New Year, New Babylon Town Supervisor?

What old seemed new again as former Babylon Town Supervisor Richard Schaffer was sworn into his old position by former supervisor and new Suffolk County Executive last Tuesday at in Lindenhurst.

Schaffer served as supervisor in the 1990s, and stepped down a decade ago.

His tenure in the top seat in Babylon Town government included the 1997 indictment of five of his top town officials on charges of falsifying documents to hide a budget deficit, according to a report about Schaffer taking the town reins on Newsday.com.

The report said that while five were indicted on charges of falsifying documents, four were acquitted and the fifth, Doug Jacob, was convicted of eight misdemeanors and sentenced to probation.

Jacob still works for the town.

Schaffer, who'll also remain in his post as Suffolk County Democratic chairman, told Newsday that he'll pick up where Bellone has left off, sticking to much of the policy and projects under Bellone's tenure, including including Wyandanch Rising, a $500 million public-private downtown redevelopment.

However, he hasn't committed to the Bellone policy of retiring more debt than the town takes on each year, noting that he wants to make sure the town meets all of its obligations.

During the same town board meeting on that saw Schaffer take over the reins of Babylon government once again, Tom Donnelly took his spot as the board's newest member, having been in November.

was sworn in by United States Congressman (D-Dix Hills).

Town Councilwoman Jackie Gordon was also at the meeting. Gordon, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves, is being deployed to Afghanistan this year.

“I serve as Commander of the 310th Military Police Battalion in Uniondale. I’ve been deployed to Baghdad, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and, I’m being deployed overseas again [to Afghanistan starting in January],” Gordon Lindenhurst Patch.

Ellen McVeety, who last November, will serve on the board while Gordon is deployed.