Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy is term-limited and a new era of fiscal stewardship in Suffolk will begin in January.
Voters have two good candidates for this position: Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro and attorney and first-time candidate Jon Estreich.
Losquadro, a Shoreham Republican, knows the ins and outs of government. A former Suffolk County Legislator and former New York State Assemblyman, Losquadro understands who the players are and how to navigate the proper channels of local government. He’s presided over Brookhaven’s Highway Department since 2013, which is no small task.
Some voters have characterized Losquadro as merely a “roads guy,” but that underscores his budgetary prowess. Brookhaven is one of the largest townships in the State by area and about half of that budget goes to the roads. To say there’s no budgetary know-how in that role would be an understatement.
Losquadro gets credit for having inherited an antiquated and unbalanced department in 2013. He’s championed stockpiling reserves for unpredictable circumstances – in his case, weather and snow. Despite several mild winters, the proof was in the pudding this past winter which saw snow accumulation records shattered across Suffolk.
There’s almost no doubt that whoever wins this contest will be in the unenviable position of having to navigate Suffolk’s finances during a time of global economic upheaval. For us, the question is just how bad that will be. While there’s effectively nothing local elected officials can do about the AI bubble, the War in Iran, and other salient topics as of late, their job is to prepare the municipality for the worst and get creative. We think Losquadro’s strategy for budgeting his department in Brookhaven gives him a leg up.
But Losquadro has another facet to his candidacy that makes us confident in his ability: his relationship with County Executive Ed Romaine.
Losquadro entered Town government shortly after Romaine took over as Supervisor. The two governed together for about a decade until Romaine was elected County Executive in 2023. Losquadro is familiar with Romaine’s leadership style, and vice versa. Moreover, as Romaine is presiding over economic stability in Suffolk – cash reserves are at an all-time high and the bond rating continues to improve and stabilize – we think the transition from a Kennedy-run Comptroller’s Office to a Losquadro-run office will be a seamless one.
Losquadro’s opponent is Jon Estriech, an attorney, former prosecutor, judge advocate in the JAG Corps, and a recently-promoted Army Headquarters Commander. Estreich, a Dix Hills Democrat, is sharp, affable, and has a well-rounded background. From doing investigative work for the MTA, to working under Governor Cuomo digging into nonprofit fraud, we don’t doubt he’s up to the task. He talks about sniffing out pay-to-play and creating an economic dashboard so Suffolk residents can see where their tax dollars are going in real time.
We would have liked more substantive examples of what he alleges could be pay-to-play, and we’re not sure just how effective such a dashboard would be, but he does rightly point out that despite ostensibly good finances, there are “warning signs” of impending economic trouble.
As a side note, both candidates are intensely well-traveled, which we think gives both broadened horizons and plays well into a job as strenuous as that of the Comptroller.
But Estreich, in our view, is simply unable to match Losquadro’s experience and the invaluable connection the Highway Superintendent has to the County Executive. However, we do urge Estreich to stay involved and perhaps seek office at the local level first. We’re interested to see where his drive can take him.
The Messenger endorses Losquadro.
