Suffolk County Legislature

Democratic county legislators tried again today to adopt their own redistricting plan before losing majority control of the legislature on Jan. 1. But a court order again blocked their effort.

County legislators yesterday authorized a 20-year lease of 38,555 square feet of the vacant former Kmart store on Route 58. The Department of Social Services will relocate there from its current space on East Main Street.

Suffolk Democrats' legislative reapportionment plans hit a wall, as a State Supreme Court judge yesterday granted Republicans' request for an injunction.

While most people are blisslully oblivious, political power brokers are hard at work in an underhanded and illegal effort to grab power from the jaws of defeat in last month's election.

Residents of Flanders, Riverside and Northampton will find themselves in a new county legislative district next year, if a redistricting plan being advanced by the legislature’s current majority caucus wins final approval. Republicans in the legislature have sued to block the Democrats' effort, which they call a last-minute power grab before a new Republican majority takes control in January.

A proposed amendment to Suffolk County’s human rights law that would make discrimination against law enforcement unlawful was attacked as unconstitutional and unnecessary during a public hearing of the County Legislature on Thursday. 

Suffolk legislative committees will take up resolutions this week to authorize the purchase of 50 acres of farmland on Sound Avenue in Riverhead and 20 acres of open space in Northville. Here's the full committee schedule, with agenda and livestream links.

Despite challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic and what will likely be a record number of absentee paper ballots, Suffolk's election commissioners say the Board of Elections is ready for the 2020 election.

New homes built in unsewered areas of Suffolk County next year will be required to have innovative nitrogen-reducing wastewater systems rather than traditional septic systems as of next July, if a proposed amendment to the Sanitary Code is approved by county legislators.

Suffolk County legislators will tackle a lot during this week's committee meetings — from requiring body cameras for law enforcement officers and preparations for conducting the 2020 General Election to requiring innovative septic systems for new or expanded single-family homes, and more. Here's a rundown.