Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine Delivers the 2024 State of the County Address (Credit – Matt Meduri)
Pursuant to the County Charter, the County Executive must address the Suffolk County Legislature with a “State of the County” address, with the intention being to update the Legislators on current affairs in the County and delineate priorities and a path forward.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) addressed the Legislature and the public at Tuesday’s general meeting at 10:30a.m. at the Legislature building in Hauppauge.
It was the first State of the County Address delivered by a Republican County Executive to a Legislature with a Republican supermajority since 1996.
“I am extremely hopeful about the future of this County and there’s eighteen reasons for that, and they’re all sitting around me,” Romaine opened. “We may not always agree on everything, but there’s one thing that I think everyone should agree on, and that’s that the future of this County is good, but it can be improved.”
Romaine hailed the Legislators as men and women of “goodwill, intellect, and commitment” who will “lead this County forward.”
Finances and Infrastructure
Romaine said that “all issues of government are issues of money.” He announced that Suffolk County’s bond ratings were upgraded by S&P Global Ratings this quarter, rising from a AA- rating to an A+ rating with a stable outlook. He stated he hopes to improve the County’s bond rating to AAA, the highest rating, by the end of his tenure.
Romaine also made the County’s infrastructure a priority of his address, stating that when “you don’t invest in your assets, they decline.”
“The Dennison Building is over fifty years old,” said Romaine. “Our buildings haven’t been maintained. They [previous administrations] have not invested in these buildings, and these are our assets.”
Romaine discussed the County facilities and that he was “shocked” to see the levels of maintenance and investment, citing the Dennison Building, the Police Headquarters, the Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Fingerprint Lab in the police department specifically. Regarding the Medical Examiner’s Office, he said that there are “certification issues” because of the “lack of investment” in that office.
“This is going to be a key priority. I am going to look at every single County building in the next four years to see what we can improve,” said Romaine. He also said that while rebuilding the current Police Headquarters is an option, building an entirely new one is also on the table.
Romaine said is also looking at staffing levels, as the same principle applies.
“When you don’t invest in your staffing, you don’t get things done,” said Romaine, referencing one of his campaign pledges to have an “honest budget.”
“I’m not going to put jobs in the budget and tax people for them and then not fill those jobs,” said Romaine. “We’re going staff properly. We will fund the core of government, and we will make sure it has the adequate resources to go forward.”
Romaine also said he is working on centralizing the Grants Office to bring as much federal and State aid to Suffolk as possible.
“One thing I have noticed over the long history of Suffolk County is we’ve been shortchanged. We give so much more to Albany and Washington than we get back, and I’m comparing ourselves not to the money that we want to get back, but to what other counties get,” said Romaine. “The consumer price index stands at 9.1% and inflation has still been growing faster than the Federal Reserve would like, and that has an impact for all of us. New York State has a 2% tax cap, and inflation is running a lot higher than 2%. But nevertheless, I will submit a budget this September for next year that will not exceed the 2% property tax cap. We cannot afford to do that.”
Romaine also mentioned the lawsuits brought on by previous administrations, two of which saw hundreds of millions of dollars diverted from sewer funds that the County will have to settle or litigate. He also discussed a salaries study commissioned by the Legislature last year in the form of $750,000. He and the Legislature will negotiate union contracts this year, but he said that “we have to deal from a position of fairness and that we can recruit and retain the best and the brightest in County government.”
Regarding finances in County health care, Romaine said that an agreement has just been approved with the Suffolk Coalition of Public Employees that reduces copays from $25 to $20 and employs a new third-party administrator, Aetna, which has a broader and wider network for County employees. As it relates to the taxpayers, it will save “about $100 million over the next five years.”
Romaine recently submitted his capital budget of $489 million to the Legislature which will “prioritize public health, public safety, quality of life, and the things that make this County a special place to live.” The budget includes $1.6 million for improvements to roads, bridges, and transit and $35 million for the Board of Elections to ensure state-of-the-art election machines that deliver results quickly.
He also endorsed the plans for overpasses to be built at State Route 347 and Nicolls Road in Stony Brook and at Sunrise Highway and CR-39 in Tuckahoe.
Public Safety
Romaine said that he has hired more detectives and the County has more officers on the streets. Last week, a graduating police class saw 136 additions to the Suffolk County police course. Romaine said there is a second class in August and the County is considering a third class in December. He also said the County is purchasing new police vehicles, equipment, and is addressing mental health issues within the department.
“In the month of January, we had two police officers, a probation officer, and a deputy sheriff take their lives,” said Romaine. “There is no stigma to accepting help and getting help, and we think that that’s important for all county employees and for everyone.”
Combining aspects of public safety and infrastructure, Romaine is targeting the John J. Foley Building in Yaphank as a site for a new Raise-the-Age facility. The Foley Building was originally a nursing home but is now a prime location for the County’s facility for juvenile detention. Romaine said that the State will fund the facility by about 75%, but that their estimate for construction was $110 million. Romaine says that by converting the Foley Building into a juvenile detention facility would save the taxpayers “approximately $50 million.”
Information Technology
Romaine also addressed the County’s path forward with IT and cybersecurity, touting the new IT Director, John McCaffrey, and discussed the County’s path forward after the crippling cyberattacks in September 2022.
“The prior [Bellone] administration had emergency proclamations September 2022 through December of 2023, that suspended civil service and bidding requirements,” said Romaine. “In that time period, they spent $27 million, of which our County Comptroller [John Kennedy (R-Nesconset)] said $13.8 million was questionable spending. I contacted the Association of Counties of the State and they recommended a forensic audit. We’re doing a forensic audit of that spending and we’ll see if we can pour some of that money back to the taxpayers.”
Romaine also said that the County should not need an emergency declaration, since the IT affairs are being handled “governmentally,” and that County should be able to purchase cybersecurity insurance by the end of the year. He also said that the County’s data center should be moved to the cloud and that periodic penetration tests should be conducted, as was done under his tenure as Brookhaven Town Supervisor.
Romaine also mentioned missing electronic files from the previous administration, which District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) is currently investigating.
Energy
Romaine has been a strong advocate for solar energy and recently introduced his “Solar Up Suffolk” initiative to utilize open space, without clearing trees, and rooftops to house solar panels in a deal that he says can actually turn a profit for the County. Romaine says a big obstacle to this initiative is the lack of substation provided by LIPA and PSE&G.
“We need LIPA to get on the ball and build those substations so we can use alternative energy and always have power at an inexpensive cost,” said Romaine.
Social Services
Romaine said that a recent report shows that Suffolk County is the “worst in the state in processing SNAP applications,” and that call wait times would take an hour and a half to reach the department. He said a way to combat the poor SNAP application processing ratings is to increase staffing, and that the Social Services department is already seeing call response times of “five or six minutes, if not sooner.”
Romaine also discussed Thomas Valva, the landmark case of a child who died at the hands of his parents due to lack of oversight from Social Services.
“I’m happy to say we have leadership at Social Services,” said Romaine. “The previous leadership resigned after the grand jury report came out.”
The grand jury report on the Thomas Valva case, spearheaded by D.A. Tierney, found “systemic failures” of the Child Protective Services system and recommended “local and state-wide common-sense changes to ensure that incompetence and apathy are not protected.” Valva’s death was substantiated by numerous, unattended complaints to CPS, furthered by the fact that high-ranking prosecutors, even the D.A. himself, could not obtain prior reports that were deemed “unfounded” by the department.
Romaine said furthering the efficiency of the department is through investing in staffing, preventing heavy caseloads on social workers, and providing extra training. He also said the County has talked with schools in the SUNY systems to recruit social work graduates.
Open Space Preservation
Romaine said that while development should take place, it should only be in the areas that make it “perfect.” Romaine renewed his calls for electrification of the LIRR, which currently end at Babylon and Ronkonkoma. He said that NYC congestion pricing revenue is not coming to Suffolk County and suggested electric lines from Ronkonkoma to Riverhead and Huntington to Port Jefferson.
On the topic of bus transportation, Romaine said that Suffolk only receives $40 million in State for such transit, compared to larger numbers for other, geographically smaller counties. He also said that buses and trains need to be tied together to work in tandem.
Romaine also called for redesigned sewers and treatment plants, sewers that handle road runoff, and replacing aged out sewer treatment plants, via a “regional approach” to sewer treatment.
Moving Forward
“I’ve been taught that the squeaking wheel gets the oil, and we have to start squeaking a lot more,” said Romaine. “I know with these eighteen powerhouses behind me, we can’t lose.”
