Candidate: Legislator Leslie Kennedy
Residence: Nesconset
Office: Suffolk County Legislature, District Twelve
Committees: Health (Chair); Budget and Finance (Vice Chair); Ways and Means (Vice Chair); Environment, Parks, and Agriculture; Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness; Labor and Consumer Affairs; Public Safety; Veterans
First Elected: March 2015 Special Election, re-elected 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023
Party Endorsements: Republican, Conservative
Notable Endorsements: All police unions, Suffolk Association of Municipal Employees (AME), Communication Workers of America (CWA), Suffolk County Community College Faculty Association
Legislator Leslie Kennedy is gearing up for a sixth and final term in the County Legislature. First elected in a special election in 2015, Kennedy has won with at least 65% of the vote in every election.
Leslie Kennedy sat down with The Messenger for this candidate spotlight interview.
Q: What is your professional background before being elected to the Legislature and does it equip you for another term?
A: First, I’m a mother of four, a grandmother of eight. I was a registered nurse for thirty years. I also managed a 1950s ice cream store. I learned how to make cakes and pizzas and all sorts of goods to keep it running. I also kept the books and handled the finance and ordering of supplies.
I did whatever it took to sustain a family of four in Smithtown, as well as educating them, which is a tremendous haul.
Q: What have you accomplished for the Twelfth District in the last two years?
A: I’ve secured $6.5 million for the Stump Pond dam to be done. While construction on the dam itself hasn’t been started, the work behind the scenes is getting done. While some say the dam shouldn’t be rebuilt, it makes sense to rebuild it since there are fifteen tributaries that dried up when the dam was built. Houses were then built on that land. The tributaries will eventually flow again. This is a high-groundwater area. We have to rebuild the dam. There’s talk that Governor Kathy Hochul (D) might be interested in purchasing the grist mill and rebuilding the wheel there. At any rate, we will rebuild a Level B dam with a fish ladder. The County Department of Public Works (DPW) is currently working on the plan and the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has said that as soon as they receive the paperwork and permits, they will approve the project.
I also sponsored legislation to form a Blydeburgh County Park Advisory Board. The board would consist of eleven members, including the Commissioner of Suffolk County Department of Park, Recreation, and Conservation, the Chair of the Legislature’s Environment, Parks, and Agriculture (EPA) Committee, one member each of the equestrian community, the Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference, the Suffolk County Archaeological Association, and the Forestwood Civic Association. Five residents in the surrounding areas would also be appointed by the Legislator representing the area. That is laid on the table for the next General Meeting.
We recently passed a bill for weirs for Miller’s Pond County Park on Maple Avenue in Smithtown. That bill was pushed back by the Steve Bellone (D-West Babylon) Administration for years. I got $2.5 million for that and it just went to Request for Proposal (RFP) last week. It was put in as a capital project. Construction is expected to commence in 2026.
We’ve also done four remediations of the Nissequogue River tributaries. We’re putting out an RFP to fast-track that.
We got the grass cut along Townline Road near Hauppauge High School, and we’ve gotten work started on fixing the road and putting in sidewalks for the kids who walk to school.
With crime and quality of life, I’ve worked the County to get rid of these massage parlors and prostitution going on at Fairfield Properties in Hauppauge.
We’ve also worked to secure funds for sewers and infrastructure. In Kings Park, we’ve got a vacant property set to be a leaching pool. Smithtown sewers are moving along and will be set to hookup to the Kings Park treatment plant and leaching field.
In Brookhaven, we’re doing the sewer study from Selden to Lake Grove; I pushed for the line to be extended to Lake Grove. We’re also looking to hook the Smith Haven Mall into the Middle Country line. The mall has its own treatment plant, but it flows into Lake Ronkonkoma.
Q: What have you accomplished for the County at-large in the last two years?
A: When I had a heart attack before I was a Legislator, I was saved with a MedCAT machine and was lucky a first responder was nearby when I collapsed. I worked for years to get those life-saving devices in each police precinct. In the last couple of years, we’ve gotten more for the precincts. I got $450,000 in the capital budget for that and an endorsement on the issue from County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) and SCPD Commissioner Kevin Catalina. I also secured a commitment for it to be a recurring appropriation in subsequent capital budgets to fund the additional cars, equipment, and training. We’re getting two per year.
The County Medical Examiner’s Office has eight morgue drivers. They’re the ones who do the heavy work of picking up the bodies of the deceased across the entire county. They make about $35,000 a year. I said they deserve a raise and better equipment, especially gloves.
Q: You joined twelve other Legislators in suing the State over the even-year elections law. Explain your stance.
A: The length of each ballot would be three sheets of legal paper, at minimum, not including propositions, which are passed at the federal, State, County, Town, village levels. By the time you get down to your local officials, people will have voter exhaustion. All politics is local. It’s hurting the constituents who will have to vote for them.
It’s also done to put the Democratic Party back in power in the suburbs. New York City is exempt from this as well; Albany doesn’t want to do wrong by their friends. The Governor did not think out well.
Q: What is your favorite quote, motto, work ethic, or words to live by?
A: “Do all the good you can by all the means you can in all the places you can to all the people you can.” – John Wesley (attribution)
Q: How do you like to connect with your community?
A: I’m a reader. I have a bag that says, “Born to read books, forced to read emails.” I love Blydenburgh Park and Lake Ronkonkoma. My areas are widely diverse and beautiful.
The Messenger thanks Legislator Kennedy for her time for this interview.
About the Twelfth District
The Twelfth District is split between the towns of Smithtown and Brookhaven. Within Smithtown, the district contains Nesconset, Village of the Branch, and parts of Commack, Hauppauge, Smithtown, and Lake Ronkonkoma. Within Brookhaven, it includes Lake Grove and Lake Ronkonkoma, as well as parts of Centereach.
Kennedy’s opponent, Deborah Monaco (D-Smithtown), is not actively campaigning. Interestingly, Monaco was Kennedy’s first opponent for this seat in the March 2015 special election, wherein Kennedy defeated Monaco 82.61% to 17.39%.
