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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.

We've told you about how Gene Cook has aligned himself with key leaders in the Huntington Democrat Party in a shameful effort to divert votes away from the endorsed Republican-Conservative Town Supervisor candidate Ed Smyth and install Democrat Rebecca Sanin as Town Supervisor -- Rebecca Sanin, a vocal supporter of Socialist New York City Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

As it turns out, the same Huntington Democrat Party Vice Chair who collected petition signatures to place Gene Cook on the ballot for Town Supervisor this year is now displaying lawn signs at his home for BOTH the Democrat candidate for Town Supervisor AND Gene Cook!

That's odd, isn't it? Well, it's not odd if the intent is to use Gene Cook to help liberal Democrat Rebecca Sanin win. That's why you're seeing Cook and Kevin Orelli signs displayed together around town as well as Cook and Sanin signs. 

You can see the Democrat Vice Chair's yellow Huntington Highway Department truck in the driveway -- he works for Democrat Highway Superintendent Kevin Orelli.

This is proof positive that Gene Cook has turned his back on Republicans and our pro-taxpayer values to work the Democrats who want to raise our property taxes, allow high-rise developments to be constructed from one end of town to the other and they would rather spend taxpayer money on liberal programs than work with the Suffolk County Police Department to fight violent crime.

Not surprisingly, Gene partnered with Rebecca Sanin and Democrats on the Town Board in an attempt to expand high-density apartment building development across the town this summer. Thanks to Ed Smyth’s leadership and the outrage expressed by Town residents to their plan, we were able to stop Gene, Sanin and the Democrats from destroying our suburban quality of life.

We are proud that Town Board member and Deputy Supervisor Ed Smyth is our Republican-Conservative candidate for Town Supervisor. Ed is a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps (res.) and has led the effort to ease the burden on property taxpayers, stop overdevelopment, enact term limits and keep Huntington one of the safest communities in America -- in fact, Ed is the only Town Supervisor candidate with the full support of local law enforcement, as he has been unanimously endorsed by the Coalition of Suffolk Police Unions.

Keep this in mind when you cast your ballot this election -- please vote for our endorsed Republican Team—Ed Smyth, Andre Sorrentino, Dr. Dave Bennardo and Sal Ferro—to protect taxpayers and make Huntington an even better place to live.

Thank you for your support.

Many people in our town recently received a letter from liberal Democrat Town Supervisor candidate Rebecca Sanin in which she touted her experience running a not-for-profit organization, approach to public safety and plan to help local small businesses.

In true Joe Biden fashion, Sanin's letter is remarkably similar to the mission statement letter Ed Smyth put out 5 months ago. Not surprisingly, Sanin neglected to include some very important details in her letter that Huntington residents need to know:

1. Her Record of Flawed "Leadership"

First, Sanin became president of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island in 2017. In the years after she was hired, the amount of money the Council distributed in annual grant funding dwindled from an average of nearly $1.7 million to $0 in 2019. At the same time, the compensation received by its officers increased by more than 72%.

2. Her Support of Far-Left, Divisive and Dangerous Rhetoric

Second, Rebecca Sanin is deeply out of touch with the values shared by Huntington residents when it comes to ensuring public safety. Sanin has expressed her support for liberal groups that believe in defunding our police departments and other anti-law enforcement policies that make our communities less safe. Further, after a fatal shooting occurred last month in Huntington Station, Sanin’s proposed response was focused on tree trimming and street lighting, rather than working with the Suffolk Police Department to remove dangerous criminals from our streets. Ed Smyth is the only Town Supervisor candidate endorsed by law enforcement -- in fact, Ed Smyth is unanimously endorsed by the entire Coalition of Suffolk Police Unions.

3. A Return to Overdevelopment and Infrastructure Neglect

Finally, Sanin’s vision for the future of Huntington is based on the construction of new high-rise developments across our town, with more traffic congestion, overcrowding in our schools and higher property taxes. That would have been the end result of a measure advanced by Democrats on the Town Board, along with Gene Cook, and supported by Rebecca Sanin which, thankfully, Councilman Ed Smyth and dozens of outraged town residents succeeded in preventing.

Sanin concluded her letter by stating that “Huntington residents deserve better than what we’re getting right now.” Under the leadership of Ed Smyth and the Republican Majority on the Town Board, we have held the line on property taxes after years of increases adopted by Democrats, passed a new law preventing overdevelopment to preserve the suburban character of our town, adopted ethics reforms and term limits to make town government more accountable and made important investments to protect and beautify our public spaces.

Voters understand that Rebecca Sanin and Huntington Democrats support a liberal agenda that would undermine the progress made under Republican leadership. That’s why they will elect Ed Smyth as Town Supervisor, Sal Ferro and Dr. Dave Bennardo to the Town Board, and Andre Sorrentino as Highway Superintendent this November.

Sincerely,

Tom McNally, Chairman

One year ago, the Town of Huntington entered into a settlement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to resolve the runaway state agency’s $825 million tax certiorari lawsuit against the Town, which challenged the assessment on the Northport Power Plant and sought a 90% reduction in its property taxes. Had the Town Board not acted to protect Huntington taxpayers from this existential threat, every homeowner in our town would have paid an average $12,251 lump sum in restitution to LIPA, in addition to immediate annual property tax increases averaging $4,558 for Northport-East Northport homeowners and $350 for homeowners in all other school districts (and remember, that is annual, each year compounded on top of the previous year’s increase).

Because of the current administration’s unwavering commitment to Huntington taxpayers, the settlement saved residents from 90% of those tax increases, eliminated the threat of devastating five-figure lump sums owed by each homeowner to LIPA, and protected property values townwide, earning the bipartisan support of the Town Board and the Northport-East Northport school board. In fact, the school district concluded that “the settlement represents the best chance…to maintain a high-quality education program for [its] students.”

While Huntington residents, parents and taxpayers recount this success with appreciation, the lone Town Board member who voted against the settlement, Gene Cook, is inexplicably running on an anti-settlement platform for town supervisor, despite his pushing for a lesser settlement agreement in 2013 that never came near offering the favorable terms negotiated and accepted one year ago.

Gene has turned his back on Republicans and our pro-taxpayer values, aligning himself with key leaders in the Huntington Democratic Party in a shameful effort to divert votes away from Republican Ed Smyth and install liberal Democrat Rebecca Sanin as the next town supervisor.

As a member of the Town Board and our Deputy Supervisor, Ed Smyth partnered with his Town Board colleagues to deliver the LIPA settlement and save our Town and its taxpayers. Ed will build upon the Republican record of holding the line on property taxes, fighting overdevelopment and protecting our suburban quality of life.

This is the most important election in the history of our town. To win, we will need every Republican to vote for Ed Smyth, Highway Superintendent candidate Andre Sorrentino and Town Board candidates Sal Ferro and Dr. Dave Bennardo. I hope we can count on your support!