LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) has announced that James Gaughran, New York State Senator, will be the guest speaker for the group’s virtual meeting on Friday, January 8, 2021. Senator Gaughran will discuss plans to vaccinate local residents from COVID-19.
Senator Gaughran, who was first elected to the State Senate in 2018, represents the Fifth State Senate District, covering the North Shore of Long Island. He is the Chair of the Local Government Committee.
In 1983, at 26 years old, Senator Gaughran was elected to the Huntington Town Board, making him the youngest Councilman in the town’s history. As a Member of the Town Board, he wrote one of the state’s first ethics laws requiring local officials to disclose all sources of outside income and any possible conflicts of interest. He also ended decades of corrupt garbage collection practices by creating municipal solid waste districts, authored numerous zoning and environmental laws and, as the only Democrat, became the fiscal watchdog over the town’s budget.
In 1987, he was elected Suffolk County Legislator, representing the 17th Legislative District in the Town of Huntington. He authored a Charter Amendment, which took away the Legislature’s ability to amend the capital budget anytime they wanted for pet projects. As Chair of the Public Safety Committee, he reformed the Suffolk County Police Department with new, community-based policies. He also co-sponsored the Suffolk Water Protection Act, which led to preserving the Central Pine Barrens and other critical watershed areas in Suffolk County.
Senator Gaughran also served as a Member and Chair of the Suffolk County Water Authority from 2008 to 2018. He implemented smart management practices which reduced the payroll by 6% over four years. This helped the Authority earn a bond rating of AAA by Fitch and Standard & Poor’s.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Juris Doctor degree from Hofstra University Law School.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Please visit the LIMBA website to register for the event. Registration is free, but spots for this discussion will be limited.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, or for a list of upcoming events, call (631) 757-1698 or visit www.limba.net.
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About LIMBA
Since 1968, LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) has been Long Island’s catalyst for economic investment and improvement, sponsoring lively breakfast forums featuring Long Island business activists and government officials. Its mission is to promote and address issues that affect the quality of life on Long Island. For more information, call (631) 757-1698 or visit www.limba.net.
