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General Meeting 12/1/15 SUFFOLK COUNTY LEGISLATURE GENERAL MEETING FIFTEENTH DAY December 1, 2015 MEETING HELD AT THE EVANS K. GRIFFING BUILDING IN THE MAXINE S. POSTAL LEGISLATIVE AUDITORIUM 300 CENTER DRIVE RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK Taken & Transcribed By Alison Mahoney & Lucia Braaten Court Stenographers 1 General Meeting 12/1/15 (*The following was taken and transcribed by Lucia Braaten - Court Stenographer*) (*The Meeting was Called to Order at 9:39 a.m.*) P.O. GREGORY: Good morning, Mr. Clerk. MR. RICHBERG: Good morning, Mr. Presiding Officer. P.O. GREGORY: Please do the roll call. (Roll Called by Mr. Richberg, Clerk of the Legislature) LEG. SPENCER: (Not Present) LEG. D'AMARO: Here. LEG. STERN: (Present) LEG. MC CAFFREY: (Not Present) LEG. TROTTA: Here. LEG. KENNEDY: Here. LEG. BARRAGA: (Absent) LEG. CILMI: Here. LEG. MARTINEZ: (Not Present) LEG. LINDSAY: (Not Present) LEG. CALARCO: Present. LEG. ANKER: Here. 2 General Meeting 12/1/15 LEG. HAHN: Present. LEG. MURATORE: Here. LEG. BROWNING: Here. LEG. KRUPSKI: Here. D.P.O. SCHNEIDERMAN: Here. P.O. GREGORY: Here. LEG. LINDSAY: Jason. MR. RICHBERG: Fifteen. LEG. MC CAFFREY: I'm here. Here. MR. RICHBERG: Sixteen. (Not Present: Legislator Spencer/Absent: Legislator Barraga) P.O. GREGORY: Okay. Thank you. We will have the salute to the flag, led by Legislator Kara Hahn. (*Salutation*) Okay. Next, Legislator Hahn will introduce Anna Lubitz from Setauket, who will sing the National Anthem. In addition to being a noted singer, Anna is also an active member of the Stony Brook University community, serving on the Student Assembly. LEG. HAHN: Anna, can you come forward? Come on forward. Anna Lubitz is, well, first of all, just a friend. She's just a phenomenal individual. She's a graduate of my alma mater, Ward Melville High School. I just had to say that. She's also a Stony Brook University graduate student, studying -- pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration and Masters in Public Health. She sings the National Anthem at many Stony Brook events, and athletic games, and community-wide events. And she is the President of the MBA Association at Stony Brook University, and has served many leadership roles, both in -- on and off campus. And so here, I'm so pleased to have her, Anna Lubitz. (*Applause*) (*National Anthem Performed by Anna Lubitz*) (*Applause*) 3 General Meeting 12/1/15 LEG. HAHN: Isn't she fantastic? P.O. GREGORY: Please remain standing. We will have the invocation, which will be given by Reverend Rabbi -- no, Rabbi Sharon Sobel of Temple Isaiah in Stony Brook, guest of Legislator Kara Hahn. LEG. HAHN: Thank you so very much. Rabbi Sharon Sobel was appointed as Rabbi of Temple Isaiah of Stony Brook in July of 2014. The daughter of a reformed Rabbi from Glens Falls, Rabbi Sobel was ordained from Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in May 1989. She also holds an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications from Boston University School of Public Communications. Prior to joining Temple Isaiah, her remarkable career extended from leading congregations to leading national organizations, while serving as Executive Director of the Union for Reform Judaism's Canadian Council for Reform Judaism in ARZA Canada for over nine years. Leader as Judea Consultant for the York Region of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Rabbi Sobel was responsible for developing and enhancing spiritual life in the York Region, which is considered the fastest growing Jewish community in North America. She is a passionate advocate for social justice and human rights issues. This year, Rabbi Sobel is one of ten Rabbis from across the United States to be awarded the prestigious Rabbinic Global Justice Fellowship from the American Jewish World Service. These Rabbinic Fellows will be engaging in social justice work in conjunction with their duties within their home congregations. Please welcome Rabbi Sharon Sobel. (*Applause*) RABBI SOBEL: Thank you, Legislator Hahn, and all of you for having me this morning. Let us join together in prayerful reflection. Our God, and God of all people, you give us the gift of self-reflection. As we prepare to begin a new day of deliberation, we take a moment to appreciate the fact that we are alive. With each breath we take, we fill not only our lungs with air, but also we infuse our souls with meaning. Life is a gift. What do we do with that gift depends on our awareness of the preciousness and precariousness of our daily existence. That we are here together in a sacred chamber of deliberation is a reflection not only of the fact that the members of our community have placed their trust in these lawmakers, but also in the potential for change and healing that can take place in the deliberations and debate that make up the business of this body. And so, as we take this moment of reflection, let us ask ourselves what do we hope to accomplish today? Whose lives are we impacting? What are the needs of our community? Who feels pain? Who fears the future? Who is poised for greatness? How can we take the time we have together to work to improve our communities, our families, ourselves? Help our Legislators to see that the issues that they are discussing and the laws they are enacting should serve to enlighten and animate the divine implanted within them and the people they serve. May any disagreements that arise be for the sake of bringing healing and wholeness to our world. Let the perils of partisanship give way to the echoes of empathy. And may the work of these Legislators reflect the highest values of each of our faith communities and of the goodness that is within each one of us. 4 General Meeting 12/1/15 Bless these proceedings and all those who labor here today, and let us say amen. (*Amen said in unison*) P.O. GREGORY: Please remain standing for a moment of silence in memory of Nephtali Martinez, father of Robert Martinez, Legislative Aide for Legislator Muratore. We send our heartfelt sympathy and prayers to his family. Let us also observe a moment of silence to remember all the nations across the world that are ravaged by terrorism and war. And as always, let us also remember all those men and women who put themselves in harm's way every day to protect our country. (*Moment of Silence*) Okay. We have several proclamations. First, we have Legislator Cilmi, who will present a proclamation on behalf of the Suffolk County Legislature to Probation Officer Jill Van Wagenen. LEG. CILMI: Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. Great to be here again today. I hope everybody enjoyed their Thanksgiving in the room. Wonderful holiday season to us all. I'm very pleased to welcome Probation Officer Jill Van Wagenen today. Jill is a 12-year veteran of the department, and is currently assigned to the Criminal Courts Supervision in the Coram office. The story I'm going told you is very brief, but it really highlights the role that our Probation Officers play here in Suffolk County in ensuring our safety, and it highlights the fact that they do so in such a proactive way. Probation Officer Van Wagenen received information that a probationer was bragging about having a gun, which would, obviously, be a violation of the probation agreement. On July 20th, 2015, Probation Officer Van Wagenen -- am I pronouncing the name correctly, Jill? MS. VAN WAGENEN: Yes. LEG. CILMI: With the Southampton Police Department on standby, performed a home visit after confirming the fact that there was a gun present with the probationer, at which time a loaded pistol, loaded pistol was found at the residence in violation of his probation. So -- and, obviously, the pistol was confiscated. The probationer was again charged with that violation, and there are several counts pending against this probation -- this probationer. But it goes to show how our Probation Officers every day are walking into situations that are potentially dangerous. Had we not gotten the information that there was a loaded pistol on the premises, and had Probation Officer Van Wagenen gone in to this residence, who knows the peril that she could have been faced with. So the Probation Officers Association, and I, and the entire Legislature, Jill, would like to say congratulations to you, and thank you for the great work that you do day in and day out for the past 12 years and will continue to do, I'm sure, for a long time in the future. God bless you. (*Applause*) 5 General Meeting 12/1/15 P.O. GREGORY: Okay. Next, we have Legislator Anker, who will present a proclamation to Frank McCoy, owner of Advanced Sports and the Chief Physical Therapist at the East Setauket location. Frank is knowledgeable in the field of sports medicine and preventing sport injuries, and worked closely with Legislator Anker on the Youth Sports Safety Forum to promote increased safety measures for our young athletes in Suffolk County. LEG. ANKER: Again, I want to thank everybody that helped participate in my Sports Safety Forum. I don't know if too many people know about it, but, basically, Frank was one of a panel of about maybe ten people that was put together by the Section XII sports, the head of sports safety in New York State. And, unfortunately, in my district we've had some severe injuries with school sports safety. Tom Cutinella died of a head injury, concussion. And we had a boy at North Shore Youth -- Shore -- the baseball little league. He actually died, what, being hit by a ball in the chest, but was revived by a defibrillator.