Candidate Profile: Maria Scheuring For Smithtown Town Council

SMITHTOWN, NY — Town of Smithtown voters will decide their next town council on Nov. 7. Two of four candidates will be elected on Nov. 7.

Incumbents Thomas Lohmann and Lisa Inzerillo, both Republicans, are being challenged by Democrats Maria Scheuring and Sarah Tully.

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

Here are the responses for those who participated. The answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Name

Maria Scheuring, Esq.

How old will you be as of Election Day?

52

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

smithtownforward.org

What city or town do you live in?

Smithtown

What office are you seeking?

Town Council Smithtown

If you are running in a district, you can specify the district here.

Smithtown

Party affiliation.

Democrat and Working Families Party

Education.

BA in Communications; MA In Philosophy; JD from Fordham Law

What is your occupation?

Attorney and College Philosophy Professor

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

Yes, I have 3 teenagers, 19 (girl), 17 (boy) and 15 (boy)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

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

No

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 town council because I ran for town supervisor two years ago, and nothing has changed. We still don’t have sewers in Smithtown, there are dozens and dozens of empty store fronts, the town is still conducting closed meetings with town Council in violation of the open meetings law, there is a complete lack of transparency and nepotism that is plaguing our town government. And these are just a few of the many reasons. There is a one party rule in this town, and it goes unchecked and that needs to change. I am a mother, a homeowner and a business owner in Smithtown and I am sick of it and I want to see change in this town and it needs to happen now.

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

Our lack of proper sewage, the waste plant that they are planning on a rail yard to be built to haul toxic ash within a couple blocks of residential homes in Kings Park. That is on top of our aquifer, and will be seeping into our water. That must be stopped before it goes any further.

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

There needs to be environmental impact studies done immediately and sewers must be installed with proper sewage treatment plants as soon as possible. The town needs to apply for grants to cover any costs that have not been anticipated. This was extremely poor, planning on the part of the current town Council, and now it’s reaching a dire status.

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

There must be a proper and adequate budget for the town highway department. Currently as of October 21, the town union members still don’t have a contract as of last December. I would make sure that that is a priority. I think that we need to be more conscious of installing bike lanes and scooter lanes on the roads. Too many pedestrians have been getting injured or hurt and trying to find alternative ways of transportation. On the town Council there is somewhat limited powers when it comes to the highways as they’re not controlled by the town. However the sewers must be put in with proper roads above them.

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

As a part of the incentive to rent the empty store, France littering our hamlets in Smithtown, I word sign, the building owners that are leaving the store, fronts empty. This would be an incentive to rent them out, and perhaps reduce the rent prices. I would work with those business owners and landlords to try to reduce the costs but offer incentives that would be fair to the business owners, as well as the landlords. I would have open meetings with local business owners to see how the town Council might be able to assist them in promoting their businesses, or connecting them with production chains to work on products that they are having trouble getting because of labor shortages.

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?

If migrants were to be directed to shelter, is on Long Island, we would certainly do what we can do to assist the refugees that they are. Clearly, we would seek assistance from the state and federal governments to help provide the necessities for these people and plans for them to either integrate or be transported someplace where they might have more adequate accommodations.

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

Well, I think what stands out the most is that I have experience as a lawyer, which is clearly beneficial to any political position. I’ve spent 25 years as a litigator and negotiate deals on a daily basis. Further, I am on the Board of Directors for the greater Patchogue Chamber Of Commerce and I am the chairperson for Alive After Five and Patchogue. I have run two years of extremely successful, and re-organized Festivals and Patchogue that have become more family friendly, while still promoting the arts and music and a fun atmosphere for young people. I managed to have four weeks with nearly 35,000 attendees I worked with over 30 restaurant owners hundreds of vendors, the police precincts, the mayor, the public safety, security, political officials, and a tight budget and I was able to successfully have four nights with zero incident and very high Acclaim. Nobody on the town Council can say they could handle anything like that or have handled anything like that. Nothing would prepare me more for a political position than chairperson of an event like that.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

Where can I begin! Clearly almost in every aspect. When they have been confronted about specific problems this town has, they blatantly lied. They were confronted about the lack of a town contract with the town workers and they lied saying that they had a contract when there clearly was not one and there is still not a contract. They also said the federal government is now in charge of the supposed railways for the waste disposal plant and that is also a lie. The federal government does not have control of it yet. They were bragging about closing one of the Gentlemens clubs at the entrance of Smithtown on 25A but instead that has been an abandoned building for years right as you enter Smithtown, which is nothing to brag about. There are more empty store fronts now than there were two years ago. We still don’t have sewers. They gave themselves a 22% raise last year a 4% raise this year then turned around and said they would have to reduce money given to the highway department, and they still didn’t sign a contract for the union workers. The nepotism is sickening. Particularly with one of the town council members whose son hold a very high position in the town, and his wife also works for the town. Quite honestly I don’t believe that there is anything that they have done to benefit this town since they have been in office.

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

A very large issue is the fact that there are a lot of young people and teenagers in Smithtown and the hamlets. We have three very big high schools. Yet there is not a single thing for teenagers to do in this town. Aside from sports in the park. And even then most of the parks are missing restrooms, so they are not adequate. I would propose turning the bowling alley into a recreation center or rollerskating arcade. Some place where teenagers can be. I would also try to come up with some in TrumpLand for safe sewage, so more restaurants and stores can be built on Main Street until a more permanent sewer is put in. I would look for more grants to be able to get those sewers in faster.

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

As previously stated in another answer, the fact that I have been a litigator for 25 years makes me extremely experienced at negotiating and settling disputes. I am also an Ethics professor for the past five years, so I have no intentions of letting anything unethical slip by me if I was elected to town council. Also, my experience as a Chairperson for Alive After Five and Patchogue, and as I previously stated, running an event that enormous and coordinating the assistance of police, fire, ambulance, town officials, restaurant owners, security vendors, plus the public, and have an extremely successful successful event with zero problems, is something I am very proud of and going on my third year of doing this four times. Every year is not anything most people would be able to do. I believe that makes me extremely qualified if not overqualified.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I don’t know if I would consider that advice, but if I would say, may be my motto. I am a philosophy professor, and I’m continually reading philosophy to make myself and my life better. I have been reading the stoic philosophy for quite a while, and I find that, the principle of stoicism is my guiding principle. That is that we might not be able to change the situations that we're put in or faced with, but we are able to control how we react and how we handle those situations. That is my motto for life, and how I approach business as well.

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

I would just like the voters to know that I believe I am the typical Smithtown resident. I am a middle-aged parent, homeowner and business owner. I’m concerned about the future of my children, the air they’re going to breathe, the water they’re going to drink, and the quality of life they will have in Smithtown. I don’t want them to move as soon as they get up to college. I want them to be able to stay here, live here, raise a family here and have this be a thriving town. It is not right now, but I intend on changing that if I’m elected to town Council. And I hope the voters give me an opportunity to show what I can do to make Smithtown what it really should be.