Official linked to 2014 Roberto Clemente Park dumping scandal lands seat on Islip planning board

A former Islip Town staffer and Suffolk County Conservative Party officer who pleaded guilty in the 2014 Roberto Clemente Park dumping scandal will now sit on Islip’s planning board following a controversial vote among Islip’s elected officials to appoint him last week.

Brett A. Robinson worked as an executive secretary for Islip Town’s parks commissioner during the scandal. It involved companies illegally dumping roughly 40,000 tons of toxic construction waste in 2013 and 2014 at the town-owned park in Brentwood, which prompted a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office investigation in mid-2014.

The town fired Robinson shortly after the investigation launched, and he pleaded guilty in 2016 to a disorderly conduct violation for being aware of the dumping and failing to stop it. He began working a roughly $150,000-per-year job, as assistant deputy county executive, for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine last year, Newsday reported.

Islip’s town board appointed Robinson last Tuesday to a seven-year term on the planning board, which helps decide what types of projects get done townwide. 

Robinson did not respond to a request by Newsday for comment about the appointment.  

Town officials largely support Robinson, but local activists call the appointment an insult given Robinson’s contentious history inside town government.

“This is a massive slap in the face to the folks that will have to live with the impacts of his poor decision making,” said Ahmad Perez, executive director of the community advocacy organization Islip Forward. “We are all about second chances. We understand people make mistakes. … But this is a role with significant decision-making power.” 

Islip Councilman Jorge Guadron, a Democrat whose district includes Roberto Clemente Park, abstained from voting on the appointment. He told Newsday, “I personally don’t have anything against him, but my community does.”

“[Robinson] pled guilty because he couldn’t afford an attorney for his defense and the community thinks that because he pled guilty to those charges, that he is guilty,” said Guadron, who believes Robinson did inform his superior of "suspicious" dumping before the scandal came to light.

Guadron and Republican Supervisor Angie Carpenter, who also abstained from voting on Robinson’s appointment, primarily took issue with the process. 

The town board suspended its normal rules to allow Conservative Councilman John Lorenzo to propose Robinson’s appointment at the end of the meeting last Tuesday.  The vote wasn’t on the agenda, nor was it advertised ahead of the meeting like most town board decisions.

“I didn’t appreciate the process. I wouldn’t even opine on the candidate because [there was] no public notice. It was walked-on at the last minute,” Carpenter said. “I don’t approve of it. I don’t feel that we should be walking it on at the last moment.”

Lorenzo declined to comment on the process or why he chose Robinson, who serves as the secretary for the Suffolk County Conservative Party. Republicans Michael McElwee and James O’Connor, who joined Lorenzo in voting for Robinson’s appointment, also declined to comment.

Suffolk County Conservative Party chairman Mike Torres defended Robinson’s history in a written statement to Newsday.

Torres said Robinson was “prosecuted for political retribution by a corrupt DA,” referring to former Democratic District Attorney Thomas Spota, who was sentenced to federal prison in 2019 for his role in covering up police brutality within the Suffolk County Police Department.

“Robinson has a proven record of service and integrity that’s beyond reproach and brings a fresh perspective to the Planning Board — something our communities desperately need as we grow and plan for the future,” Torres wrote. “Attacks on his character or the process are nothing more than political theater.”

Robinson’s appointment to the planning board took effect “immediately” after the vote, according to Lorenzo’s resolution. His term is to expire at the end of 2031. He replaces former board member Brian Ferruggiari, who had been holding the seat on a tentative basis since his term expired in 2023.

“I thoroughly enjoyed serving on that board. I considered it an honor to do that type of public service,” Ferruggiari told Newsday. “But the planning board serves at the pleasure of the town board — and the town board … has spoken.” 

Newsday's Vera Chinese and Carl MacGowan contributed to this story. 

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.