Patch Candidate Profile: Angie Carpenter For Islip Town Supervisor

TOWN OF ISLIP, NY — Suffolk County residents will be lining up at the polls on Election Day on Nov. 7, or early voting from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5, to vote for their chosen candidates.

Incumbent Angie Carpenter, who has served as Town of Islip Supervisor for eight years, is seeking reelection.

She is challenged by Democrat Ken Colón.

Patch reached out to all candidates to hear where they stand on important issues affecting the community.

The community leader told Patch why she should be reelected for this position. The answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Name

Angie Carpenter

How old will you be as of Election Day?

80

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

https://angiecarpenter.com

What city or town do you live in?

West Islip

What office are you seeking?

Islip Town Supervisor

Party affiliation.

Republican

Education.

Suffolk County Community College, Associates Degree

What is your occupation?

Islip Town Supervisor 2015-Present

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

My husband Joe, 2 sons Rich and Rob, and 2 grandchildren Sydney & Joey

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

Suffolk County Legislator 1993-2005, Suffolk County Treasurer 2006-2015

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

I am running for re-election to continue on the mission I set forth on in 2015 to make my hometown of Islip an even greater place to live, work, and raise a family. I am fortunate to be able to bring my past experience as a business owner, community leader, and elected official to this role to help make a difference.

We have achieved so much over the past eight years, and if re-elected, we will continue to build on that success over the next four years.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is \_\_\_, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our residents is the cost of living, especially as we continue to face rising inflation. As Supervisor, I have ensured we always maintain a tax-cap compliant budget that still maintains the quality of services that our residents expect, and deserve.

What needs to be done to address water quality issues on LI?

The Town of Islip is a leader in innovative water quality measures. I am especially proud of our Bay Bottom Licensing Program and our Town Hatchery. This program allows for private oyster farmers to seed oysters in our Great South Bay for profit, while also providing an economic benefit to our Town, and a major environmental benefit to our Bay. Each oyster can naturally filter up to 40 gallons of water a day.

We have seen a tremendous improvement to our water quality since beginning this program, and we continue to work in conjunction with NYSDEC to expand the amount of acreage available to seed more oysters. This is an incredibly sustainable, and financially beneficial way to improve our water quality.

What do you think can be done to help improve our infrastructure, highways, etc.?

Protecting and expanding our infrastructure here in the Town of Islip has been a top priority of my administration since I took office in 2015. When I became Supervisor, many of our buildings, parks, beaches, marinas and most importantly our roads were in disrepair, and had been long neglected.

Beginning in 2015, through taking advantage of the Town's AAA Bond rating, upgraded in 2016, historically low interest rates, and the development of a Capital Budget, we have been able to tackle long overdue projects such as the current renovation of Byron Lake Park in Oakdale, the rehabilitation and improvement of Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood, parking lot improvements around Bay Shore, and most importantly expanded our paving program, and ensured that paving is done equitably across our hamlets.

Throughout my tenure, the Town has paved approximately 60 miles of roads per year, which translates to over 500 miles since 2015.

There of course is always more to do, and we look forward to continuing to tackle these important infrastructure projects over the next four years.

How would you plan to help local business owners, who are struggling because of high rents, inflation and labor shortages?

There is not a lot that the Town can do in regard to these issues. However, we did do a lot to help our small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We used ARPA funding received from the federal government to provide grants through our "Keep Islip Thriving (KIT)" program of up to $5,000 to help our businesses.

Additionally, we have an active Office of Economic Development, and Industrial Development Agency that work to help bring business here to Islip, and retain business and jobs. We also recently brought back our CEO summit where local business leaders had an opportunity to network, and learn from our guest speaker.

We also have a job search boot camp we do that invites local businesses to come in and hire qualified candidates.

What is your stance on the current migrant situation affecting New York? And migrants were to be directed to shelters on Long Island, how would you prepare/plan for that?

The current migrant situation affecting New York is a true failure by the Federal Government to address the issues at our Southern Border. I am completely opposed to unvetted migrants being brought to Long Island, and will do all that I can to ensure the safety of our residents.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The major difference between me and the other candidate seeking this office is experience. Town Supervisor is a job that is essentially being the CEO of our Town, overseeing more than 1,000 employees, and over 340,000 residents. It requires making tough, and sometimes unpopular decisions, and this type of training only comes with experience.

As a mother, a business owner, a community advocate, and elected official, I have had many experiences that I bring to this position. Clearly, being Town Supervisor is not a position for on-the job training.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

We will continue to address the issues of controlling the cost of living, protecting Town finances, investing in, and improving our infrastructure, and ensuring that we protect the quality of life of our residents.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Having served eight years as Supervisor, nine years as Treasurer, and 13 as a Legislator, I have the experience to handle this job.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

You can sleep when you're dead.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

That I always have the best interest of our residents at heart, and truly care about each and every one who lives here in the Town of Islip.