Suffolk BOE re-upped ahead of big Dem vote
The Suffolk County Board of Elections office in Yaphank in 2023. Credit: Tom Lambui
Daily Point
Legislature makes quick move on commissioners before Dems' leadership clash
In an unusual move, the Suffolk County Legislature last week approved a certificate of necessity to reappoint — months before their terms expire — the Republican and Democratic commissioners of the Board of Elections, positions that are generally considered above the rough-and-tumble of Suffolk's political fray.
This year, though, the pending election of the next leader of the Suffolk County Democratic Party looms as a possible reason for the expedited process.
Longtime county chair Rich Schaffer is being challenged by Southold Town party chair Kathryn Casey Quigley with a vote scheduled for Tuesday. It's the first serious challenge to his control of the party in his 26-year tenure. Suffolk Democrats have been pulled between both forces for months, and the final act in this drama will be a public vote with every committee member choosing sides. The stakes are high, and you can fill in the blanks about possible repercussions for committee members who find themselves on the opposite side of the victor.
A Suffolk Democrat said the commissioners' vote was moved to occur before the party's convention Tuesday night as a precaution if Schaffer is ousted by Casey Quigley. The thinking, the source said, is that Casey Quigley might pick a different Democrat as commissioner.
Democrat John Alberts and Republican Erin McTiernan's terms don't expire until Dec. 31, but the legislature approved their reappointments at its Sept. 9 general meeting. In recent history, commissioners have been reappointed months in advance, or in one instance just two weeks prior to the terms expiring, a source said. Both parties typically make the appointments jointly without fanfare or disagreement. A certificate of necessity is a way to fast-track legislation and is typically used for urgent matters rather than mundane reappointments. Board of Elections commissioners are usually untouched by incremental shifts in local politics.
A source in the Suffolk County Legislature said the reappointment of commissioners wasn't deliberately moved to before the Democratic convention, yet conceded that the "timing and context" of the vote was "definitely unusual and the nature of it being a certificate of necessity and being approved that day is unusual."
Suffolk County Legis. Greg Doroski, a first-term Democrat, told The Point the only thing about the vote that gave him pause was the certificate of necessity. "It felt a little weird to me," he said. "I raised a question about the timing and was told it was standard and normal."
In a text to The Point, Schaffer didn't address the certificate of necessity.
"At a time that some are trying to raise doubts about the integrity of our elections, it is important for Suffolk County residents to know we will retain John's professionalism, experience and commitment to keeping Suffolk County's elections safe," Schaffer said. "We also appreciate the cooperation and dedication to maintaining a bipartisan Board of Elections between John and Republican Commissioner Erin McTiernan."
— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com
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Final Point
Trump vows to 'look at' 9/11 Saudi info ask
Terry Strada, who lost her husband Tom in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, used her turn at the microphone during last week's 25-year commemoration at Ground Zero to seek — once again — a full accounting for Saudi Arabia's alleged role.
"And my husband, Tom Strada, you are missed more with each year that passes," she said, as a national chair of the 911 Families United group. "But how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?"
Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, speaks on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks last week in lower Manhattan. Credit: AP / Pamela Smith
The Stradas were both Long Island natives. President Donald Trump did not attend the ceremony, but Vice President JD Vance and the four surviving former presidents were on hand to hear her. Trump was asked Sunday about Strada's urging the White House to release more secret documents that could tie Saudi government agents to 9/11.
"I'm going to look at it," Trump said as he boarded Air Force One en route to Washington from a weekend in Ireland where his golf course in Doonbeg hosted the Amgen Irish Open. "I know they asked me Friday." Strada expressed gratitude for his promise. There is no time frame for any further information to be released, however, as some already has been made public. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. Two were from the United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt and one from Lebanon. Some advocates suspect Saudi government agents assisted hijackers in their plot, but Riyadh has denied any role. The claim is the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit.
Trump's brief response that he will "look at it" comes at a fraught time. His family's private business relations with the Saudis have increased while the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran have caused economic crisis and military blowback in the kingdom.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said it shot down a drone near Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, attributing the attack to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. A recent attack took out a major Saudi oil pipeline and waterways crucial to petroleum shipments have been obstructed by the Iranians.
On Wednesday, Saudi warplanes pounded Houthi positions in Yemen and crude oil prices rose.
Regardless of Trump's personal and political strategies in the region, Republican Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis has been front and center among politicians representing Strada and "Families United" to the administration. She is overwhelmingly favored to win reelection on Nov. 3 — despite a last-ditch Democratic attempt to gerrymander her district. She began her political career in the borough well before Trump was elected in 2016.
Back in April 2021, Malliotakis said: "The Biden Administration must make good on its commitment to absolute transparency at all levels of government by releasing these documents so justice can be served for our 9/11 first responders and families."
— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com
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