Suffolk County Legislature District 11
<p>Steven J. Flotteron, Joseph McDermott</p>
News 12 Staff
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Oct 23, 2017, 9:08 PM
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Updated 2,382 days ago
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Flotteron, 55, of Brightwaters, is running on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines. He has served on the Islip Town Board for 12 years and owns an insurance and investment agency. Flotteron received a bachelor’s degree in business from SUNY Fredonia. He’s a member of the Bay Shore Lions Club. He is married and has two children.
Flotteron said the top issue is the “financial disaster” facing the county. He said the county needs to stop spending more than it takes in. To do that, he’d look at department spending. He cited what he said was a high cost to house the homeless in motels, compared to using that money for other accommodations and services. He called the county’s red light camera program “a hidden tax. They claim that it’s a safety issue. I don’t believe it anymore,” he said.
McDermott, 50, is running on the Democratic and Working Families party lines. McDermott was elected to his first term as mayor of the Village of Brightwaters in June 2014 after serving one year there as a trustee. His mayoral term ends in June. He also works as a structural ironworker as part of Local 361, which he has done for more than 20 years. He said he stays involved in his community through volunteer coaching positions for Catholic Youth Organization Basketball, the Bay Shore-Brightwaters Little League, and Bay Shore-Brightwaters Lacrosse. McDermott is also an assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 153 in Bay Shore. McDermott, who lives in Brightwaters, is married and has three children.
McDermott, a Democrat elected to office in a largely Republican village, said he would reach across party lines to cut taxes and spending. He pointed to his experience in Brightwaters, where he takes no salary and held property taxes to a 2.3 percent increase this year. He opposes a parking meter program in Bay Shore he said has grown too far, threatening to drive away visitors and shoppers. “Now they’re in back parking lots, and in the ferry lots and in the marina,” he said. “Just about every parking spot in Bay Shore, you have to pay for.”
