Photo credit – Matt Meduri
The start of each year warrants a reorganizational meeting for the County Legislature, in which leadership elections are held, rules are adopted, County newspapers are designated, and certain aspects of the horseshoe’s business are settled to chart the course of the next year.
One of those points of business, and perhaps the most important, is the selection of Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer. Both roles are typically of the majority party, but are elected to the positions with a full quorum of the Legislature.
But before business was handled, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) (pictured above) addressed the Legislature, offering an at-a-glance perspective of what he and the eighteen-member body have accomplished in just one year.
“I wish Washington and Albany would take lessons from us because the partisanship that we sometimes see on a state and national level is more or less absent here,” said Romaine, who began his political career on the horseshoe in 1986. “The one thing that dominates this body is its common sense, and I want to thank you. This past year, you’ve adopted more than a thousand pieces of legislation, a thousand resolutions. As county executive, I vetoed none.”
Romaine shared some statistics highlighting such bipartisanship: over 220 new police officers 30 new deputy sheriffs added; the County’s ability to stay within its tax cap; four bond rating increases; $15 million appropriated for open space; a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that is now near the top in the State, as opposed to the bottom where it once was; the training of CPS workers; and the purchasing of cyber insurance.
Legislator Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) has served as Presiding Officer since Republicans won a majority in 2021, the first time the GOP captured the horseshoe since 2005. He has been re-elected each year to serve as Presiding Officer (PO) of the Legislature, culminating in his final win this year, as his sixth and final term expires January 1, 2026. His nomination was motioned by Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport), who did so with the “utmost pleasure,” followed by a second from Majority Leader Nick Caracappa (C-Selden).
Caracappa recounted a 2013 meeting with McCaffrey, who was a trustee for the Village of Lindenhurst at the time, looking to run for Legislature in a Democratic-held seat. Caracappa, at the time, was a labor leader.
“It was a very easy decision after sitting down and having a conversation with you, your dedication to your community as a trustee in the Village of Lindenhurst, your dedication and commitment to the hard-working middle-class families of your members and all those in your community,” said Caracappa, adding that all of his commitments and promises have been kept. “Years later [2021], I was elected to this Legislature and got to sit with you. You were Minority Leader at the time, and not only did you guide me, you guided our entire caucus and I’ll never forget some of those lessons… you were always forthright and I appreciate that.”
Caracappa also heralded McCaffrey’s bipartisanship, in that he has worked with each Legislator to ensure peak representation of Suffolk constituents.
McCaffrey was re-elected as Presiding Officer 17-0, with Legislator Jim Mazzarella (R–Moriches) not present due to an excused absence. At last year’s reorganizational meeting, Mazzarella supported McCaffrey.
McCaffrey was administered the oath of office by Suffolk County District Administrative Judge, the Honorable Andrew Crecca (R-Hauppauge), who had represented the Twelfth District in the Legislature from 1999 to 2004, and returned to the center of the horseshoe after making his election official with the signing of the Clerk’s book, with County Clerk Vincent Puleo (R-Nesconset) present.
“In 2025, I look forward to finishing the work we started over the last several years. As always, public safety is a priority. And this year, we’ll hire 200 more police officers,” said McCaffrey, adding that this year’s budget will “provide more resources” for District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) and Sheriff Errol Toulon (D).
McCaffrey outlined some legislative accomplishments of 2024, including, but not limited to, the horsehoe’s unanimous stance against coordinated street takeovers, strengthened a bill – sponsored by Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) – that prohibited faulty and uncertified lithium batteries from being sold in Suffolk, as well as the end of the widely-panned red-light camera program, which McCaffrey said was “more about generating revenue than preventing accidents.”
However, he said that traffic safety remains a priority of the Legislature, and that other programs can be further scrutinized, such as work to “refine” the school bus camera program to get rid of the “gotchas,” referencing a tendency for motorists on multi-lane highways to be nailed with school-bus tickets from across multiple lanes and even a median. McCaffrey also highlighted his leadership on Proposition Two, a measure that passed this November that began with legislative Republicans making good on their promise to reintroduce the 2023 measure with better ratios for sewer funding.
McCaffrey also spoke of plans to continue the work on the most ambitious sewer projects across the county, including Holbrook, Oakdale, Mastic Beach, Deer Park, North Babylon, and Smithtown.
The next order of business was to select a Deputy Presiding Officer, a role that has been held by Legislator Steve Flotteron (R-Brightwaters) (pictured below) since Republicans took control of the horseshoe in 2021. His nomination was motioned by Legislator Thorne, who called Flotteron a “man of great integrity, honesty, and hard work.” His motion was seconded by Legislator Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), who worked for Flotteron as a legislative aide until his own election in 2019.
“Steve is a nonstop worker for his community, whether it’s constituent services or legislation,” said Piccirillo of his former boss, who called his two years as Flotteron’s aide as “great years of learning experience.”
“He was able to spearhead the Fire Island Wastewater Program. His work on water reuse and recharge to make sure we protect our single-source aquifer is an unprecedented move county-wide,” said Piccirillo, adding that Flotteron “always makes it a point” to return constituent phone calls and that problems are “resolved immediately rather than dying on the vine.”
Like McCaffrey, Flotteron was re-elected as Deputy Presiding Officer in a 17-0 vote, followed by the oath of office from Justice Crecca and a signature in Clerk Puleo’s book. Flotteron shared that, as Chair of the Public Safety Committee, public safety remains his “number one” priority and “the most important function of our County government.”
“Over the years, [we went] from one time fighting for making sure we had enough officers on the streets and having enough people in our [police] class, to now working on their [police] infrastructure and doing a review of the police headquarters and the precincts to make sure they have the proper funding,” said Flotteron, adding that buildings are “a lot of times, in deplorable shape.”
“I believe we’ve all been working in the same harmony together, regardless of political affiliation,” said Flotteron, including water quality as another issue important to him.
“In twelve years, we had twelve bond rate downgrades. In one year, we have had four bond rate increases, and that is with this Legislature working with the County Executive’s office,” said Flotteron, offering his seasoned fiscal opinions as Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. “That is some terrific work. When we have to repave a street or build a bridge, it costs us less, which everybody saves on.”
Some rule changes were accepted and discussed, most of which were formatting changes, although a new change prohibits signs, placards, banners, and similar items from the meeting chamber, while video or audio recordings will not be allowed to be played by public speakers at the podium without prior approval. Recording audio or video of the meetings, for the public or press, will still be allowed.
The concern, according to Legislative Counsel William Duffy, Esq., was born of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and “deep fakes,” in which video or audio is completely manufactured, but can sound or look shockingly realistic.
The concern of banning display items is that they have been a distraction to members of the Legislature, as well as members of the public, who have had their abilities to hear, see, and participate in the meetings hindered. To this, Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) suggested the position of a sergeant-at-arms for the Legislature, a position the body has never had, with typical decorum procedures at will of the sheriffs who are regularly on standby to maintain the law and remove hecklers.
“I think it’s time for us to consider the maturation of this institution,” said Englebright, referencing the relative youth of the Suffolk County Legislature, which held its first elections in 1969. He compares to it age-old institutions like the State Legislature – in which he served for thirty years as an Assemblyman – and the U.S. Congress.
The Legislature adjourned after and set the course for 2025, with the next elections for the body to be held in November.
