Incumbent Councilman Faces Challenge in Brookhaven's 5th District

Ten-year Councilman Neil Foley, a senior vice president with New York Cancer & Blood Specialists, is facing a challenge for his 5th District seat in November from Francis Salazar, an assistant principal in the Copiague Middle School. 

It will be the fifth campaign for the Brookhaven Republican, having won a special election in 2014 and going before the voters again the following year, and then in 2017 and 2019 before the town switched to four-year terms and put a limit on the position at three terms. Salazar went before the voters in May when he won a seat on the Patchogue-Medford School Board.

"My time politically has been very blessed," Foley said. "When I was first elected, I had no political experience, nothing, but I understood right away that I needed to listen and learn from the great team we have on the town board." Working with Supervisor Edward Romaine, the Patchogue resident is part of a board that consistently brought the town's budget in under the state tax cap and boosted Brookhaven's bond rating to the highest for a municipality, Triple-A. He previously served on the town's Board of Zoning Appeals and has been active
with the Patchogue-Medford Youth Organization and Bayport-Blue Point Little League.

Salazar, also of Patchogue, hails originally from Mahopac and holds a Master's Degree in Education from Manhattanville College, as well as a Bachelor's in History from SUNY Oneonta. "I have always been one who gravitated towards helping others. My entire career has been spent helping children and the community," the Democrat said in his online bio. Requests for additional information about his campaign went unanswered. He's been with the Copiague District since 2006 as a special education teacher, serving in that role for eleven years before being promoted to dean and then chairperson of the Social Studies Department and middle school principal.

Foley characterized the district as "very diverse and unique," he said of an area covering Blue Point, Patchogue, East Patchogue, North Patchogue, Fire Island, and parts of Holbrook, Holtsville, Medford, and Lake Ronkonkoma. "Some parts of the district are heavily Democratic, and there are different economic and environmental factors," he said, noting that he picks up Democrat votes from both the
mainland and the Fire Island communities, as well as Patchogue Village. 

At 85,000 residents, the district is larger than the four eastern towns combined, Foley pointed out, saying, "You have to be a friend, mentor, psychologist, psychiatrist; you play so many roles in Brookhaven, and I will say this: if you can handle it, you could probably work anywhere." The council position pays $76,742 per year.

Foley, who was in the running to replace Congressman Lee Zeldin until the district lines were changed, was also considered for a run for county executive. "I've conducted myself in an extremely professional way," Foley said. "My record's clean; there's not been an allegation or accusation against me. That's the way I live my personal life, too." 

The Sunrise Wind cables that will carry power from turbines off Montauk will run through the 5th District. "I do support green energy, but it's got to be the right project. I've supported certain battery projects, and I've also denied certain battery projects," he said. I don't believe in putting heavy-duty energy facilities next to residential homes," adding that the district doesn't have the space for large solar projects. 
"We do have a crime issue in New York State, and the problem is if you commit a crime, there's really no penalty anymore," he said, pointing out that he works closely with the Suffolk Police and the town's public safety division to help keep communities safe. "Unless we stop the insanity and create new laws, we're going to be in a bad situation. When you walk into a CVS, you can't buy razors, they're locked up, and you can't buy certain different types of medications."

Foley's district has the largest development going on in Suffolk County, the Ronkonkoma Hub, which is "combining the issue of development and redevelopment," he said. "I wholeheartedly believe in open space. I don't want Suffolk County or Brookhaven to turn into Queens, but we should have development as well. We have a lot of open space and not open space, a lot of strip malls that are empty. Those are the areas that we should redevelop. I don't believe we have to take down 50 acres of trees anymore, but I think with each project, you have to go in with open eyes. Developers create jobs, so it's a very interesting balance that you have as a council person in Brookhaven."