Supervisor: Who’s Next?

By Long Islander staff
info@longislandergroup.com

With the Huntington Supervisor seat up for grabs this election season, a crowded field has emerged in hopes of filling it.

Newcomer and Democrat Brian Muellers, a scientist, environmentalist and former Nassau legislator, unofficially threw his hat into the mix on Tuesday, when he told Long Islander News he recently met with the Huntington Town Democratic Committee and is “seriously considering” a run.

Muellers, 53, of Huntington Station, is married and has three children, each of whom is enrolled in the South Huntington School District. For 30 years he worked for Port Washington-based Pall Corp., a supplier of filtration, separations and purification products, but left the company when it was acquired in 2015.

He also has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and served on the boards of Nassau Community College and the Long Island branch of League of Conservation Voters.

Muellers’ legislative experience spanned two terms from 2000-2003, when he served as Nassau legislator for the 18th district, which spans Glen Head to the west to Laurel Hollow in the east, and Brookville in the south to Bayville on the north coast.

During his time with the legislature, Muellers served as chair of the county’s environmental bond act and public works committees.

He said one of his favorite legislative accomplishments was authoring legislation that opened up Nassau’s capital planning process, requiring the executive branch to publish a book of their capital plan for the year, and the legislature to hold hearings and then vote on it.

“I feel that I’ve got the background… and it seems that the career and the experience that I’ve had up until this point have gotten me ready for this moment — at least to assess whether there’s a strong desire in the community for what I bring to the table,” Muellers said.

A supporter of term limits, Muellers cited local issues like parking shortages in the downtown areas, water quality and waste management as focuses for him. Muellers said he would examine ethics codes to explore opportunities to improve transparency and increase public trust.

Getting elected in Nassau’s then Republican-heavy 18th district wasn’t easy, Muellers said, and he expects a similar feel should he run for Huntington Supervisor.

“It was the kind of election where, at the outset, most people wrote me off. But I ran a very tough election. I ran on an election of ideas, taking ideas directly to people, listening to voters and motivating people to vote,” said Muellers, who added that he’s already begun knocking on doors in Huntington and has filed paperwork to form a campaign committee.

He continued, “I think it’s going to be a tough election this year.”

Among Muellers’ potential competitors is fellow Democrat Darryl St. George, a Northport High School teacher, president of the Greenlawn Civic Association and U.S. Navy veteran. St. George announced his intentions to run for supervisor in February.

Elsewhere on the Democratic front, Huntington councilwomen Tracey Edwards and Susan Berland have been discussed to fill the seat, although neither has made their intentions public.

In February, Berland announced her bid for the seat in the Suffolk Legislature’s 16th district, currently held by Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills).

Stern is also being talked about as a potential candidate for supervisor, but did not return a call for comment before deadline Wednesday.

Steve Rossetti, a commercial real estate broker and former member of the Suffolk IDA, has expressed interest in running. On Wednesday, Rossetti said he has not screened, but didn’t count himself out.

Huntington Town Democratic Committee Chair Mary Collins said Wednesday that the committee has, so far, screened six candidates. She did not say who. The committee, she said, has until the end of May to complete the process and announce its endorsement.

“We still have a few more people to talk to,” Collins said. “Once we have gone through them, there may be some people that we ask to come back.”

Huntington Republican Committee Chairman Toni Tepe said there are currently five potential candidates for the seat. They were set to be screened tonight, and an official endorsement could be made by Friday, she added.

Regarding a potential run for supervisor, state Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R-Huntington Station) said on Monday through his chief of staff, Brian Finnegan, that he had no comment.

Another name that’s been in the mix is Huntington Councilman Eugene Cook, who did not return a call for comment before deadline.