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Voter’s guide to county races and ballot proposals

Suffolk District Attorney
Four-year term, $192,451 annual salary

Christopher Garvey, 67, of Amityville, is running on the Libertarian Party line in his third campaign for district attorney. His previous two attempts ended with his petitions being invalidated by a court. He has run for governor and attorney general as well as for State Supreme Court in Bronx County. Garvey’s resume includes stints as an engineer, sailing instructor, sail maker, charter boat captain, commercial artist, industrial designer and telephone installer/repairman. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Benjamin Cardozo Law School at Yeshiva University. He is currently in private practice, specializing in patent law. 

 

Ray Perini, 70, of Huntington, is running on the Republican and Reform party lines. Perini is a defense attorney and former prosecutor who spent 13 years in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, where he was the first narcotics bureau chief and formed the East End Drug Task Force. This is his second run for DA; he lost a Republican primary challenge to former DA Thomas Spota, a Democrat designated by the county Republican committee, in 2013. Perini graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University and Brooklyn Law School. 

 

Timothy Sini, 37, of Babylon, is running on the Democratic, Conservative, Independence, and Working Families party lines. Sini, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, was Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s top law enforcement aide when Bellone tapped him as police commissioner in November 2015, after he lost a bid for county legislator. He was confirmed by the county legislature in February 2016. Sini, who grew up in West Islip, graduated from American University in 2002 and Brooklyn Law School in 2005. He is married and the father of three.

 

Suffolk Sheriff
Four-year term, $192,451 annual salary

Peter Krauss, 46, of West Islip, is running on the Libertarian Party line. He became a police officer with the NYPD in 1993, was promoted to sergeant in 2003 and retired in 2013. He currently works at Pace University as a security coordinator. He received an associate degree in graphic communication from Farmingdale State College. He is married, and the father of six children.

 

 

Errol Toulon, 55, of Lake Grove, is running on the Democratic, Conservative and Independence party lines. He retired this year after a 25-year career in the New York City Department of Corrections, where he last served as deputy commissioner. He left the Department of Corrections for two years to serve as County Executive Steve Bellone’s assistant deputy commissioner for public safety from 2012 to 2014. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Monroe College and a master’s in business administration and a doctorate in education from Dowling College. A widower, he is remarried and has two sons.

 

Lawrence Zacarese, 42, of Kings Park, is running on the Republican and Reform party lines. For the past eight years, Zacarese has been assistant chief of the Stony Brook University police. He was an NYPD officer for a 10 years before that. Zacarese has a bachelor’s degree in forensic psychology and a master’s in public administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a law degree from Touro Law Center. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He is an instructor at the Suffolk County Fire Academy and an adjunct instructor at Stony Brook University Graduate School of Professional Development. He is also an advanced life support paramedic for the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Zacharese is married and the father of four.

 

County Legislature, First District (North Fork)
Two-year term, $97,786 annual salary

Remy Bell, 62, of Riverhead, making his third bid for office, is running on the Republican party line. He works as an election clerk at the Suffolk County Board of Elections and a part-time traffic control officer with the Riverhead Police Department. He served two years as the Riverhead Republican Committee chairman. He ran for the legislature two years ago. He also ran for the legislature in 1985 as a Democrat and in 1986 was the Democratic candidate for State Assembly.

 

Albert Krupski, 57, of Cutchogue, is running on the Democratic, Conservative and Independence party lines. The Peconic native is a fourth-generation farmer and the first farmer to serve in the Suffolk Legislature. He was elected to the seat in a special election in January 2013, after serving in Southold Town government for nearly 30 years (20 as a trustee and seven as a councilman). He is chairman of the legislature’s public works committee, vice chair of the environmental planning committee and agriculture committee, and a member of the consumer affairs committee. Krupski has a bachelor’s degree in plant science from the University of Delaware. He is married and the father of three adult children.

 

Ballot Proposals

 

Proposal 1: the Constitutional Convention Question.  This is on the ballot in New York as an automatic ballot referral. A “yes” vote supports holding a constitutional convention to develop and propose changes to the state constitution that voters would vote on at the election on November 5, 2019. A “no” vote opposes holding a constitutional convention to develop and propose changes to the state constitution that voters would vote on at the election on November 5, 2019.

A constitutional convention is a meeting of elected delegates who propose amendments to or rewrite the state constitution. Proposals developed at a convention are put on a ballot for voter consideration.

New York’s constitution requires an automatic ballot question on the constitutional convention every 20 years. Voters have approved the constitutional convention question seven times since the automatic ballot question was added in 1801, resulting in four new state constitutions.

A constitutional convention question was last passed by N.Y. voters in 1965 — put on the ballot by the legislature, not as a result of the automatic ballot question — resulting in a constitutional convention being held in Albany for six months in 1967. The convention delegates approved a number of amendments to the state constitution, including the controversial repeal of a provision prohibiting state aid to church-related schools. The proposed constitutional amendments were rejected by voters in November 1967.

Supporters of a constitutional convention say it allows voters to reform the system and empower people to facilitate change outside of the entrenched power structure.

Opponents say a constitutional convention would place rights and protections at risk of alteration or elimination, including the guarantee of a free public education, a prohibition against aid to non-public schools, the right to Workers’ Compensation, the right to unionize and bargain collectively and requirements regarding pensions and social welfare.

Proposal 2, the Pension Forfeiture for Convicted Officials Amendment. This is on the ballot in New York as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. A “yes” vote supports this amendment to authorize judges to reduce or revoke the public pension of a public officer convicted of a felony related to his or her official duties. A “no” vote opposes this amendment to authorize judges to reduce or revoke the public pension of a public officer convicted of a felony related to his or her official duties.

New York’s Constitution now provides that the benefits of a public pension or retirement system cannot be reduced or impaired. The purpose of the proposed amendment is to allow a court to reduce or revoke the public pension of a public officer who is convicted of a felony that has a direct and actual relationship to the performance of the public officer’s existing duties.

Proposal 3, the Forest Preserve Land Bank Amendment. This is on the ballot in New York as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.

This proposal would create a forest preserve land bank of 250 acres for qualifying local projects. The land bank would be referred to in law as the Health and Safety Land Account. Municipalities would request to use acres in the land bank to address bridge and road hazards, water wells to meet drinking water standards, and stabilizing public utility lines. Before local governments could begin requesting acres in the land bank, the state would acquire 250 new acres to include in the Forest Preserve. The measure would also allow bike paths, sewer lines, and electric, telephone, and broadband lines within the width of highways cutting through the Forest Preserve.

Section 1 of Article XIV of the New York Constitution provides for the state Forest Preserve, located in the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, to be “forever kept as wild forest lands.” As the land in the preserve is protected in the constitution, a ballot measure is needed each time the state or a local government wants to use land to construct roads, wells, or other amenities.

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Denise Civiletti
Denise is a veteran local reporter and editor, an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a “writer of the year” award from the N.Y. Press Association in 2015. She is a founder, owner and co-publisher of this website.