In this election year’s Town of Oyster Bay supervisor race, attorney John Mangelli faces an uphill battle as he challenges John Venditto, who has held the supervisor seat for 18 years.
Running as a Democrat, Mangelli pledges to get the town back in fiscal order while cleaning up any perceived corruption. Venditto, a Republican, is running on his record of progress and improvements to the town.
Both candidates recently sat down with the Oyster Bay Enterprise-Pilot to examine past issues and to look forward to the future of the town and how their separate visions will impact residents and the town they hold dear.
The Enterprise-Pilot presents this guide to the supervisor race and other races in the run up to Election Day, Nov. 3.
John Mangelli (D)
“It’s a long road, but the campaign is going well and we are educating people, but we are fighting a tremendous machine,” said Democratic candidate John Mangelli, who is running for Supervisor for the Town of Oyster Bay, of his campaign. Mangelli’s opponent, current longtime supervisor John Venditto has been in the position since 1998.
Mangelli, who is registered as blank and not affiliated with any party, currently has the nomination from the Democratic Party and Working Families Party. He has been a practicing attorney for the past 17 years and became involved in politics two years ago when he ran for NY State Senate.
“I didn’t think that I would win, I just wanted to see if I could make the ballot, which I did. There was a lot of support for what I had to say, it was a common sense approach,” said Mangelli, who felt that too often, elected officials weren’t in touch with the thoughts and feelings of their constituents. “They were controlling and ruling rather than representing. I wanted to get involved and not just sit back and complain.”
Mangelli, who is running in Oyster Bay this year, believes that local elections are more difficult to win because people feel that “their job is dependent upon who’s in office.” If elected, one of his goals is to stop public corruption of said employment, and base it on merit, not bipartisan politics.
“Your job should not be based upon party politics, it should be based upon merit,” said Mangelli, who comes from a strong county background and blue collar family. “The free meals, contracts to friends, the Sandy abuse, the debacle with Harendra Singh, it has to end.”
In reference to Singh, Mangelli spoke of the alleged outsourcing of work when there are town employees who are able to do the job. If elected, he plans on implementing more public input, as he believes that people should have a direct say in their government.
“The local government has enough qualified people to run what we need to run. We don’t need to hire outside help,” he said. “I should be a true reflection on what the public wants. I’d like to be a leader, I’d like to educate and inform my constituents and sway them where I think they should go, but ultimately it’s their decision.”
A staunch environmentalist, Mangelli also urges the town to protect Oyster Bay, citing the current algae problem and natural environment that makes Long Island so beautiful. Mangelli would also issue term limits, as he believes all positions should model the presidency.
“I won’t run for more than four terms. You need eight years to get anything done anyway,” he said. “There’s a lot of redundancy in our counties and towns…we need to consolidate.”
If he wins, Mangelli’s biggest obstacle would be tackling the massive debt that the town is currently in. He stated that from 2011-14, the Town of Oyster Bay went from $400 to $750 million worth of debt and is currently at more than $900 million.
“My opponent keeps borrowing money, but we pay for this, he said. “We need a fresh start. The bubble has to burst. The taxes are increasing, the administration has been mismanaged and we cannot afford to continue on the path that we’re going on.”
When asked about the age group he is targeting for his campaign, Mangelli said that it is hard to reach young people, but social media has helped. He has tried to emphasize that residents should vote for the person and not for the party.
“Part of my job is to educate the constituents as to what’s going on. If they a want a change and really want to see their government fiscally responsible with a new approach to things where everyone is given a fair start, then they should come out and vote for me,” said Mangelli.
—By Jennifer Fauci
Supervisor John Venditto (R)
Having recently completed his 18th year at the helm of the Town of Oyster Bay, Supervisor John Venditto has seen the town experience rough financial times, as well as times of budgetary success.
“When I first became supervisor in 1998, the town was in dire financial straits. We were looking down the barrel of a $30 million deficit in the budget and as a result, the infrastructure was sorely neglected,” he said. “As time went on, we recovered and we were able to turn our sights on improving the infrastructure.”
Those improvements included the town investing hundreds of millions of dollars to “take the town out of the dark ages and into the new millennium in terms of the infrastructure.” Improvements were made to roads, new parks were built, old parks were refurbished and beaches were cleaned up and made more of an asset for the town.
“The public expects the town supervisor to protect their quality of life,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we do not develop and improve, but we do so in a manner that is keeping with the characteristics of the town.”
There is a price to improving the town, however, and since he became supervisor, the town’s debt grew from around $300 million to the $700 million range. But Venditto said that for a municipality this size, a bond rating agency still characterizes the debt as moderate.
In protecting the quality of life, Venditto cited the nearly 20-year battle to secure the former Cerro Wire site in Syosset. Venditto said the town fought against a plan by Taubman Centers Inc. to build a massive mall on the land.
“Corporate America came to the Town of Oyster Bay and spent millions calling [the town] crooks and saying we were stuck in the mud and had no vision,” he said. “The fact is, the last thing we needed here was a giant mall.”
In addressing the town’s efforts to build workforce housing for the younger generation of homeowners, Venditto said the demand for home ownership among young people is not nearly as pressing as the need and demand for senior housing. Venditto did concede that the demand for rental apartments is growing.
“We are at a crossroads in the town now in identifying the cry for apartments and the equally vociferous cry against apartments,” he said. “I have been against apartments based on my experience with the town, but when there is a need and I am listening.”
And Venditto has listened to residents in terms of taxes and the high cost of living in the town. Venditto said that when he first bought his Massapequa home in 1992, the town tax was $1,100 per year. Now in 2015, it is $1,800.
“In that time, my school taxes went from $2,000 to $9,000. And the federal and state income taxes have gone up,” he said. “In terms of real dollars, the town increase is small. It does count for something, but when you figure in the services in the town, I believe it is worth it.”
In speaking about the town’s relationship to restaurateur Harendra Singh, who was indicted on a slew of federal charges, Venditto said that he can assure taxpayers that the town will not be on the hook to pay for his mistakes.
“The town is not responsible to pay any more than the $2 million we fairly owe him for the renovations he made at the Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course,” he said. “Depending on the investigation, we might end up with zero liability.”
Another barb tossed Venditto’s way by his opponents is allegations that he paid outside consultants outrageous prices to take cases when he could have handled them in house. Venditto dismissed those allegations entirely.
“Time to time, issues come up that our town attorneys are not trained to deal with,” he said. “If you don’t have experience in a federal trial and you go into a federal court, good luck. That is not meant to disparage our town attorneys, but you don’t go to a cardiologist when you need brain surgery.”
—By Steve Mosco
