The Suffolk County Legislature on Wednesday approved $37,750,560 in bonding for new hybrid buses for the county's transit system, one of dozens of bond and appropriation measures passed during a lengthy session, most by unanimous 16-0 votes.
Public comment turned contentious when Sean Paul Reyes, founder of Long Island Audit, accused Majority Leader Nick Caracappa and police union president Lou Sevillo of threatening him, citing an email he said alleged a planned raid on his home and another threatening his life. "In June, I was arrested in an incident involving Suffolk County Police Union President Lou Sevillo," Reyes said. "What was my crime? I dared to exercise my first amendment right to ask questions about the hundreds of millions of dollars that law enforcement misconduct has cost us the people."
A legislator objected to Reyes singling out an individual legislator, and the presiding officer restored two minutes of speaking time to Reyes after pausing it. Caracappa later called the allegations fabricated and said anything Reyes says should be considered from an unreliable source.
Brian DeLuca, president of the East End Tourism Alliance, told legislators that hotel and motel tax revenue allocated for the five East End towns in 2026 was never distributed despite a waiver request, and said the same could happen with 2027 funds. "So those funds were collected by the county in a tax base but not allocated to the five East End towns," DeLuca said.
Gabby Polino Pena, a child care provider, urged the legislature to increase local funding for child care assistance, noting the county program has been closed to new applicants since Nov. 15, 2025 even as the state allocation rose from about $74 million to about $130 million while the county's local contribution stayed around $700,000. "Child care is not simply an expense, it's an investment in economic development," she said.
The legislature approved funding for a dam reconstruction project, after county counsel said the resolution was amended so that any spending beyond the appropriation would require separate legislative approval given ongoing litigation over the project. One legislator raised ecological concerns before the vote, which included some opposition and abstentions.
Lawmakers tabled, each by a 16-0 vote, a local law that would have restricted demonstrations near houses of worship and a separate measure clarifying financial disclosure deadlines for county contract agencies, the latter pending new language from the Comptroller's office.
The legislature also adopted the county's 2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan, required for FEMA disaster funding eligibility, and renamed Grundy Avenue Park for Holbrook firefighter Chief Gerard Trang, who was killed on Sept. 11. "Firefighter Trang was killed on 9-11, he was a big part of the Holbrook community, and I'm just honored that I could be a part of this renaming ceremony," one legislator said.