Islip Democrats accuse fellow Suffolk Dems of retaliation after being denied use of office

Leaders of the Islip Democratic Committee are accusing the Suffolk Democratic Party of retaliation after supporting the challenger in last week’s party boss election, an accusation party leaders denied and called "misinformation."

The Islip Democrats said they were denied access to county headquarters in Bohemia for their monthly meeting, held Wednesday, and told to make other arrangements. They also lost access to software used to organize meetings and volunteer events, called Mobilize, they said.

The exclusion comes a week after Rich Schaffer said after securing another term that he wanted to bring everyone together, saying that settling scores "would be a complete waste of energy."

"It’s pretty clear retaliation," said Garrett Petersen, vice chair of the Islip Dems, in a text message to Newsday.

Leigh-Ann Barde, chair of the Islip Democrats, said in an interview she began getting messages from members over the weekend saying they were getting cancellation notices for the upcoming meeting and volunteer events they had signed up for.

She said she provided the county committee a list of its meeting dates — typically on the last Wednesday of the month — at the beginning of the year. She said she emailed staff at the county committee to confirm using the office this week and was told the space was unavailable and to make other arrangements, she said.

The county committee countered the decision was merely a "logistical decision."

Bryan Sokolowski, political director for the Suffolk Democrats, said in a statement to Newsday the county committee asked Islip Democrats to find a different site because the office is unavailable due to a campaign finance filing deadline on Friday and to "fulfill ongoing responsibilities to the Committee, its candidates, and elected officials."

Barde and Petersen both put their support in last week’s election behind challenger Kathryn Casey Quigley, who lost to Schaffer, the incumbent.

Islip’s committee members voted about 51% in favor of Casey Quigley. It was the only western Suffolk town where Casey Quigley received majority of the votes.

Barde had called for Schaffer’s resignation in the lead-up to the vote, saying in a statement she could not support "inappropriate methods of running our party."

A typical committee meeting draws around 40 people, Petersen said, and the members discuss recent developments and campaign events, and leave space to allow for candidates to speak and other housekeeping items.

The Islip Democrats opted instead for a virtual meeting and said in an announcement Tuesday, "We will be providing a new address for physical meetings for future dates once we secure another location."

"This was an entirely logistical decision which could likely have been resolved with a phone call rather than spreading misinformation online which only helps Republicans," Sokolowski said.

He added the county and town committees pay for their own Mobilize accounts and the Suffolk Democrats "did not prevent the Islip Dems from organizing or communicating with their membership, nor take away a resource that they did not already have."

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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