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Candidates square off over sex offenders

More police called for in Tri-Hamlet

The Press of Manorville and the Moriches
By Bryan Finlayson
9/28/07

Candidates for town and county offices battled over public safety and sex offenders in a forum hosted by the William Floyd Community Summit at the high school on Wednesday.

Speaking in short two-minute responses, candidates drew the most applause from the 150-person audience when speaking about public safety and what candidates called an “over-saturation” of sex offenders in the Mastics and Shirley communities.

Betty Manzella, Republican candidate for the 3rd District seat in the Suffolk County Legislature, unfurled several large posters stating that the Mastics and Shirley have a higher number of sex offenders when compared to the rest of Suffolk County.

She said that the area contains 22 percent of the total number of registered sex offenders in the county. Meanwhile, she said the peninsula only holds 5 percent of the total population in the county.

The creation of an eighth police precinct would help solve some of the community’s safety issues, she said.

“We still haven’t been able to get to that point where we can say, ‘I feel safe living in this community,’” Ms. Manzella said. “Everybody is outraged that there is, along Neighborhood Road, prostitution and drug addicts. These things have got to stop.”

Her Working Family Party opponent, incumbent County Legislator Kate Browning, who is cross-endorsed by the Democratic Party, agreed that the high number of sex offenders makes law enforcement in the Mastics and Shirley communities a high priority, but disagreed that a new precinct would improve enforcement. An additional patrol car for Mastic Beach and 99 new police officers were added to the 7th Precinct during her time in office, she noted.

“The 7th precinct was not fully staffed when I took office. Now it is,” Ms. Browning said.

The creation of an additional precinct could actually decrease police presence in the Mastics and Shirley communities, Ms. Browning said. A new precinct would cost the county $34 million, she said, a price that would take resources away from existing precincts.

“At this time, we need more police officers. We need to work toward that before we start putting any more police precincts in,” Ms. Browning said. “Buildings don’t protect people—people protect people.” Ms. Manzella countered that County Police still need to do a better job to police the area. “It’s still not enough protection for us,” she said. “Is there a price we are going to put on our safety? Or are we going to watch people put up those ‘for sale’ signs and move?”

Edward J. Hennessey, Democratic Town Council candidate from the 6th District, said the area has a high number of registered sex offenders because housing prices are lower than other parts of the town and county. Cheap homes make the community a target for government programs that place sex offenders in neighborhoods, he said, and some landlords in the area take advantage of these government programs in order to turn a profit. “It’s very profitable for landlords to provide housing for the poor,” Mr. Hennessey said. “The sex offender problem has a lot to do with the housing problem.”

Joe May, Independence Party candidate for Town Council from the 6th District, argued that he has the street smarts to figure out a plan that could stop sex offenders from entering into the community. “I put cuffs on them and took them to the hokey pokey,” Mr. May said as he flashed a police badge to the audience. “I was a cop in Mastic-Shirley, remember.”

Keith Romaine, Republican Party candidate for Town Council from the 6th District, argued for a town resolution that would force other communities in the town to take on a fair share of sex offenders. “We need a fair share distribution program,” Mr. Romaine said.

Also, Republican candidate for Town Council from the 4th District Roberta Owens said: “Those of us who live in the 4th District have had enough. We have been plagued [with subsidized housing], and this has been going on for a long time.”

Ms. Owens’s opponent, Democrat incumbent Connie Kepert, did not attend the forum, although organizers said she had been invited. “She was invited, but she did not RSVP, so I have no idea why she is not here,” said William Floyd Community Summit President Beth Wahl.

Candidates for the 6th District Town Council seat, left to right, Democrat Edward J. Hennessey, Independence Party member Joe May and Republican Keith Romaine, were among those who spoke at the William Floyd High School on Wednesday.