I have been at many of your doors in the past 2 1/2 years. Far and away your biggest concern is taxes. Many of you are at your wit's end. Many of you know someone who left Long Island because of high taxes. You want the government to work efficiently and not waste your money. You want the government to stop treating you like an ATM machine.

I have tried to follow your pleas and act accordingly. My staff and I do not utilize county cars or county cell phones. I rejected my 2009 salary increase because I felt it was unconscionable for me to take an increase when so many people were hurting. I also accepted an additional postponement of salary for a total of $6,300 of salary returned. I moved my office to a dramatically smaller space and saved $23,330 in the process. That was a 45% decrease in rent each year.

By working with our county employees we reached a compromise that postponed their pay to save nearly $30 million dollars. We have crafted two separate budget adjustment plans to cut spending as a result of the economic crisis. By doing so we delivered a general fund tax freeze in 2009 and a police district fund within the tax cap for the 5th consecutive year; something almost unheard of in years before. Lastly, our capital budgets have spent less than the previous year in both of my years on the Legislature.

These tough times require government officials to be vigilant and to never forget that any money we need comes directly from the people of Suffolk County. If you want to control the cost of government, you must control spending. To control spending you must adopt a fiscally conservative approach to budgeting, the same way you budget for your families and your homes.

I was proud to stand with Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko earlier this year on Oneida Drive in Selden for his announcement of a Quality-of-Life Task Force and his proposal for a Quality-of-Life Court. These two proposals are an integral part of ensuring that our communities maintain their suburban character.

When I stood with Supervisor Lesko that day, we highlighted a property with thousands of bricks piled on it and a decrepit old shed that was a danger to children in the area. Shortly thereafter, the bricks were cleaned up and the shed was removed. The Quality-of-Life task force has done similar work with overcrowded homes in our district and throughout Brookhaven Town.

By walking through so many communities and speaking with you at your homes, we have been able to address many of these homes throughout the area. I will always work hard on your behalf to bring these properties to the attention of the Town so that they no longer continue to be a nuisance to your neighborhoods. Overcrowded and rundown housing reduces property values, causes danger to residents and neighboring homes, and frustrates everyone that is trying to maintain their homes.

• Voted to fund 80 new police officers in the Suffolk Police Department in 2009, while keeping Suffolk County Police District costs within the tax cap
• Voted to fund 6 new “911” operators in 2009
• Voted to fund up to 55 new corrections officers in 2009

As one of the most densely populated areas of the Town of Brookhaven, we face traffic every day. As Chairman of the Public Works Committee, I am very proud of the work we have done on the roadways in our area. In just two short years, we have started or planned projects for every major road in our area:

• Nicolls Road - By eliminating the traffic light on Nicolls Road near the intersection with Portion Road, we have eliminated a major traffic congestion area and reduced commuting times. By doing additional work near Suffolk Community College, we have reduced traffic even further. Later this year we will receive a traffic study that will address the intersection of Nicolls Road at Hammond Road, Hawkins/Wireless Road, and Mark Tree Road. With construction money in place, we should be able to begin work in 2010.
• County Road 83 - We completed a refurbishment of the CR 83 bridge over the L.I.E that has made a congested and unsafe intersection safer. We repaved the road and later this year we will be adding a left turn signal at Mooney Pond road and CR 83 at the request of the residents of Bretton Woods and Village in the Woods.
• Portion Road (CR 16) - This project had been on the drawing board for nearly 10 years. By bringing the community in to meet with the County, we reached agreement on all outstanding issues and the work is underway. The new roadway will be safer, have attractive roadside features and landscaping, and help the residents of Ronkonkoma travel through their communities easier.
• Patchogue Holbrook Road (CR 19) - Through aggressive lobbying at the Legislature we successfully planned a reconstruction of CR 19 between the expressway and Portion Road. This project will be done in 2010 and will make the area in front of Hiawatha Elementary School safer for children. The project will also add medians and improve traffic safety on the s-curve near the expressway.
• Middle Country Road - By working with the community and New York State, a long awaited reconstruction of Middle Country Road in Centereach is underway. The Selden section of Middle Country Road will be completely repaved and redone to add safer crosswalks and travel lanes roughly 6 months from now. We are also currently working with the State to eliminate some left turns in Selden and Centereach where accident rates are very high.

In 2008, I sponsored and passed a Local Law that sought to further regulate those businesses that receive occupational licenses from Suffolk County. The law required those businesses to certify that they were paying all of the required taxes for their employees and that all of their employees were eligible to work in the United States. I introduced this bill because I believe that all businesses should operate on a level playing field and that no business should lose business because they follow the laws.

Those businesses that ignore the laws do so in nothing more than a pursuit of their own greed. Without worker's compensation, workers are left to fend for themselves or taken to a hospital where they may receive minimal care from an already strained health care system and homeowners can be exposed to expensive litigation. By ignoring tax laws, businesses force everyone else to pick up their share of the burden. By ignoring labor laws, they can offer cheaper rates and unsafe working conditions that undermine other businesses.