Petition aims to reverse John Lorenzo appointment to Islip Town Council

A former supervisor candidate is seeking to overturn the recent appointment of a councilman to the Islip Town Council with a petition in state Supreme Court calling for a special election.

The town board approved the appointment on Wednesday of John Lorenzo, who is registered with the Conservative Party and is a former chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals, to represent District 4, Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter wrote Thursday in an emailed statement. The seat was formerly occupied by Mary Kate Mullen, a Republican who resigned at the end of December after being elected in November to serve as Fifth District Court judge.

Tom Murray, a lawyer and a Democratic challenger for supervisor in 2019, filed a petition on Jan. 3 seeking an order and judgment compelling the town to hold a special election to fill the vacancy. He later told Newsday he plans to withdraw the order to show cause, with plans to refile an amended petition. He didn't elaborate on what the amended petition would say.

Murray also alleges that Islip should have held an election for each district in the town, following the establishment of a “ward system” in 2020.

“Elections were held for the First and Second District in 2021, while the Fourth District remained without a designated elected representative, but two holdover ‘at-large’ representatives in [council members John] Cochrane and Mullen,” Murray wrote in the petition.

“Additionally, the Town has opted to appoint someone to fill a vacancy created in the office of Councilperson of the Fourth District without so much as a public hearing, and without inviting any input from the constituents of the Fourth District,” he said.

Carpenter said the town is within its rights to fill a vacant position by appointment, via emergency powers “because of the necessity for providing uninterrupted governmental service.”

“Since the subject CD [council district] 4 seat became vacant in the same year its term was expiring, New York State Town Law gives the responsibility for filling that vacancy to the Town Board,” Carpenter told Newsday.

At the Wednesday organizational meeting, Carpenter said state law and town practice dictate that the town board vote to fill the vacancy.

In a statement to Newsday, Carpenter highlighted Lorenzo's resume, which listed him as a part-time legislative aide to Islip Councilman Anthony Senft from January 2012 through January 2015.

“He will certainly be an asset and represent his community well,” the supervisor said of Lorenzo.

The motion to appoint Lorenzo, put forward by Carpenter, was seconded by Cochran and passed with three in favor and one abstention.

At the organizational meeting, Lorenzo also was appointed to the town Industrial Development Agency, Economic Development Corporation and Foreign Trade Zone Authority board.

Lorenzo owns South Shore Abstract Inc., a title insurance company in Sayville. He also is president of Inclusive Sports and Fitness in Holbrook, which aims to provide inclusive sports and fitness opportunities to children, and a board member with The Neighborhood House, a nonprofit that offers support to bereaved individuals in Sayville.

Lorenzo said in a Thursday statement emailed to Newsday that he is “proud and honored” to serve constituents in the town’s Fourth District.

“As a lifelong resident of Sayville, I am profoundly connected to this community, and am looking forward to working with all the residents, through collaboration and partnership, to ensure their concerns are heard, and that we continue taking steps forward as one town,” he said.

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.