BROOKHAVEN, NY — Suffolk County Comptroller and County Executive candidate, John Kennedy, today called for County Executive Steve Bellone to immediately terminate the contract of former Congressman Gary Ackerman in the wake of being named as a “sexual predator” who allegedly violated a teenage Boy Scout in a lawsuit filed last week.

Mr. Ackerman was recently named in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court as having been a “known predator” who tried to touch and fondle a 17-year-old scout while at a summer camp where Ackerman was a camp director. Ackerman served for 15 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was named on several occasions as having committed ethical violations while in office.

In February of 2019, Steve Bellone went out of his way to avoid any and all checks and balances in an effort to hire his hand-picked advisor, Gary Ackerman. Mr. Bellone appears to have asked for and received a waiver from having to put the position out to bid to ensure that Ackerman got the contract. He then agreed to pay Ackerman $24,999 annually, which is exactly one dollar below the threshold that requires the Legislature to approve the contract. It is clear that Mr. Bellone would do anything possible to make sure his guy, Gary Ackerman, got this job.

“As the Comptroller of Suffolk County, I will do all in my power to ensure that not one more penny of Suffolk taxpayer money is paid to Mr. Ackerman until this matter is resolved one way or the other,” said Mr. Kennedy.

For more information, visit www.johnkennedyforsuffolk.com or follow #SaveSuffolk.

Who: John M. Kennedy, Candidate, Suffolk County Executive
Ed Romaine, Supervisor, Town of Brookhaven
Neil Foley, Councilman, Town of Brookhaven

What: John M. Kennedy, Candidate, Suffolk County Executive, will be joined by Ed Romaine, Supervisor, Town of Brookhaven, and Neil Foley, Councilman, Town of Brookhaven, to explain how the fiscal crisis at the hands of current County Executive Steve Bellone has resulted in the widespread shuttering of local beaches in Suffolk County.

Mr. Kennedy says that Mr. Bellone raided tens of millions of dollars from the Clean Water Fund to plug budget deficits, while the money should have gone to mitigate the runoff that leads to high bacteria levels. As a result, beaches are being closed down — right in the middle of tourist season — vendors are unable to make money and the county is also losing revenue. Suffolk residents pay some of the highest taxes in the nation and yet the Bellone administration cannot even deliver the most basic of government services, like keeping our beaches open so our residents can enjoy them.

When: Thursday, August 1
11:00 a.m.

Where: Corey Beach
1 Corey Avenue
Blue Point, NY

Directions: LIE to Exit 62 (Nicolls Rd./CR 97). Take Nicolls Rd. south to Blue Point until the end. Make a left onto Montauk Hwy. (CR 85). After 0.3 mile, make a right onto Blue Point Ave. After 0.4 mile, turn left onto Madison Ave. Go 0.3 mile and make a right onto Corey Ave. Make another left. Beach will be on the left-hand side.

Photo Ops: Mr. Kennedy speaking about the beach closures along with Mr. Romaine and Mr. Foley. Mr. Kennedy answering questions from members of the media.

Just as the lawsuit between the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and the Town of Huntington heads into final arguments in court, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone finally comes out of the shadows. Well, sort of. He has announced that his Deputy Executive, Jon Kaiman, will urge LIPA and the Town to come together to try and negotiate a settlement. If that sounds like a familiar approach to the problem, it should … it’s what Suffolk County Comptroller, John Kennedy, Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, New York State Senators John Flanagan and Jim Gaughran and several other elected officials have been doing for months and months. Mr. Kennedy, Candidate for Suffolk County Executive, said Mr. Bellone is jumping in at the very last minute to simply try to score political points on this situation, while having his second-in-command handle negotiations. However, while everyone else was fully engaged in this issue, Mr. Bellone was nowhere to be found.

At the end of May 2019, Mr. Kennedy penned a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, urging the Governor to get involved in this issue by encouraging the LIPA officials to come to the table for negotiations with Huntington Town officials. What did Steve Bellone do? Nothing.

On June 11, Mr. Kennedy joined elected officials from the Town of Huntington, members of the Northport-East Northport School District and hundreds of local residents, who all gathered in the pouring rain, to call on LIPA to work in good faith with the town. Mr. Bellone was nowhere to be seen.

On June 22, John Kennedy and Senator Gaughran joined with dozens of residents, rallying to publicly urge LIPA to work with Huntington Town to reach a fair and equitable settlement to prevent what could very well be a fiscal disaster for Suffolk County. Once again, absolutely no sign of Steve Bellone.

“Steve Bellone has done absolutely nothing,” said Dean Murray, Mr. Kennedy’s Campaign Manager. “He sat on the sidelines and now wants to send in his guy to pretend to save the day. Suffolk County’s fiscal future is in jeopardy and Steve Bellone is playing politics.”

A recent Newsday “Talking Point” article quoted Mr. Kaiman as saying, “We’ve been watching what’s been going on and we have a sense it’s coming to a head.” In response, Mr. Murray said, “Real leaders step up, take action and take on the tough issues, not sit on the sidelines and watch. This is nothing more than grandstanding at its worst. When the people of Suffolk County needed him most, Steve Bellone and his administration were nowhere to be found.”

“While Steve Bellone has been cowering in the corner, hoping the situation would resolve itself, John Kennedy has been a vocal leader on this issue,” Mr. Murray said. “He was the one person who pointed out exactly how serious this problem is for all of Suffolk County, explaining that a loss in court could result in a back payment to LIPA in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

For those keeping score, this is not John Kennedy’s first clash with LIPA, as they are currently embroiled in a legal battle over LIPA’s failure to pay property taxes. John Kennedy continues to prove that when it comes to protecting the taxpayers, there is no one who will fight harder than him.

For more information, visit www.johnkennedyforsuffolk.com or follow #SaveSuffolk.

John Kennedy, candidate for Suffolk County Executive, says current County Executive Steve Bellone is trying to illegally strip both the County Comptroller and the County Legislature of their powers to oversee the county’s finances in an attempt to hide the fact that the county is facing a severe fiscal crisis. He is clearly attempting to hide the county’s finances from elected officials, Suffolk taxpayers and bond investors.

Mr. Bellone is looking to take away the county Legislature’s financial oversight powers — a violation of New York State Municipal Law. In addition, Mr. Bellone wants to create a Central Purchasing Department that would review the county’s policies and procedures every year — the same job that is currently being performed by the county Legislature.

Bellone’s proposal would further reduce the Comptroller’s powers to implement checks and balances, which are used to keep watch of Suffolk taxpayers’ money. This proposal would drastically reduce the Comptroller’s ability to review county finances to every four years instead of every year. Not surprisingly, Mr. Kennedy currently holds the position of Comptroller.

“Only a professional politician like #BigTaxBellone would have the nerve to pay thousands of dollars to buy a vanity line called ‘Protect The Taxpayers’ for this year’s election, while, at the same time, work behind the scenes to try to eliminate the fiscal oversight that’s in place to actually ‘Protect The Taxpayers’ of Suffolk County,” said Dean Murray, Campaign Manager.

For more information, visit www.johnkennedyforsuffolk.com or follow #SaveSuffolk.

John M. Kennedy, Candidate, Suffolk County Executive, thanked members of the United States Congress for passing a bill that would allow the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund to be funded for the next 70 years.

On July 12, Congress passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Act, now known as the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. This piece of legislation would ensure that the fund — which is used to financially support the families of those who were killed during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 — would continue to receive monetary support through the year 2090.

“I wish to thank members of the United States Congress for passing this important piece of legislation,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I especially wish to thank Congressmen Peter King and Lee Zeldin for recognizing our local heroes while getting this bill passed. Suffolk County is home to many first responders and law enforcement personnel who died in the 9/11 attacks. It is only right that we help their families and let them know their loved ones and their heroic actions will never be forgotten.”

For more information, visit www.johnkennedyforsuffolk.com or follow #SaveSuffolk.