Dem Candidate for Highway Supe Kicks Off Race

Democrat Lori Baldassare officially kicked off her candidacy for Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent on Monday, just over 10 weeks before she'll face off against incumbent Republican Dan Losquadro, who earned the spot in a special election this past spring.

Baldassare, a former deputy highway superintendent who worked in the town for nine years, said she has the experience within the department that her opponent does not. Losquadro, who was serving as an Assemeblyman in New York's first district when he was elected, defeated Councilwoman Kathy Walsh in March.


A spokeswoman for Baldassare – who currently works in the county department of public works – chastised the Town of Brookhaven's response to a punishing snowstorm over the winter, which dumped over 30 inches on the town and left some residents holed up for five days straight. The storm didn't happen on Losquadro's watch – the snow fell about a month before he stepped into office – though spokeswoman Rebecce Breitel said the slow response still remains unexplained.

"There has been no report or investigation as he's promised as to what the failures were during Nemo," she said. "Many items such as mapping and communications tools existed. But as to why they were not employed, nobody knows."
Losquadro, reached Monday afternoon, said that an analysis of the storm response is currently being done.

"We have pulled that data together and turned it all over" to the office of Supervisor Ed Romaine, Losquadro said. "We are working with IT to be able to actually use that data in real time instead of just looking at it. It's not helpful to just look at data in a static format. We want to be able to utilize it in real time. That's what we are working toward."

He added that more information would be forthcoming about the department's response to Nemo – and also said that, while the department did not act proactively as it should have been able to, "there's a lot more a highway department does than respond to one storm." 

Baldassare, a Mt. Sinai resident and founder of the Heritage Trust, launched her website on Monday. According to online campaign finance reports, a 'Friends for Baldassare' campaign committee for town highway superintendent was established in 2006. It had filed 'no activity statements' since 2008, when it last held a deficit of nearly $5,800. Losquadro retains a balance of over $110,000. 

She had sought the Democratic nod for town clerk, however after not receiving support from the Independence Party, reportedly dropped the bid to clear the way for Republican candidate Donna Lent.