September 2025
In odd-numbered years, the FA screens all candidates for the Suffolk County Legislature and endorses a slate of candidates. As chair of the FA political action committee, I am asking you to read the following and consider supporting the endorsed candidates below. Why be political? Sometimes members express that they wish we did not get involved in politics. We have to. We take an active role in screening candidates because the Legislature acts in a way similar to how local school boards do for K-12 districts. The Legislature votes on the college budget; this involves millions of dollars in funds that directly shape our members’ work lives, including funding for capital projects, EMHP and perhaps most importantly our contracts. The Legislature also appoints some members of the college Board of Trustees and that too has a significant impact on our members. The relationships we have formed and built with our legislators have been greatly beneficial. The Legislature has helped to advocate for more full-time faculty lines and they have consistently provided increases to the college’s operating budget.
Our endorsements are based on our assessment of each candidate’s established record or stated assertions (if they have not yet served in public office) regarding two issues: education and labor. The legislative candidates who earn our endorsements need to convince our committee that they are fully committed to education in general and Suffolk County Community College more specifically as well as to supporting working people in general and our FA members more specifically. During our two full days of screenings in late June plus a number of Zoom screenings in the following weeks, we had conversations with candidates about a host of issues. This included college funding, county chargebacks, the Beacon program, full-time faculty lines and internship opportunities. We also discussed national issues that are threatening our work and institution, specifically the presence of ICE near campus and the ICE detention of student Sara Lopez Garcia, cuts to grants from the federal Department of Education and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits. While the Suffolk County Legislature is a local government body, the legislators do wield some power and influence in political circles and have a lot of contact with our Congressional representatives. We need to have conversations with all of our elected officials about the issues that affect our profession and our students. This year’s endorsements The candidates listed below were recommended by the screening committee to the Executive Council, which voted at our August 21 meeting to endorse them. We endorsed all of the incumbent candidates as well as the two Republican candidates in the 13th and 14th Districts.
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