Jane Bonner for Town Board
Endorsement 14 comments below
Choosing between Conservative incumbent Jane Bonner and Democrat challenger John Leonard, a deputy town supervisor, was no easy task.
Mr. Leonard is articulate and well informed, and he seems to genuinely care about not only his community of Mount Sinai but also the entire 2nd District.
Ms. Bonner, on the other hand, has also shown that she wants to do her part to ensure that the northeastern corner of Brookhaven Town is taken care of. She grabbed the torch from former Councilman Kevin McCarrick in fighting against the Planned Development District at Tallgrass in Shoreham, helping to effectively kill the project when she led the Town Board's effort to deny the developers a necessary extension for moving forward with their plans to build on the 320-acre property.
Ms. Bonner has also been an advocate for preserving open space at a time when the town hasn't done enough in that area, securing monies to buy up not only the Vassilaros property in historic Miller Place, but also smaller parcels in Wading River and Lake Panamoka.
Ms. Bonner's finest quality, however, has been in the way she serves her constituents. Her office is a full-time operation, with a councilwoman and a staff that is quick to listen to constituent concerns -- not just to dig in on the major issues, but also to help with the small stuff.
Her constituent service skills were perhaps best on display when she put bad blood from the 2007 election behind her and made sure the Shoreham-Wading River Little League got its first ball field, fulfilling a campaign promise broken last silly season by Democrats.
That's not to say Ms. Bonner's first two years in office have been without their ups and downs. In fact, these editorial pages have been used many times to find fault with Ms. Bonner.
Too often in her first term she chose to engage in petty partisan politics, although her support of the Democrats' GPS initiative was a fine example of a Town Board member reaching across the political aisle to do what's right for the residents of the town.
There were also times when Ms. Bonner seemed to be relying on the advice of others instead of stepping up and being her own voice (our editorial board can recall countless interviews where Ms. Bonner was merely repeating what a voice in the background was saying and not just answering our questions herself, which is why we weren't surprised when she wanted to take our candidate questionnaire home with her instead of filling it out on the spot. We didn't allow her to).
We also believe Ms. Bonner has been a failure in some of the areas where she promised she'd deliver last campaign season. Despite making high taxes their biggest campaign talking point, Ms. Bonner and her Republican/Conservative majority did not lower taxes when they amended former Supervisor Brian Foley's 2009 budget, even though, bizarrely, she tried to insist they did in our endorsement interview this year.
Ms. Bonner also touted getting the ball rolling on downtown revitalization as the greatest accomplishment of her tenure as Rocky Point Civic Association president when we interviewed her in 2007. But we still see a depressed downtown today, and the community is fractured over their vision for the future of the hamlet.
But we believe the primary responsibility of a councilwoman is to provide quality constituent service, to make smart land-use decisions and to protect taxpayers. Ms. Bonner has excelled in these three key areas. That's certainly enough for her to keep her job another two years.
We hope, however, that in her second term she shoves partisanship aside, shows more independence and works more on bringing people together in her district.
If you do choose to vote for John Leonard, that's not a bad decision.
But we do wish his campaign could have focused on issues more germane to the office he's seeking: Not to belittle efforts to redevelop the former power plant in Shoreham or to combat the problem of drugs on the North Shore, we're just not sure a Brookhaven councilman's going to lead those efforts.
Mr. Leonard was also too quick to align himself with people who only supported him because they dislike Ms. Bonner. (Sorry, John, but fishing lobbyists and the North Shore Beach Property Owners Association would have supported Freddy Kreuger over Jane Bonner, so why should we be impressed that they got behind you?)
Mr. Leonard also showed desperation these past few weeks with negative mailers. Our least favorite one, and the one that finally convinced us to not support Mr. Leonard, was titled "Old movies you don't want to see again, starring Jane Bonner." Set to a Hollywood motif, the flier makes the claim that Ms. Bonner fired "hard-working qualified town employees and gave their jobs to patronage politicians." It also talks about Ms. Bonner giving relatives jobs "at taxpayer expense."
What the mailer fails to mention is that those patronage employees replaced, right or wrong, the Democrats' patronage buddies. And while Ms. Bonner may have found summer work for her son, Democrat Connie Kepert secured a job right in her office for her son. And, oh, yeah, Democrat Mark Lesko hired the wife of the town's blue collar labor chief to serve as his deputy. We don't have a problem with any of these moves; we just wonder why Mr. Leonard doesn't either, if he has such a problem with what Ms. Bonner did.
That's a shame, too, because we do believe Mr. Leonard is an impressive candidate who should not have to stoop so low. If he's elected, we think he will represent the area well.
But Jane Bonner's already been doing that for two years. She's earned two more.
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14 comments found
HOW CHILDISH! : 11/7/2009
The election is over. JANE E. BONNER won! She will represent Council District 2 for the next two years. If the liberals would stop acting like 5 year old spoiled brats who have been denied a candy bar, we could all unite and move on. This newspaper had some nice things to say about both candidates. Mark Lesko and Marsha Laufer did not write the editorial. Stop complaining. You still have the White House. You still have the House of Representatives. You still have the United States Senate. You still have the County Executive, Steve Levy. You still have the County Legislature. You still have Governor Patterson. You still have the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. You have it all, except for Brookhaven Town and Jane Bonner. You should be able to get anything you want. Shoreham Beach can be made a National Seashore like Fire Island. Our President can surrender in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can have a utopian socialist state where everybody sits around all day, collects welfare checks and fishes on Shoreham Beach. We can raise taxes. We can increase spending. We can bankrupt the country. You liberals can do anything you want. The only reason that you hesitate to do so, is the presence of a few good elected officials like Jane Bonner who will speak out and hold you accountable. The election for 2009 is over! The election of 2010 is beginning.
election : 11/7/2009
Who's whining now? More sour grapes...10 points, get used to it!
Whahh! : 11/7/2009
It looks like we have another 2 years to go through listening to her whine each time things don't go her way.
election : 11/7/2009
It was a wishy washy endorsement. It was obvious the Sun was hedging their bet, on the slight chance Leonard could beat Jane, and they would have to work with him instead of Jane. It was an endorsement for Jane, however wishy whashy it was. Get over yourself and stop whining. She won by 10 points.
wouldn't be surprised : 11/6/2009
"Your editorial endorsing Bonner is a strange one. It actually seems to be an endorsement for Leonard. Was it a misprint?" I wouldn't be surprised at all. On the night of the Election they released both articles prematurely for the winners. The first one stated that John Leonard won and the 2d won stated that Jane won. Not only were they released prematurely they were released before the election results were released.
Very poor judgement on behalf of the Sun : 11/6/2009
"Mr. Leonard was also too quick to align himself with people who only supported him because they dislike Ms. Bonner. (Sorry, John, but fishing lobbyists and the North Shore Beach Property Owners Association would have supported Freddy Kreuger over Jane Bonner, so why should we be impressed that they got behind you?) " This is the 2d article in which the sun has chosen extremely poor judgement on how they release an article. There were alot of fisherman behind John Leonard for the past year or so due to his involvement with re-opening Shoreham Beach to fishing after it was illegaly closed. Not only did they support him because they were against Jane Bonner but they supported him because he stould for strong moral values and he had great idea's for several major issues within the Town of Brookhaven. Now that Jane has won the election all anyone can do is have faith and hope she does well. We all really hope they she will work in a bi-partisan manner this time around because she certainly did not last time. In closing the Sun may want to think about getting their facts straight before they start publishing negative connotations about any people within the community.
JANE E. BONNER WINS : 11/3/2009
The Suffolk County Board of Elections has just announced that JANE E. BONNER has been re-elected to another two year term. With 50 out of 50 election districts reporting, Jane Bonner receives 6,974 votes (55%) and John Leonard receives 5,810 votes (45%). Congratulations to John Leonard for a hard fought campaign. Congratulations to Jane and her supporters for a great victory. God Bless you all and God Bless America!
editorial : 11/2/2009
I have lived and worked in Rocky Point for the past 37 years. I cannot believe the remarks about the NSBPOA and that Mr. Leonard was too quick to align himself with people who only supported him because they dislike Ms. Bonner. I am a republican, like the beaches and fishing, and am going to vote for Leonard. Leonard has the education, experience, and a much stronger platform he is running with. Really, what has Bonner done for Rocky Point in the past 18 months? Nothing! She has not listened to her constiuents about Fairhaven or the Shoreham beach issues. She didn't listen to fishermen about a 1st amendment right. However, Mr. Leonard did. Your editorial endorsing Bonner is a strange one. It actually seems to be an endorsement for Leonard. Was it a misprint?
Jane wrong for Rocky Point : 11/1/2009
Bonner the wrong choice : 10/30/2009 Jane Bonner is the wrong choice for this job. As you quoted in your endorsement, "There were also times when Ms. Bonner seemed to be relying on the advice of others instead of stepping up and being her own voice (our editorial board can recall countless interviews where Ms. Bonner was merely repeating what a voice in the background was saying and not just answering our questions herself, which is why we weren't surprised when she wanted to take our candidate questionnaire home with her instead of filling it out on the spot." Why is this. Were is the leadership shown in this. It is like a pilot. You get on board and before the pilot flies the plane he tells the passengers that he has to bring home the manual first and read it. We need a leader and that's John Leonard.
GREAT EDITORIAL : 11/1/2009
Congratulations to this newspaper for supporting Jane Bonner for re-election to Council District 2. Your editorial was well written and carefully presented. The odd thing is that you had more nice things to say about John Leonard than the Democrats have been able to say. John has good qualities if he were only allowed to think on his own. He is the puppet of Mark Lesko and Marsha Laufer, neither of whom are friends of Rocky Point. John would never be an independent Coucilman unless he wins (heaven forbid), Lesko loses, and Laufer moves to Florida. One thing is for certain - Jane is the real thing. She shares our values. She loves her community. The Communuithy loves her. She deserves a second term.
The Suns Editorials : 10/30/2009
I am a member of the North Shore Beach Property Owners Association and lived in Rocky Point for the past 38 years. I cannot believe this remark about the NSBPOA . It seems like someone like Jane Bonner had to tell you to ad this. But you do not know the facts. John Leonard reached out to the North Shore Beach Community and helped with drainage problems. Jane Bonner did not. Just more and more wasteful studies and wasted tax payer monies is her usual response all the time. In your Suns Editorials 10/30/09 you said "Mr. Leonard was also too quick to align himself with people who only supported him because they dislike Ms. Bonner. (Sorry, John, but fishing lobbyists and the North Shore Beach Property Owners Association would have supported Freddy Kreuger over Jane Bonner, so why should we be impressed that they got behind you?)" Why should we be impressed that you got behind Jane Bonner. Let me tell you something the way Jane Bonner ran this district and the way she treated people, Freddy Kreuger would have done a better job. Vote for a winner John Leonard.
Calls from Jane Bonner : 10/30/2009
Jane Bonner has an automated phone message. It sounds like she is drowning and needs help. She is very upset because the truth got out on a number of issues that she did not want the voters to know about, town workers being hired, fired and taxes. Now they know and she calls and says John Leonard lied in a recorded message. The facts are the facts. How come Jane did not mention that she excepted campaign money from Fairfield Properties, because she does not want you to know that. She wants the voters to vote for her just on her word. But guess what Jane, the voters are not dumb as you think they are. and have seen enough of your politics. People can now see right threw the BS. You are being exposed for what you are. You call yourself conservative but conservatives do not act like that. This is why the republicans lost the White House to Oboma. Because elected officials who call themselves Republicans Conservatives and are not. That is why you should lose your seat. Elected officials that are not true to their party but to their specials interest groups like you have that control you. May I call you O Bonna
Council Poll : 10/30/2009
Go to this website to vote in the 2nd Council District Poll http://rpractiongroup.i8.com/index.poll.html
Bonner the wrong choice : 10/30/2009
Jane Bonner is the wrong choice for this job. As you quoted in your endorsement, "There were also times when Ms. Bonner seemed to be relying on the advice of others instead of stepping up and being her own voice (our editorial board can recall countless interviews where Ms. Bonner was merely repeating what a voice in the background was saying and not just answering our questions herself, which is why we weren't surprised when she wanted to take our candidate questionnaire home with her instead of filling it out on the spot." Why is this. Were is the leadership shown in this. It is like a pilot. You get on board and before the pilot flies the plane he tells the passengers that he has to bring home the manual first and read it. We need a leader and that's John Leonard.
