Letters

I am often asked what a Suffolk County legislator does after people learn that I am running for county legislator and not for Southampton Town Trustee this year.

When anyone inquired about Town Trustee, it was an easy answer: “We are stewards of 25,000 acres of bottomlands held in trust for the people of the Town of Southampton. We are the guardians of the waterways.” That isn’t all that a Trustee does, of course. But it was short and simple and got the point across.

The reply for legislator does not roll off my tongue quite as easily, or at least, not yet.

The concerns of daily life seem to be mostly at the town and village levels of government, and government at the national level bombards us in the news, whether it be online, on television or in the newspaper. County government is sandwiched somewhere in the middle.

Yet decisions made at the county level impact all of us on the East End nearly every day. Think the Suffolk County Police Department (its benevolent association has endorsed me for legislator); Suffolk County Health Department; Suffolk County Community College; Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program; Suffolk County Sub Watershed Wastewater Plan; Suffolk County Department of Public Works; Suffolk County Parks; Office of Veterans Affairs; Office of the Aging; Suffolk County Department of Public Works for dredging; and Suffolk County bus system.

I will stop there, but, hopefully, you get the idea. County government greatly impacts our day-to-day life. The critical decisions made at the county level need independent thinkers with solution-oriented goals and collaborative actions.

There are 18 legislative districts in Suffolk County; 16 of these districts are west of the Town of Riverhead. There is one legislator for the North Fork and one legislator for the South Fork. The East End needs strong voices to represent its interests at the county level.

I have served in elected office for six years, and worked across party lines with multiple levels of government to get things done. I intend to leverage the skills I have gained, the lessons learned, and the relationships built during my time as a Town Trustee and, standing on the mighty shoulders of Bridget Fleming, continue the amazing work she has been doing for the East End in the Suffolk County Legislature in District 2.

I would be deeply honored to receive your vote on November 7 for Suffolk County legislator.

Ann Welker

North Sea