Suffolk County Legislature celebrates 50th anniversary and its colorful past

Half a century ago, Suffolk County government was transformed. In January 1970, a county legislature replaced a Board of Supervisors, in existence since Colonial times, after a lengthy court battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

For the first time, county residents were represented by officials dedicated solely to county issues, instead of town supervisors who presided over Suffolk  part-time. And the county was represented more equally by legislative districts of similar size than by towns of varying population sizes and needs.

But the change was not welcome or easy, officials said. East End leaders tried to secede from the county during the transition. Officials staged multiple efforts to dissolve the new legislature. And it was known for decades as the Wild West because of legislators’ strong personalities, shifting alliances and fights, including parking lot fisticuffs.

But over 50 years, the legislature has become known as a model of relative transparency, collaboration and innovative legislation that was adopted by lawmakers around the state and nation, officials said. It has been a launchpad for careers in the U.S. Congress, State Legislature and town government, and led to only a handful of stints in jail.

Current and former legislators say they are proud of the body, calling it a form of government that works.

“I feel like this is one of the best legislative bodies that has operated, not just in the state but in the country,” said Presiding Officer Robert Calarco (D-Patchogue), who has worked in the legislature for nearly two decades.

BEGINNING

The fate of county government was changed by a dinner between Bellport neighbors at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in 1962. Bill Bianchi Jr., a florist, and Fred Block, a lawyer, discussed how the county government did not abide by rules of equal representation, leading them to file a lawsuit.

Suffolk had been ruled by the board of supervisors since the county's founding in 1683. But the government became less representative as the county grew in population, Bianchi and Block said. 

Each supervisor's vote counted the same, even though they represented towns of different sizes. Islip Town had about 250,000 residents and Shelter Island had only about 1,500. The East End had the same voting power as the five Western towns, even with a smaller population. 

Bianchi and Block, both Democrats, recruited Quentin Sammis, a former Republican Huntington Town councilman, to file a federal lawsuit against the board of supervisors on July 27, 1962, as a co-plaintiff with Bianchi. They alleged the board violated the principle of one-person, one-vote representation — in which elected representatives should come from districts of equal population.

The lawsuit wound its way through the federal court system, reaching the U.S. Supreme Court, which remanded the case back to a lower court.

On April 5, 1968, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the board of supervisors to reapportion itself. The decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in a related case that local governments must follow rules of one-person, one-vote. 

“In doing this lawsuit, we totally changed, upended, revolutionized county government as we know it,” said Bianchi, 89, who later ran unsuccessfully for county legislator and then spent 22 years as a Democratic state assemblyman.

"It changed the whole form of local government throughout the United States," said Block, 85, who argued the lawsuit as an attorney and has served as a U.S. district judge in the Eastern District in Brooklyn for 25 years.

Four months after the appeals court's ruling, the board of supervisors voted to create an 18-member legislature, subject to voter approval. Supervisors lamented their decision but said they had no choice.

Shelter Island Supervisor and board chair Evan K. Griffing told a reporter at the time he was “ashamed” of his yes vote. “I think I know how Benedict Arnold felt,” Griffing said.

In November 1968, voters approved the new system 129,052 to 79,713.

On the East End, another drama unfolded — a fight to secede. East End voters rejected the ballot measure, 20,565 to 5,728, even as officials at the time warned them the legislature would “disenfranchise” them.

In 1969, voters elected 18 legislators — 17 men and one woman — who all were Republicans or Conservatives. They were sworn in January 1970.

Lee Koppelman, who ran the Regional Planning Board from 1960 to 2005, noted legislators were not allowed to be town supervisors simultaneously and had limited governmental experience.

“The new Suffolk legislature were really green around the gills," Koppelman said. "It was a learning process."

John V.N. Klein, 88, the legislature's first chairman, said,  “It was chancey and a little bit ad hoc, but I think the legislature in the first few years did a good job."

'WILD WEST'

While the Republicans held power for the first four years, Democrats became the majority in 1975, and the majority has swung ever since. But legislators tended to form alliances based more on personalities than on party affiliation, which led both to coalition governments at times and to conflict.

"When I first got started, they used to call it the wild, wild West," said Paul Sabatino, who served as the legislature's counsel from 1984 through 2003. "You had Democrats and Republicans voting against their own parties' interests."

Sabatino recalled numerous confrontations that turned physical. One legislator was charged in local justice court for allegedly threatening a colleague with a gun she had in her purse, he said. Two legislators got into a 3 a.m. fight in the parking lot during a debate in Riverhead over the college budget. 

Legislators from the time also remember the conflicts.

"We had a lot of fights," said Sondra Bachety, the first female presiding officer. 

But the legislature's independence also made it equal in power to the county executive's office, officials said.

The legislature moved away from its wild reputation under the late Presiding Officer Bill Lindsay, who was known for his efforts at bipartisanship, officials said. 

LEGISLATION

The legislature also developed a reputation for legislation that was the first of its kind. 

It was the first in the nation to restrict smoking in bars and restaurants, ban handheld cellphone use while driving and to ban the sale of drop-side baby cribs, leading to similar legislation around the country.

"The county legislature was a place for real innovation," said former Presiding Officer Gregory Blass, a Republican who was initially elected to the legislature after campaigning to abolish it.

THE LEGISLATURE NOW

The legislators, who are not full-time, today make $100,000 a year. They contend with many of the same issues as their predecessors: land preservation, environmental concerns and transportation issues. 

It has been slow to diversify. The first African American legislator, Elie Mystal, was not elected until 2004. Today, there are five female legislators and two legislators of color, even though the county is about 50% female and 33% nonwhite.

DuWayne Gregory, who was the first black presiding officer, blamed the issue on a segregated county and gerrymandering.

"There haven’t been many people of color to serve in the legislature," said Gregory, a Copiague Democrat who stepped down Jan. 15, leaving a vacancy. "That’s part of the problem."

While the current Democrat-controlled legislature has been criticized for numerous issues, including not exerting enough oversight over the power of the executive branch, officials said it has accomplished a lot.

County Executive Steve Bellone said he has a "great working relationship" with the legislature, and that together they have tackled issues including a water quality crisis and the opioid epidemic. 

Kevin Law, president of the Long Island Association, said the county legislature operates "night and day" differently than other such bodies, including the State Legislature in Albany. 

"For all its warts and criticisms over the years, the Suffolk County Legislature is very transparent and it invites the public comment and opinions into their deliberations. That is not how Albany works."

By Rachelle Blidner

rachelle.blidner@newsday.com@rachelleblidner

Rachelle Blidner covers Suffolk County government, politics and breaking news.