Kiely, Republican Candidate for Assembly, Sees Region's Autonomy Under Attack From Albany

Attorney Stephen Kiely, 49, who is a resident of Mattituck with his wife and four children, likes to say he’s “the right person at the right time” to replace outgoing Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. in the 1st District.

That’s because Kiely, a Republican who is currently the Shelter Island Town attorney, says he has other experience as a municipal attorney having served as an assistant town attorney in Southold, Riverhead and Southampton.

“What made him great, in my opinion, was that he was a municipal attorney,” Kiely said of Thiele’s early career, “particularly with the CPF and environmental legislation. And the fact that as a municipal attorney you write local laws, you interpret laws, you enforce local laws. I’ve been doing that for 20 years.”

Kiely grew up in what he described as “a suburban hellscape in Brookhaven,” but spent parts of his summers in North Point and North Haven. He now lives in Southold.

“That’s where I forged my love for the East End and my drive to protect it,” he said, arguing that Governor Kathy Hochul, who put on hold last year a proposal that would have allowed the state to supersede local zoning laws for the creation of more affordable housing, will likely bring the proposal, which he describes as “an attack on single-family home zoning,” up again this session.

“I know sprawl when I see it,” said Kiely, who added it was a major reason for his decision to run. “I see New York State trying to impose it on us, and I’ll fight like hell to oppose it.”

He charged that if his opponent, Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni “gets to Albany, he is just going to go along to get along. From what I know, he is a ‘yes man’ Democrat.”

Kiely argues the East End is suffering from “an affordability crisis, which is different than a housing crisis.”

And he argues that it is not a problem the region will be able to build its way out of because, in large part, its sensitive environment, including its sole source aquifer, cannot handle increased density. Instead, he calls for a smaller scale approach with more accessory apartments, apartments above stores and the repurposing of commercial buildings and the construction of small-scale manor house-type developments.

The real cause of the affordable housing shortage, he said, is that many houses that were once year-round rentals have become short-term rentals and cash cows for their owners.

“When I first moved out here, I could open the paper and see about 20 year-round rentals that were attainable,” he said. “Today, those have been taken off the market and are rented out on a short-term basis.” He said it was necessary to develop state legislation “to tamp down on the short-term rental market,” arguing that short-term rentals are nothing more than a commercial use in a residential neighborhood.

Although Kiely said his concerns about state-mandated overdevelopment spurred his entry into the race, the first bill he would sponsor, should he be elected, is one that would rescind the state’s sanctuary status for migrants. An executive order, signed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2017, set in place a policy that prohibits state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with administrative warrants from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Kiely stresses that he is not anti-immigrant. “If they want to come here and work for our local businesses, raise families, and become part of the social fabric, God love them,” he said. “Bring them in.”

But he said the state’s sanctuary status opens it up to having immigrants bused here from out of state, where they require aid from the state government to the tune of more than $4 billion over the past year.

He said sweeping bail reform, which denies judicial discretion as to when to hold some defendants, has also had unintended consequences, not only because dangerous defendants can be released after committing serious crimes, but because it applies to illegal migrants, who may already have criminal records and warrants for their deportation.

“Convicted criminal migrants, that’s all I’m talking about,” he said. “Those people should not be here and they need to be immediately deported.”

Kiely, who describes himself as a centrist Republican, said protecting the environment is another major concern of his. He cited Dr. Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University who has said the biggest danger to drinking water on Long Island is from septic systems that allow nitrogen to pollute the groundwater.

Kiely said he would like to see the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Funds amended to allow up to 50 percent of their proceeds to be used for water quality projects, including grants for modern wastewater systems that remove most of the nitrogen from wastewater.

But he opposes large-scale alternative energy solutions such as solar and wind farms. He is particularly opposed to battery storage facilities because of the threat of fire that local volunteer fire departments would be unable to handle and the pollution that would result from one.

Preserving woodlands and wetlands are natural ways to recapture carbon, he said, adding that he would support kelp farming and eelgrass planting as well as tax credits to farmers who undertake environmentally sound agricultural practices.

Besides serving as Shelter Island Town attorney, Kiely is the Mattituck Park District attorney, participates in a program that provides attorneys for weekend arraignments in Riverhead Town and has a small private practice.

“I know Fred Thiele endorsed Mr. Schiavoni,” he said. “But it’s not like he opened it up to the world and held a screening process. It was a done deal, and it was for political reasons. But if you look at it on an empirical basis, I’m the most qualified for the job.”