The Third District includes Center Moriches, East Moriches, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Moriches, the Poospatuck Reservation, Shirley, South Haven, and parts of Brookhaven hamlet, Eastport, Fire Island, and Manorville.
A relative newcomer to the horseshoe, Legislator Jim Mazzarella has certainly hit his stride.
The Moriches Republican is a life-long resident of the Tri-Hamlet Peninsula, giving him a leg up in terms of ear-to-the-rail constituent services and projects. Currently, Mazzarella is shepherding the construction of the new Smith Point Bridge, one that will not impede bay or vehicular traffic and will be more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly than its current counterpart.
Legislator Mazzarella is also working to bring sewers to Montauk Highway to help revitalize the area from William Floyd Parkway down to the eastern end of Moriches hamlet, while also providing counsel to the ongoing Neighborhood Road Revitalization Area in downtown Mastic Beach. He’s also been at the forefront of consumer protection initiatives, signing on as a co-sponsor of a safe housing bill that gives municipalities more local control over for-profit landlords hiding behind LLCs, as well as a bill of his own that establishes an unscrupulous contractors’ “Wall of Shame.”
Legislator Mazzarella is in tune to his district’s precarious environmental needs, with his biggest achievement this term, perhaps, helping bring the Forge River Sewage Treatment Plant online, working with the Town of Brookhaven and local civic groups to improve coastal resiliency, and improving the ecology of the South Shore that was overlooked decades ago.
On top of all that, he’s also working to bring disc golf to Southaven County Park, getting Long Island’s foot in the door for the growing sport. Here’s to hoping that some attention-grabbing tournaments are played right here in Suffolk.
Opposed for re-election only nominally, Mazzarella faces Democrat Beverly Theodore, who is not actively campaigning.
The Messenger endorses Mazzarella.
