Spin Cycle

Realignments are under way in New York politics -- made all the more urgent by a global financial crisis that sets the interest groups on edge, especially in Albany.

Nowhere are new alliances more unusual than in the ad hoc movement against the Great Power Grab carried out recently when Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council changed local law to allow themselves to seek three consecutive terms instead of two.

For one thing, the federal complaint filed Monday aimed at voiding this term extension is signed by two well-known lawyers: Randy Mastro, former deputy mayor and Rudy Giuliani loyalist (at right in photo at left), and Norman Siegel (at right in photo at right) who with the New York Civil Liberties Union in the 1990’s fought what he saw as numerous Giuliani administration impingements on the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs represent an even more unlikely alliance: the groups US Term Limits and NYPIRG, very Republican Staten Islander Guy Molinari and very Brooklyn Democratic City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long and pro-gay-rights Council candidate Ken Diamonstone, not to mention a multi-ethnic array of Council candidates.

The complaint states in part that the Great Power Grab “permanently chills political speech by sending the unavoidable message that the democratic exercise of initiatives and referenda (two prior citywide votes for a two-term limit) can be disregarded by public officials” contrary to the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.

If this lawsuit falls short and Bloomberg -- who ran twice as a Republican -- does get another shot, this could be a starting point for how an opponent might fight the incumbent in next year’s campaign – through an unusual coalition that cuts across party lines.

With polls opening early tomorrow, political insiders are already looking ahead to the post-election landscape.

Republicans, for example, are already whispering that hard-working first-timer Lee Zeldin 28, a lawyer and Iraq vet (photo, right), would make a strong contender against Legis. Kate Browning (WF-Shirley) next year if he loses tomorrow to Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton).

In Brookhaven, insiders are already looking ahead at the next supervisor race even though Democratic incumbent Brian Foley is still enmeshed in a multi-million battle against veteran GOP Sen. Caesar Trunzo.

Some party insiders say that Foley, win or lose, is unlikely to remain as supervisor. Leading potential Democratic contenders for supervisor are Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri and Assenb. Marc Alessi, though both appear reluctant starters.

On the Republican side, town board member Kathy Walsh is the leading contender. Should Foley lose, insiders expect him to move on to either a state job, or a post at Stony Brook University or Suffolk Community College.

And whether or not Trunzo wins, Islip’s 82-year-old GOP leader has already said he will step down from his party post before year’s end. Backers of Trunzo and ailing vice chairwoman Jeanette Messina are touting assistant town attorney Robert Cicale, while mavericks are pushing Frank Tantone.

Rick Brand

Islip’s Democratic Supervisor Philip Nolan came out and endorsed his Brookhaven counterpart Brian Foley for State Senate last week, but Nolan’s support came in a press release, not a full-blown news conference.

Nolan’s muted support may have something to do with the estimated $1.5 million that his town has received in member items from Foley’s GOP foe State Sen. Caesar Trunzo. Among the items Trunzo has funded is a spray water park and an anti graffiti truck for the town.

Nolan, who served with Foley as a county lawmaker, said, “I’ve known Brian Foley for 30 years and I can vouch for his integrity and committment ot working families.”

But Nolan adid come to his fellow supervisor’s defense to deflect GOP attacks on Foley as a “Taxman” in TV ads and mailings. “The fact that Trunzo’s campaign is trying to muddy up the water by smearing Brian’s fine name is shameful and should be stopped immediately,” he said.

Rick Brand

New York’s Independence Party has launched an all-out mail blitz for veteran State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood), in photo at left, in his re-election bid.

But the state party, which has Trunzo on its ballot line, says it will not disclose how it is financing the mailings or how much it is spending on them until January. Three mailings have already gone out and more are likely, though party officials didn’t give specifics. Party sources say Trunzo is the only Long Island GOP Senator for whom the minor party is doing mail, but sources say GOP veteran Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), in photo at right, may also get help.

The tag line on the mailings is “State Senator Caesar Trunzo Independent For Us.” The pieces praise Trunzo for supporting the tax cap, keeping property taxes down, and keeping the cost of living down. No piece solicits votes for Trunzo but invites residents to call the senator at 631-360-3236 and “tell him to keep fighting” for them. Party officials say the mailings are funded out of the party’s housekeeping account and they are “issue advocacy” pieces.

Because the mailings do not urge votes for a candidate, party officials say they do not have to report the fundraising or expenditures until January. Mailings that solicit votes must report their spending and fundraising 32 and 11 days before the election, and 10 days after. “We’ve done everything by the book,” said Frank MacKay, state chairman. But Doug Forand, Senate Democrats campaign consultant, said Trunzo is the minor party’s candidate and MacKay is “jumping though hoops” to “clearly try to evade” campaign finance laws.

Rick Brand

Rick Brand reports on more environmental developments in the Foley/Trunzo race:

The Environmental Voters Forum, a bi-county political action committee, has endorsed veteran Republican State Sen. Caesar Trunzo after the group's officials say that Democratic Brookhaven supervisor Brian Foley walked out of his screening interview.

But the forum’s stand against Foley comes at the same time the New York League of Conservation voters launches its own $175,000 blitz on Foley’s behalf, already sending out two of four planned mailings targeted to 25,000 households plus two TV spots and robo-calls. Amper’s group has no plans to put money into the race but will lend their name to Trunzo’s Senate GOP mailings and ads.

While the forum unveiled most of its endorsements earlier this month, board members held off in the highly competitive Third Senate District--one of several races statewide where the GOP's one-seat edge of the Senate is at stake--until it could personally interview both contenders. Trunzo was interviewed last week, Foley Monday.

Richard Amper (left), the forum chairman, said the political action committee decided.....

Doug Segall, maverick Republican who former Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney backed for Brookhaven Town GOP chairman, has changed parties and returned to the Democratic Party.

Marsha Laufer, Brookhaven Demcoratic chairwoman, welcomed Segall and said the Farmingville resident was joining the party for “all the right reasons — He is really interested in good government and so are we.”

But Segall’s move comes only months after he was bounced as a member of the GOP executive committee where he was ward leader in the third council district which takes in Selden, Centereach and Farmingville. In 2001, Segall, a one time Demcorat, sought to become town GOP chairman with the backing of Gaffney and State Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) but was defeated by Thomas Neppell.

“I respect his ill-advised decision,” said Jesse Garcia, Brookhaven GOP chairman. “He can join Ed Hennessey (former Republican town board member who ran as a Democrat last year) and the rest of the Democratic operatives who have been losing at the ballot box for the last year.”

Rick Brand

Democratic Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley says Republican Sen. Caesar Trunzo, whom he's challenging for the legislative seat, has failed to "get out of hiding" and respond to Foley's call for a series of debates.

"While Trunzo has been dodging a real debate with his opponent, he has focused instead on misleading television ads and glossy campaign pamphlets," Foley charges.

Trunzo does, of course, have a campaign going, and on Tuesday, he touted support from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who nonetheless dropped his Republican registration last year.

To that, Ibrahim Khan, spokesman for the Foley campaign, said: "We're not surprised...given that the mayor has already poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Senate Republicans' coffers. It is ironic that the Senate Republicans accuse Democrats of being New York City - centric and here, Trunzo, the poster child of the Republican status quo, is being endorsed by the mayor of the City of New York.”

Full text of the latest Foley statement is below.

In a move Brookhaven Democrats said “neutered” the powers of Supervisor Brian X. Foley, the town board has voted to defund several positions in the supervisor’s office.

The board, on which Republicans hold a 4-3 majority, voted along party lines to defund five vacant positions, including a grants analyst and a call center clerk, said Republican Councilman Tim Mazzei. The board approved the measure by a vote of 4-2; Foley, who was taking his son to college, was not present for the vote.

Mazzei said the move was not a power grab, and the town board, which wants more input in hiring and firing, could vote in the future to release the funding for the positions. Foley called the measure “unconscionable” and issued a press release that called the Republicans “Mr. Mazzei and his Keystone Council.”

Brookhaven residents will soon have more time to voice their opinions about the move. The town board also voted to create a new 30-minute public comment period at board meetings.

Patrick Whittle

State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) was dropped from the Working Families Party ballot line in the 7th S.D. when Justice Karen Murphy voided a chunk of his petition signatures. But for now, with the tax cap front and center in the Albany budget scramble, he need not reconcile his vote in favor (along with Long Island's 8 other senators) with the WFP’s fierce opposition to it. (Just for the record: Murphy, a Republican, was a $250 contributor to Sen. Dean Skelos’ campaign fund in 2005). Johnson was, however, on hand last week in Suffolk when rival Jimmy Dahroug dropped out and endorsed Brian Foley in the 3rd S.D., where Foley, pictured here in foreground, who has the WFP endorsement, said he agrees with the party platforms on most issues but backs the cap and other measures.

This is the week of the broken alliance.

So on Wednesday, as noted here, the state Working Families Party, which went all out for the Eliot Spitzer-David Paterson ticket two years ago, launched an advertising assault against the new governor’s proposal for a 4 percent cap on school-related property tax increases.

“Tell David Paterson,” urges the narrator of one ominous 30-second spot, “hurting schools is the wrong answer.”

Despite this verbal whack, the minor party is backing a number of candidates this fall who support the cap. And it is too late in the election calendar for WFP to cancel endorsements for lawmakers who voted for it.

“This is a disagreement on principle between us and the governor. It’s not the first, and we had them with Spitzer as well,” said Dan Cantor (left), the party’s executive director. “If the governor continues to drift away from working families, he’s going to keep hearing about it from progressives like us.”

When money gets tight, coziness becomes the first casualty.

On the heels of last week’s Senate vote for the tax cap, the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers broke from past practice and refrained from endorsing the Senate Republicans, who backed the tax-cap.

NYSUT president Richard C. Iannuzzi ....

Dan Janison

Democrats today vigorously denied GOP allegations of a “secret deal” to get Jimmy Dahroug to drop out of the primary for Senate so that Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley becomes an undisputed challenger to Sen. Caesar Trunzo in November.

At a press conference where Dahroug endorsed Foley, where they were joined by Democrats including county chairman Richard Schaffer and Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), all said it was up to the judge in the now-defunct petition-challenge battle, Acting Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Arlen Spinner, to explain why he ordered the case record sealed. Dahroug also denied he was coerced into to dropping out — saying he did so afer weighing the costs of going forward and the good of the party. Schaffer said he has a future in the party.

Allegations otherwise were issued by Brookhaven GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia. The Democrats are seeking to unseat 34-year veteran Sen. Caesar Trunzo as part of their drive to win a state Senate majority for the first time in a generation.

Foley also is running in November on the Working Families Party line — yet has declared support for the controversial 4-percent tax cap as well as an alternative “cicruit breaker” to limit increases based on income. He said he agrees with the WFP line on most issues. He also called it a plus for his candidacy that New York State United Teachers has chosen to stay neutral in the district race — citing the same property-tax issue — because Trunzo has long benefited from the union’s support.

Details, quotes and responses upcoming.

Update: Here's what Schaffer volunteered at the press conference before any questions were asked:

"For Jesse Garcia to be commenting on a judge’s decision on how he handles his court calendar and how he handles his courtroom, he needs to take that up with the judge. Judge Spinner was very clear that there was no fraud committed here (in Dahroug's petitions). He did not find any truth to any allegations of fraud and he himself decided to close the records. So if Jesse Garcia has a problem with that, he should take it up with the judge who is on his party line this year running for re-election." (Spinner has been cross-endorsed on the Democratic and Republican lines).

With Jimmy Dahroug due to appear Wednesday in Holbrook to publicly endorse fellow Democrat Brian Foley (left) for state Senate, the town's GOP chairman -- looking to dent the kumbaya moment -- raised suspicions of a sudden "secret deal" to kill a primary.

"Jimmy Dahroug will call for Party unity and formally announce his support of Brian Foley (the Brookhaven supervisor) for State Senate," at 3 p.m., said a statement from the state Democratic Party. County and town Democratic leaders are due to be on hand, as Foley moves to face veteran state Sen. Caesar Trunzo on Election Day.

But Jesse Garcia, the Brookhaven GOP chairman, said Tuesday that court documents in the candidates' truncated petition fight were sealed in what he called "an exceedingly rare action."

"Before this endorsement pact was reached, was there a handshake deal or a wink and a nod to bury these court documents?," Garcia asked. "What’s in these court papers that Dahroug and Foley have agreed to bury? Exactly what kind of pressure was Jimmy Dahroug facing when he shocked his supporters by dropping out of this race? Do these documents include charges of election fraud and illegalities by the Dahroug campaign? ...."

Garcia also cited past attacks by Dahroug charging the Foley camp with "shady" dealings. He cited a public right to know what is in the documents.

It's now confirmed: Jimmy Dahroug will drop his primary bid against Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican veteran Caesar Trunzo for his Senate seat. Dahroug's lawyer Kevin Brosnahan tells Newsday's Sid Cassese:

"Brian Foley will run against Mr. Trunzo. Jimmy has decided to step aside so that the party will have a united front in November. Jimmy, who has run two great campaigns, will run again for an office and make a great public official."

Update: We spoke with Foley earlier and he said: “It proves that as Democrats we are very serious about this race, that we are unified. There is a strong belief we are bringing change to the White House and need to bring change to the statehouse. For Democrats, there is more of a seriousness of purpose than ever to become more unified and be agents of the change and reform that the public is crying out for.”

From his unique perch as Long Island’s lone Republican congressman, Rep. Peter King sees a difference between the trouble his party faces in the region and the electoral peril it confronts across America.

“I think they’re two separate \[problems\] that came together at the same time,” King said yesterday. “There were local issues, going back to the late 1990s, in Nassau County with its budget problems. And Suffolk has had a disunited Republican party. Even just taking the congressional seats on Long Island, we didn’t lose any of them due to national issues,” he said, as some local losses came in otherwise flush GOP years.

King, a backer of President George W. Bush and the military effort in Iraq, acknowledged that the war has hurt the administration’s popularity, given “harsh” media coverage, and that gas prices haven’t helped.

Whatever the reasons, numbers published this week from 26 of the 29 states where voters register by party show GOP enrollment declining since 2005. Voter affiliation with Democrats or with no political party has risen overall. In Iowa and Nevada, Democratic registration surpassed Republican.

In Nassau, some Democrats follow the steady closing of the enrollment gap between their party and the once-mighty GOP with the zest of New Year’s Eve revelers counting down the seconds to midnight. Ten years ago, Republicans held an enrollment edge of 100,000. In November, that was down to about 22,000. This week the margin stands at 13,000 and shrinking, said Nassau Democratic election commissioner Bill Biamonte.

“Demographics” is often the explanation — more immigrants, more racial minorities, more young people, who often enroll as Democrats or unaffiliated, the waning of a previous generation. “For one,” Biamonte explains, “young people coming of age are simply not registering en masse as Republicans, in contrast to their parents. And second, the diverse migration of people from outside Nassau feel that the Democratic Party is more about economic empowerment and plurality as they move into a suburban lifestyle.”

But sociology explains only so much.

Dan Janison

Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley has dropped his lawsuit to void the nominating petitions of opponent Jimmy Dahroug in their Democratic primary race for the right to take on State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood) in November.

Doug Forand, a Senate Democratic campaign consultant working for Foley, said a decision was made to drop the suit “in the interest of party unity” because the court hearing was about to begin dealing with “criminal accusations” involving potentially fraudulent signatures.

Forand said Dahroug willl be on the primary ballot and made no concessions in settling the case. “It would have created a lot of negative divisions,” he said, “So we decided to pull it off the table and move forward.”

Dahroug could not be reached for immediate comment, but his lawyer Kevin Patrick Brosnahan said Foley’s camp’s objections had “no merit” and his rival was "looking for a graceful way" to drop the case. He added if if there was any substance to their claims they “should have gone through with the hearing.” The lawyer also said Dahroug “felt very strongly” he had “to meet head on any claim” that he did not collect enough signatures to get on the ballot.

He confirmed that Dahroug has scheduled a news conference next Wednesday, but could not disclose what the candidate planned to discuss.

Rick Brand

As if Bellport didn’t already have enough controversy, Village Justice John J. Roe III, in photo as published on Bellport's Web site, has been on the bench for three decades. Now he is suing the village board for stripping him of health benefits after his current term started earlier this month.

Linda Margolin of Islandia, his attorney, called the matter a “separation of powers issue,” saying it’s illegal to cut judges’ compensation in midterm because it “puts another branch [of government] into a position of potential influence” by exercising the power of the purse strings over a sitting judge.

Roe, known to most as Pete, makes just $7,500 and his health benefits, worth about $15,000 annually, make up two-thirds of his compensation, said Margolin.

The tony village is already in political turmoil following the resignation he was not voted out of office; he was not up for re-election. he resigned when his opponents gained control of the board after 25 years of Mayor Frank Trotta, who lost control of the village board in last month’s election.

The new board in its first meeting earlier this month voted to take away medical benefits from all elected officials.

Rick Brand

The Suffolk Board of Elections rejected Thursday the challenge to Democratic state Senate candidate Jimmy Dahroug’s nominating petitions, putting him on the party’s September primary ballot against Broolkhaven Supervisor Brian Foley.

The commissioners’ disallowed 243 of Dahroug’s 1,408 signatures, but it still left with him with 165 signatures more than minimum of 1,000 names he needed to qualify.

Doug Forand, consultant for Senate Democrats campaign committee who are supporting Foley, said they will pursue their challenge of Dahroug petitions in court, claming 506 of his petition signatures were invalid. Both men are seeking the right to face 36 year Senate veteran Caesar Trunzo, 82, in the November election.

Dahroug had charged that the effort to knock him off the ballot was “underhanded and shady” tactic he called “an act of desperation by Foley’s campaign” because the supervisor is “nervous about facing me in a primary.”

In other board action, Assembly challenger Waldo Cabrera’s Conservative petitions were validated on a split vote with Democratic Commissioner Anita Katz voting to uphold the objection which would have knocked out the petitions. Cabrera, who is also seeking to challenge Assemb. Philip Ramos in a Democratic primary, was challenged for having improperly filed out his acceptence of the Conservative’s nomination. Ramos is also challenging his petitions in court.

And the commissioners unamimously upheld the petitions of Dean Hough, a newly minted Democrat seeking to run a Demnocrat primary against Assemb. Patricia Eddington.

Eddington forces claimed that Hough’s petitions were “permeated with fraud” and that he is not qualified to run because he does not meet state residency requirements. Election officials say those type of challenges can only be resolved by a judge. Hough foes have filed suit to knocked him off the ballot.

Meanwhile, John Zaher’s petitions to run an Independence Party primary against Eddington, the party’s designee, were upheld in a split vote even though the candidate who thought he submitted 201 signatures, was later told that 118 signatures were filed because a number of petition pages were missing. He needed 131 to qualify.

Republican commissioner Cathy Richter Geirer, who voted against the objections, did not return calls for comment. Eddington supporters have sued to remove Zaher from the ballot.

Backers of Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley have filed a challenge to petitions of their primary Foe Jimmy Dahrough, claiming that 506 of the 1,408 siganture he had filed were invalid and ought to be thrown off the Demcoratic primary ballot.

The challenge, brought by Kathleen MacCana, if upheld would put Dahroug, a Suffolk probation department aide, below the 1,000 sigantures minimum needed to qualify for the ballot. Both men are challenging State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Bretnwood).

At the same time, backers of Jennifer.....

Jimmy Dahroug may have an uphill battle to win a state senate Democratic primary battle against Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley, but he does have some star power.

His campaign finance filing last week shows that Alec Baldwin, star of the hit comedy series “50 Rock,” gave Dahroug’s campaign $500.

Dahroug said he sent Baldwin a soliciation letter, but was surprised by the donation. “I was jumping up and down, overjoyed,” he said, but said he may have made a contribution because they come from the same roots. “He’s a blue collar Long Island guy just like myself.”

Rick Brand

After 25 years in office, embattled Bellport Mayor Frank Trotta resigned today, saying he does not want to be part of the “vindictiveness and bickering” that has become “destructive” to the tony south shore village.

Trotta’s resignation letter was posted on the village's Web site shortly after 2 p.m. His letter made his resignation effective midnight Thursday. A village board work session is planned for 9 a.m. Saturday.

Trotta (photo, left) lost the board majority in last month’s village election, following months of escalating battles with his chief board adversary, trustee Lee Snead.

“This last year as mayor has been a true test of my endurance and patience,” wrote Trotta. “I can see that next year will be ...

Rick Brand

After only four months on the job, Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley’s $112,000-a-year deputy, Jon Schneider, is exiting to rejoin Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-Southampton).

Schneider, who departs at month’s end, described his resignation as a “personal decision,” based both on his need for more time at home with his 8-month old daughter and realizing that he likes dealing with federal issues, though the town post gave him a “new appreciation” of town needs.

Schneider will make $84,000 a year in returning to Bishop. The leading contender to replace him in Brookhaven is James LaCarruba, who had been parks commissioner and now is assistant to the supervisor, party sources say.

The aide’s departure comes only weeks after Foley announced plans to run for State Senate against 36-year incumbent Caesar Trunzo, 82. Jesse Garcia, Brookhaven GOP leader, said, “It sounds like all the rats are jumping off the sinking ship. We’d only ask the last Democrat to turn out the lights.”

“Mr. Garcia has never spoken to me, never met me and and doesn’t understand what motivates me,” said Schneider.

Rick Brand

Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley made his debut as a State Senate candidate Tuesday night at the standing room only crowd at the Islip Democratic convention in West Sayville -- and immediately got an angry earful from town party chairman Ivan Young, according those in attendance.

Young criticized Foley for “disrespecting” him and his town party for failing to consult with anyone before announcing his decision to take on 36-year GOP State Caesar Trunzo, 82, hours before last week’s county Democratic convention.

Later, Young said, “This is a situation that could have been easily avoided with a simple phone call telling me and the candidates that there were negotiations going on with Senate Democrats prior to the convention.”

Foley, appearing before more than 70 party activists, said that no offense was intended, conceded he should have reached out ahead of time and apologized to Young. He added that he was waiting on committments from Senate Democrats before making a final decision. Foley did not return calls for comment yesterday.

Rick Brand

Mark J. Grossman, one-time regional aide to Gov. Mario Cuomo, has landed a $110,000-a-year job as Long Island regional director of the State Labor Department.

Grossman, 51, of East Patchogue, who started in the new post a week ago, had been special assistant to Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley for the past two years. The new job had been in the works for months but was delayed by the change of administrations in Albany. Grossman becomes Gov. David Paterson’s first Long Island appointment. He will work as a local liaison among government, business and local labor unions.

Grossman will work out of the Labor Department’s Patchogue office, where he inherited the desk of Gov. George Pataki’s former labor commissioner, Linda Angelo, a one-time aide to State Sen. Caesar Trunzo. She kept a local office. “Until I arrived, the office had been empty for some time,” said Grossman.

Rick Brand

In Washington, the campaign season has made earmarks all but a dirty word. On the Albany scene, criminal charges are still pending against state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr. involving his member-item spending. At City Hall in Manhattan, oddball budget practices have brought forth the term "slush fund" to apply to money allocated by Council members -- and by Mayor Mike the Maintainer, as reported here.

Against that backdrop, the irregular apportionment of discretionary funds in Brookhaven as reported this week should fit right in. More specifics are here. The latest edge: New board member Keith Romaine is filing resolutions aimed at reforming the practice (for full text of his letter, click the 'continued' bar below).

It seems remarkable that a new round of attention -- certainly warranted -- is paid on so many levels right now to legislative grants, which comprise a small portion of most government budgets.

On the heels of Rick Brand's story today on the movement to run Democratic Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley for the Senate seat long occupied by Republican Ceasar Trunzo, there are reports here and here of how would-be contender Jimmy Dahroug and a Democratic fundraiser are responding (fundraiser graphic via the TU's Liu).

Two aides to new Councilman Keith Romaine (left) became embroiled in a noisy argument last week, causing a stir throughout Brookhaven Town Hall and leaving one of the combatants without a job.

The argument arose between Romaine’s aide Lori Ann Casdia and the board member’s $40,000-a-year secretary, who was being let go and working her last day. Romaine said the secretary, 21, although being terminated, also filed a letter of resignation that morning.
Romaine, who was not present, acknowledged that it “got loud outside the council door,” but maintains there was “no punching, hitting or touching.” He said Casdia then told the secretary to leave work early because the situation had become “unprofessional.”

Romaine said constituent work in his office is “very intense” and the job was not what the secretary expected it to be. “On the day of termination, no one is in a good mood,” said Romaine.

Rick Brand

Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri (left) wants no part a Democratic town ticket that would pit Supervisor Brian Foley against Timothy Mazzei for Mazzei’s town board seat.

While Pontieri’s name was mentioned as a potential supervisor contender if Foley were run for town board, the mayor said he would steeer clear of such a run because the resulting political fallout could harm the village. However, if Foley made an exit elsewhere, sources say Pontieri would be highly interested in a supervisor’s race.

Rick Brand

Brookhaven's Democratic Supervisor Brian Foley may be weighing whether to run for a town board seat next year, but he is still raising money like the town's top dog.

More than 200 supporters showed up last Wednesday night at the Bellport Country Club where Foley raised about $70,000 for his campaign coffers, even though he is but one of seven council members and Republicans now have a 4-3 edge on the town board.

While it is not a direct head-to-head comparison, county elections records show that Foley, in his supervisor race last year, garnered 57.78 percent of the vote in the fifth town board district, while Republican incumbent Timothy Mazzei pulled in 62.97 percent in his re-election bid. However, Foley was running townwide against a better-financed foe, while Mazzei was able to concentrate solely on his local district.

Democrats also point out that their party, while still trailing the GOP by 23,000 in voter enrollment,.....

Rick Brand

If it were a WWE event, touts would dub it the "Blue Point cage match."

In a highly unusual move, Brookhaven Supervisor Brian X. Foley (left), only three months into his second term, is seriously weighing a run for town board next year against his chief nemesis, Republican Timothy Mazzei.

The move would pit the two men in a hometown battle for Mazzei's 5th District seat, a part-time job that pays $65,000 a year. To make the run, Foley would have to forgo renomination for his $110,000-a-year supervisor's job and seek other employment, so far unidentified.

Foley himself declined to comment, but backers describe the idea as an "out of the box" effort to show that Democrats are intent on quickly returning to power in Suffolk's largest town, rather than conceding their 2005 victory was a once-in-a-generation fluke. Republicans won back a 4-3 board majority in November.

If Foley makes a town board run, party officials say they have a "deep bench" of supervisor contenders led by Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri, architect of the village's revival, or Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Shoreham), an outspoken advocate on utility issues.

"I think it's a very savvy political strategy," said Marsha Laufer, Brookhaven Democratic chairwoman. "What's important to Brian is our reform agenda, not whether he's supervisor or on the board."

But critics say the ploy is the largest sign yet that Foley is unhappy and ill-suited....

Rick Brand