Talking with County Legislator Ed Romaine

Incumbent Republican First District Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine believes his experience and his knowledge of the needs of his district are the key reasons voters should re-elect him. Romaine is a longtime resident of Center Moriches and the father of two adult sons.

In an interview the former high school and college instructor (who taught Legislator Jay Schneiderman 7th Grade Social Studies in Hauppauge) and now seasoned incumbent County Legislator (with over 20 years in elected county positions) told me his “core vision is of good regional government.” He continued by saying, “In my district, public safety is a county issue, the Suffolk County Police.” He explained his total commitment to an effective “police department to insure the public’s safety” and “maintaining an attentive and effective Health Department to monitor drinking water and other health services that the county delivers to the citizens every day.”

He stressed the work the county does maintaining roads and public parks in his district and explained he keeps his focus on service to his constituents, his passion. He pointed out he has presided over “the accumulation of 3,000 acres of open space for his district, including the most preserved farmland in the county.”

He is fighting to repeal the M.T.A. payroll tax and actually favors “replacing the M.T.A. out on the East End in Suffolk County with a Peconic Transportation Authority,” which would assure the public in the county with “better public transportation service and options.” He is proud of partnering with Schneiderman to get the well-received Sunday county buses rolling.

Concerning the election this November he said, “I believe in the voters getting to choose, I ask them to trust me once again to carry out my pledges, that’s my message.” As for his background he was proud to point out he graduated from Adelphi University with a B.A. in History, with dual minors in Education and Political Science. Then he went on to receive a Master’s Degree in History (1972) from Long Island University. Adding to his quest for expertise, Romaine also attended the Robert A. Taft Institute of Government and did further graduate studies in Educational Administration at Long Island University and Political Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Besides his county service, which began with his being elected Suffolk County Clerk in 1989, he served as an adjunct professor at Dowling College, Suffolk Community College and SUNY Stony Brook.