Brookhaven Town Council Member - 1st District
Democratic, Independent, Working Families
Valerie M. Cartright (Incumbent)
Background:
REPUBLICAN
Cartright, 43, of Port Jefferson Station, is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence lines. She is seeking her fourth term on the town board.
Policies:
- Cartright said she aims to complete a pair of land-use plans in Port Jefferson Station-Terryville and the Route 25A corridor by next year. The first includes a study of blighted properties, potential mixed-use development and the addition of sewers. The second involves studies of future development near Stony Brook University.
- She said she helped create a community-based coalition that holds drug prevention education events, and she is working with Suffolk officials to establish vaping cessation workshops for teenagers as an alternative to being suspended from school. Cartright said she also works with county officials to address quality-of-life issues such as homelessness and crime.
- Cartright said she would expand community outreach to develop recreation and education resources.
Republican, Conservative
Tracy M. Kosciuk
Background:
REPUBLICAN
Kosciuk, 51, of Port Jefferson Station, is running on the Republican and Conservative lines. She is a registered nurse at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson and president of a local chapter of the New York State Nurses Association, which represents the hospital’s nursing staff.
Policies:
- Kosciuk said she would work to complete revitalization efforts in Port Jefferson Station and the Route 25A corridor that she said have stagnated in recent years. She said similar efforts in other council districts have been completed.
- She said the town should work with hospitals and other community resources to address the opioid epidemic. She said the council district does not have enough programs to help opioid abusers receive treatment and successfully complete programs aimed at helping them assimilate into their communities.
- Kosciuk said she would aggressively address problems at illegal and abandoned houses, such as squatters and drug activity.