Cyberattack recovery key challenge for Suffolk comptroller, clerk candidates

Voters will choose among candidates for Suffolk County comptroller and clerk, and the winners of those elections will play key roles in managing the fallout of a ransomware attack that has hampered county operations for two months.

The Sept. 8 attack has delayed critical functions in those offices, from the comptroller’s ability to make on-time payments to vendors, to the running of title searches needed to complete real estate transactions in the clerk’s office.

In the race for county clerk, Republican Vincent Puleo faces Democrat Lisa Jimenez.

Puleo is the town clerk in Smithtown, and Jimenez is a branch manager with the Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. In June, Puleo defeated the longtime incumbent, Judith Pascale, in a Republican primary. 

In the race for county comptroller, Republican incumbent John Kennedy Jr. is running for a third term against Democrat Thomas Dolan, chief executive of the Babylon Town Industrial Development Agency. Dolan is not actively campaigning for the office and did not respond to requests for comment.

Democrats in Suffolk have a slight enrollment edge countywide, with 356,958 registered voters compared with 321,985 registered Republican voters, according to Suffolk election board data. Another 287,631 voters are not registered with a political party, while the rest of Suffolk voters are affiliated with minor-party ballot lines.

In the clerk’s race, both candidates vowed to strengthen cyber security protocols and expedite the process for running title searches on homes.

A title search is required to close on real estate transactions, and ensures that there are no other ownership claims on an individual property.

Puleo, 68, of Nesconset, has been town clerk since 2006.

“My first initiative is to make sure that ... it doesn’t happen again,” he said of the hack. “It’s very difficult to stop breaches, but we have to have a way to identify it quicker than it was this past time.”

Jimenez, 59, of Medford, said she wanted to bring in a “newer IT team” to conduct “more frequent audits. I am looking to expedite a quicker return of documents,” Jimenez said. 

Kennedy, 66, of Nesconset, said if reelected his office would continue to crack down on unscrupulous homeless shelter operators; audit IDA benefit packages; and monitor the disbursement of opioid settlement funds.

Opioid settlement funds should “go toward treatment, education, substance abuse, inpatient care” and should not cover organizations’ salaries and operating costs, he said.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.