Candidate Profile: Thomas Lohmann 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

Thomas W. Lohmann

How old will you be as of Election Day?

66

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

https://www.smithtownteam.com/

What city or town do you live in?

Smithtown

What office are you seeking?

Town Council

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

N/A

Party affiliation.

Republican, Conservative

Education.

College degree in Criminal Justice

What is your occupation?

I am currently serving as Town Councilman for the Town of Smithtown. Prior to my time in office, I served for 20 years as a member of the NYPD, where I received Commendations for Excellent and Meritorious actions. I dedicated my final months of service with the NYPD as a 9/11 first responder, working search, rescue and recovery efforts at ground zero before retiring in 2002. After retiring from the NYPD, I served as an investigator for the Suffolk County DA's Insurance Crimes Bureau and worked (part-time) as a Head of the Harbor Police Officer. I then retired from the D.A.'s office in order to serve the people of Smithtown as a full-time Town Councilman.

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

I am happily married to my wife, Jane who had a successful Broadway Theater career in Manhattan. Jane also danced professionally (ballet) touring across the Country. She sings in our local church and remains very involved in the local arts. I am the proud Father of Three Children. My son, Thomas Joseph, has followed in our family’s proud tradition with a successful career in law enforcement. My daughter, Jennifer, got her law degree and works for a leading insurance firm. My daughter, Amanda, is a U.S. Air Force Veteran with three tours of service under her belt (Iraq & Kuwait) and has also chosen to serve and protect in law enforcement with the Galveston Police Department in Texas.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My son is the Chief for the Smithtown Dept. of Public Safety. Full disclosure; he began his career in Smithtown long before I considered running and was elected to office.

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

Yes. I am currently serving as a Town Councilman for the Town of Smithtown.

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?

When I first was elected, I made a promise to do this job full time, despite it technically being considered a part-time position. We have gotten a great deal of work accomplished in just a short period of time. Looking back at a little less than four years ago... our town's infrastructure was failing, the parks were dilapidated, storefronts were empty and people went out of town for nightlife. Fast forward to present day... We've renovated more than two thirds of our parks, playgrounds & sports facilities, we've broken ground on all three downtown revitalization projects and wastewater infrastructure/sewer systems. We've added events like summer concerts and new recreational services bringing people back to town for nightlife and fun. We've preserved highly sensitive environmental open space, and acquired the former gentlemen’s club across from the bull monument for preservation. These efforts have led to new boutique shops and popular businesses opening up and thriving in our downtowns... We've done all of this while keeping taxes low, by using our outstanding financial status as borrowing leverage. I call this a good start. I'm running to serve the people of Smithtown for an additional four years to continue in keeping my promise. My hope is to complete the parks system upgrades, add new athletic fields, services for residents, especially opportunities and accessibility for seniors and people living with disabilities, as well as create new revenue streams for the town to offset the cost of property taxes.

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

The economy. We are living in difficult times. New York has always been an expensive place to live, but the economic climate over the past few years has made life very difficult. We face unfunded mandates coming down from Albany, which dips into the Town's operating budget substantially. We are also faced with potential gas bans, will make the cost of heating, cooling and electrifying the household next to impossible. As town councilman, I intend on fiscally planning smarter. That means identifying new ways of generating operating dollars that do not infringe on the taxpayers. For example, modernizing our government access television channels for live streaming events, like sports tournaments and nature channels can be monetized to generate revenue. Also, we are looking at implementing guest passes for our parks. Our evening concerts have become quite popular with both residents and guests alike. By offering an online/in person day pass for non-residents to purchase quickly and efficiently we could be easily covering the costs of unfunded mandates. Planning smarter also means investing in equipment that saves time and money. For example; a pothole machine can do the work that would normally take a day or two inside of a few hours. That savings adds up and allows for our incredible highway crews to maintain more miles of roadway, in less time. We also intend on pursuing new federal and state grants that focus on water quality, environmental protections and major infrastructure, with the use of our grant committee and grant writer.

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

Sewers need to become a reality, not just in our downtown areas, which do cause the most nitrogen loading. We need to advocate for residential grants and funding and get away from antiquated cesspool systems. These outdated septic systems cause nitrogen pollution which can result in harmful algal blooms, and fish die-offs in local waterways. We take this issue incredibly seriously. Which is why we have aggressively sought and been awarded nearly $60 million in grant funds (awarded by Suffolk County & NY State) to complete the sewer construction & wastewater treatment plant infrastructure in Kings Park, Smithtown and St. James.

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

Our highway department, led by Superintendent Robert Murphy, is actually doing an outstanding job on this front. With total support from our current administration, Highway has invested in state-of-the-art camera technology which identifies infrastructure issues like potential sinkholes, breaks, kinks, rootballs etc. and then maps out a timeline to make repairs based on need. With the use of this technology, we’re able to prevent major (and costly) flooding and make upgrades to the roadways which will withstand the test of time. We’ve also made investments in new highway equipment that allows us to get more work done faster. By taking a proactive stance on roadwork, cleaning recharge basins regularly and securing aggressive grant funds for major projects such as the Long Beach Road elevation, we’re able to prevent flooding, damage to the roads and overall wear and tear.

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

Connecting the downtown areas to a wastewater treatment facility will go a long ways to lowering the cost of rents in the downtown areas for local businesses. With all three downtowns currently on their way to sewer connectivity, this is a reality for the near future… one I plan of seeing through over the course of the next four years. We also have an outstanding relationship with our local Chamber of Commerce organizations and work in lockstep with each group on promoting local events, businesses and festivals which drive foot traffic into the downtown areas.

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 migrant crisis is a direct result of poor federal policies. Both Nassau and Suffolk Counties have an emergency order in place prohibiting the city from sending migrants to towns on Long Island. However, if an order were to be lifted, there are simply no hotels or similar accommodations available in the township, which is made up of mostly single family homes, 55 and over communities and townhouses. The former psych center property is not habitable, asbestos ridden, unstable and it would be inhumane to house any human being inside.

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

My background and relationships working previously in law enforcement has provided the town with a constant line of communication to our government counterparts at Suffolk County PD. I’ve also used that background to add security features in our community which have made everyone much safer. We have security cameras on the roads, town parks, monuments, municipal parking lots, etc., which have thwarted theft and prevented criminals from victimizing citizens. Also, I believe that I have delivered on promises made to the people of Smithtown serving as a full time Town Councilman. This job is all about public service and to do that job justice, you must be available to constituents on a full-time basis.

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

N/A

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

My plan for the future will be to continue our administrations focus on capital improvements that result in a boost to the local economy. Additionally, we will apply outside-of-the-box thinking to generate a return on investment for the taxpayer.
Goals for the Future:
- New revenue streams to offset the cost of inflation and unfunded mandates
- Sporting Events available via livestream - so family members can watch from afar
- Streamlining GTV public access channel to be available on Smart TV networks
- Additional services and recreational programming for children on the spectrum, living with neurodiversities
- Expanding the adaptive sports and summer camp experience.
- Increasing on our senior independence programs
- Expanding our school partnership programs to include all four school districts

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

With support from my fellow members of the town board, we have successfully improved the quality of life for residents over the last four years.
- restoring over 80% of the Town’s parks & beaches
- revitalizing the three downtown areas & making sewers a reality
- strengthening the Town finances (AAA Bond Rating)
- improving accessibility & better services for seniors and people living with disabilities
- preserving Smithtown’s environment & ecosystem

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Know the facts before you act. We as a society have a tendency to act based on the first piece of news or impression we read about in the papers, see on social media or watch on TV. It can be toxic... not just for the individual but the people around them also.

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

It has been a great privilege serving the people of the Town of Smithtown. My entire life has been dedicated to public service and I wouldn't have it any other way. I have received the endorsements of labor, law enforcement and am the official candidate (along with my running mate) for the Republican and Conservative parties for Town Council. If given the chance to serve another term I will continue to represent and serve the residents of Smithtown with honor and integrity.