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Dear Neighbor,

Election Day is finally here.

I’ve walked door-to-door almost every day since June and I am so grateful I did. There is no better way to take the pulse of our community than talking to residents at their front door. I am humbled by the incredible support I have received from across the political spectrum.  Not only have I learned so much from the many residents I have spoken with over the past four months, but I also lost 15 lbs.!

The recurring theme I’ve heard from you is that you choose to live in Huntington because it is a beautiful suburban town, but the over-development that has occurred is very alarming.

As a Town Councilman, I have been outspoken on my views regarding the over-development which has overwhelmed our roads, infrastructure, parking, and environment. I am not in support of watching our town turn into a little Queens. 

During my tenure as Town Councilman:

• We enacted term limits for all politicians in Huntington. I sponsored the resolution to make the resolution process itself more transparent to both my fellow board members and the public.
• With bipartisan support, we protected taxpayers by resolving the decades-long LIPA litigation that threatened town-wide financial ruin.
• We voted to increase zoning requirements for apartment buildings.
• We invested in our neglected infrastructure: storm drains, sumps, sewers, road surfaces, boat ramps, and bulkheads. These necessary improvements have a direct, positive impact on our beaches, water quality, and other natural resources.
• I co-sponsored the resolution to create native oyster beds in our harbors which will improve water quality by filtering out contaminants.

I will replace the failed affordable housing lottery system with an affordable housing trust fund, which will benefit far more eligible residents, rather than the few lucky lottery winners.

I am unanimously endorsed by all Suffolk County law enforcement associations.  Our quality of life is facing many threats from the extreme policies coming down from Albany and from Washington, D.C.  I do not promote drama or extreme views.  To preserve our quality of life, keep our neighborhoods safe and stop massive over-development projects, it's vitally important you make sure your voice is heard this Election Day.

I am a former U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant (res.) and a small business owner on Main Street.  My wife, Coriander, and I are lifelong Huntington residents.  We chose to raise our four children here and hope they return to raise their families.  Ultimately, I am one of you.  I am a husband, father, and tax-paying citizen who wants the best quality of life, safety, and opportunity for all residents in the Town of Huntington. 

I respectfully ask for your vote on Election Day, November 2^nd.

Best regards,

Edmund Smyth

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On the federal, state and local levels, Democrats are working to end single-family zoning and jeopardize our suburban quality of life.

In Washington, Joe Biden’s plan is to “force suburban towns with single-family homes and minimum lot sizes to build high-density affordable housing smack in the middle of their leafy neighborhoods — local preferences and local control be damned.”

Liberal state governments like New York and California are attacking suburban zoning laws too. In September, California “essentially abolished single-family zoning” when a new law was adopted allowing the “development of up to four residential units on single-family lots" across California. This new law has been called a “radical density experiment” that will enable developers to remake neighborhoods without community input.

In Huntington, Mark Cuthbertson, Gene Cook and the Democrats, led by Rebecca Sanin, tried to pass a law that would allow high-rise apartments to be built all across town—overcrowding our streets, overwhelming our schools and overburdening property taxpayers.

Thanks to Ed Smyth and strong community support, we stopped them—for now.

LOCAL RESIDENTS. LOCAL ZONING.

ONLY YOU CAN SAVE OUR SUBURBS.

VOTE REPUBLICAN: VOTE ROW "B"

This Election Day, Tuesday, November 2, send a message and vote Republican to keep Huntington suburban--elect our official Republican candidates: Ed Smyth for Huntington Town Supervisor, Sal Ferro and Dr. Dave Bennardo for Town Board and Andre Sorrentino for Highway Superintendent. You can also vote early in-person at Dix Hills Fire Department and Huntington Station Public Library until October 31.

Mark Cuthbertson's false, vile attacks against Republican-Conservative candidate for County Legislator Stephanie Bontempi earned him more than a rebuke from The Long Islander's owner/publisher Jim Kelly.

Legendary former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia has a few choice words for Mark Cuthbertson:

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"As a strong independent woman I find the attacks levied against Stephanie Bontempi by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson offensive. Inferring a woman's financial dependency on her husband is a personal attack and serves no campaign purpose. After over two decades in public office, you'd think Mark would have the ability to run on his own record rather than resort to gutter politics. Councilman Cuthbertson: You should be ashamed and apologize."

The former Town Clerk also expressed her disgust in a letter to the editor published earlier in October, as she was offended -- like many Huntington residents -- by Cuthbertson's baseless and sexist attacks on Stephanie Bontempi:

Planning Board Vice Chairman Bob Bontempi called out Councilman Mark Cuthbertson for his false, "ridiculous, disgusting, and inappropriate" attacks against him and Stephanie Bontempi, our Republican-Conservative candidate for County Legislature in the 18th District, at the October 6 Planning Board meeting.

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Not only does Vice Chairman Bontempi refute the insulting attacks made by Cuthbertson and demand an apology -- not for himself, but for the Planning Board -- Bob also references some of the many examples of the Planning Board advocating for residents over developers, refuting the insulting and false attacks Cuthbertson spews in his mailings against Stephanie.

Mark Cuthbertson really has nerve to claim anyone other than himself has nefarious ties to developers. As you might remember from the July 2021 Town Board meeting, Mark Cuthbertson is "Mr. Developer," aptly named by a resident fed up with Cuthbertson's new (and ongoing) overdevelopment push.

Bontempi doesn't expect an apology from the smug Councilman Cuthbertson but he will be in the audience at tonight's Town Board meeting to accept one on behalf of the Planning Board, whose members' characters were impugned by Cuthbertson's inappropriate attacks. Join him at 7pm in the Town Board Room at Huntington Town Hall.

Two weeks ago, the owner and publisher of The Long Islander wrote an opinion piece in his paper blasting Mark Cuthbertson for his campaign's vile, sexist attacks on our Republican-Conservative candidate for County Legislator, Stephanie Bontempi. 

Debunking the lies career politician Mark Cuthbertson slung in Stephanie's direction, Jim Kelly writes, "I invite anyone to go on the Board of Elections [website] and look at the list of contributors in their filing. I think you will find the mud thrown is false and misleading."

But that is only half the story. Cuthbertson is misleading voters in more ways than one with his attack mailings. 

In addition to the sexist attacks Cuthbertson is making on Stephanie, he is also conjuring up lies and innuendo about her husband. It's no secret that Cuthbertson has a long history of voting for the interests of his biggest campaign donors and against the interests of the community. Two of the big lies, aside from taking credit for the new Republican Town administration's fiscal conservatism, are:

1. Cuthbertson claims he has fought against overdevelopment. That one made us laugh out loud when we saw it, knowing about Avalon Bay as well as Seasons at Elwood and Oheka Castle zone changes for his campaign donors. Mark Cuthbertson is the architect of the 2006 Zoning Code amendment that allowed the expanded development of apartment buildings that have forever changed the skyline in Huntington Village -- in fact, it created the noticeable skyline you see today.
2. Cuthbertson is claiming the Planning Board is the bad guy in the overdevelopment scheme because Stephanie's husband is on it. The Planning Board is not the bad guy in this story and neither is her husband. Stephanie's husband, Bob Bontempi is not the bad guy either. In fact, Mark Cuthbertson voted for Bob Bontempi's appointment to the Planning Board in late 2020, it was a bipartisan, unanimous vote after the Republicans proposed his appointment.

No, the real bad guy in the overdevelopment of Huntington is Mark Cuthbertson. All the projects you have seen go forward in Huntington Village, even to this day, got the green light from Mark Cuthbertson.

Fortunately, Ed Smyth proposed Zoning Code amendments that passed in 2020, putting a lid on Cuthbertson's overdevelopment and protecting our suburban infrastructure and environment from negative impacts of development.

In closing, Jim Kelly writes, "Rumor and innuendo about a spouse in a local election demands an apology and [will] never be acceptable behavior."

We agree with Mr. Kelly and encourage you to attend the Town Board meeting on Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00pm and put your feelings on the record during the Public Portion of the meeting about Mark Cuthbertson's vile campaigning against Stephanie Bontempi because she and the voters deserve better than that.