhead Ciderhouse ($250); Phronesis Engineering of Islandia, a civil engineering firm ($250); and Dan Abbondandolo of commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield ($500).
He also received contributions this cycle from several law enforcement organizations, including the Suffolk County Detectives Association ($500); Suffolk County Correction Officers Association ($500); Riverhead PD Superior Officers Association PAC ($275); and the Riverhead PBA PAC ($200).
Three contributions Hubbard received this election cycle — from H2M Municipal Market Director Patricia Del Col ($250), G2D Group executive Daniel Wiener ($250) and Alfred Weissman Real Estate, a Westchester developer interested in building a spa and beach resort on the Long Island Sound in Riverhead ($275) — put the contributors above the $1,185.15 receipt limit a campaign committee for Riverhead Town office may receive from any one contributor during a given election cycle. Hubbard received $1,000 donations from each of those contributors earlier this year.
The current election cycle for the two-year office of Riverhead town supervisor began on Nov. 3, 2021, the day after the last town supervisor election, and ends on Election Day this year, Nov. 7, pursuant to New York State Election Law.
Hubbard maintains that contributions he received before he declared his candidacy for supervisor don’t count toward the legal limit on contributions to his supervisor campaign committee.
“After the election and prior to filing the 27 Day-Post General Election Report, all contributions will be reviewed and totaled to the extent there are multiple contributions from any single source and any sums over the limit will be refunded accordingly,” Hubbard wrote in an email in response to questions posed about the contributions.
He said he has reached out to the State Board of Elections to confirm his understanding of the law, and if the Board of Elections disagrees, the contributions over the receipt limit would be “refunded appropriately.”
The campaign committees of Hubbard’s running mates, council candidates Denise Merrifield and Joann Waski, did not receive significant donations this reporting cycle.
Waski received $1,400 — $1,000 of that coming from Emily Hill, the wife of Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch owner Thaddeus Hill. She spent $5,320 and has $3,652 on hand, according to the filing. Merrifield received $400. She spent $1,469 and has $5,290 on hand, according to the filing.
The Riverhead Republican Committee received $4,000 in transfers from the campaign committee of former Suffolk County executive and assembly member Bob Gaffney. The committee spent a total of $4,200 and has $5,214 on hand.
Riverhead Democrats, as has been the case in most of the town’s local elections, raised only a fraction of what Republicans received in contributions this period.
Supervisor candidate Angela DeVito raised $6,887 and spent $8,100 during the reporting period. She had $2,717 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Big money contributions to DeVito came from Riverhead real estate broker and Tweeds Buffalo Bar owner Edwin Tuccio ($1,000), Aquebogue attorney Ronald Hariri ($750) and Riverhead businessman Brian Stark ($500), according to the filings.
She also received a $1,187 contribution — slightly above the $1,185.15 receipt limit — from James Gaughran, who is listed as a “candidate/candidate spouse.” Gaughran is a former Democratic state senator who announced in August that he will run to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota in the First Congressional District. DeVito said in an interview that she would return part of Gaughran’s contribution to comply with the receipt limit.
Town council candidate Rene Suprina received $948 in contributions, which includes $500 from herself. Suprina’s filings, which were submitted days late, do not list who her contributors were. She spent $760 on law signs, according to the disclosures. Suprina said today she would send a reporter the name of her contributors, but has not yet done so.
Council candidate Andrew Leven has not yet filed the required campaign finance report yet, according to the state website. Leven made a $2,000 loan to his own campaign, according to the July filing, and has accepted in-kind donations from the Riverhead Town Democratic Committee for photos and palm cards. Leven did not immediately return a call requesting comment.
The Riverhead Town Democratic Committee has also not filed its required 32-day pre-general election report. Democratic Committee chairperson Laura Jens-Smith said in an interview that she did not know the report was not filed and would contact the committee’s treasurer. Jens-Smith said she did not have details about the committee’s current financial status.
In an interview after the July campaign finance filings were submitted, Suprina and DeVito said they were not putting pressure on their supporters to contribute to their campaigns.
Editor’s note: This article was amended after its initial publication to add response from Supervisor Yvette Aguiar and candidate Angela DeVito, who both returned RiverheadLOCAL’s phone call seeking comment after it was published. The article was also amended to include information about the Riverhead Town Democratic Committee’s finance report, which was unintentionally omitted from the article’s initial publication.
This article was amended to correct a misstatement regarding a prior elective office held by Bob Gaffney.
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