S.C. Exec. Steve Levy, seated center, fields questions from Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College, at the economic breakfast meeting at Dowling. Go to amityville record.com to view video. County taxes, development and economic growth were the subjects addressed by S.C. Exec. Steve Levy at the monthly meeting of the Long Island Economic & Social Policy Institute (LIESPI), held last week at Dowling College. Levy fielded questions from the emcee, Martin Cantor, the institute’s director, and participants who included civic leaders, members of Long Island’s chambers of commerce, business people and educators.

Levy responded to some tough questions, including outlining his plans for the future and his aspirations to run for governor.

“This is something I am definitely exploring,” said Levy. “It is not as if I have been plotting it out, and find the job as county executive enjoyable, but right now there is one issue and that is how are we going to save this State.”

Levy said the State is going bankrupt and the pressing question is, “how is it going to be put on the right track?”

With what he described as a proven record of taking a county that had deep problems because of the economy—a county that lost $100 million in sales tax revenue— and turning it around, he said he has the qualifications for the job. He did that, he said, by making the tough choices and “doing the right thing for the taxpayers.

“It’s not easy to fight and stand up to the union leaders and special interest groups and prioritize the needs of the county and its citizens, but I have done that,” he said.

One of those “fights” was Levy’s unpopular decision to remove Suffolk Police Officers from patrolling State roads. Instead, those roads are now being patrolled by County Sheriffs, who Levy said earn approximately $42,000 a year less than Suffolk Police. The officers were “put back on the streets in neighborhoods where they are needed,” he said. “And we also put more cops on the street by taking them away from other jobs that civilians could do. With the money we saved, we were able to pay for other things, such as the increased demand for funds for non-profit organizations that provide health care, food and other services to individuals and families.

The dichotomy is that in bad economic times, the demand for these services increases, while the government’s ability to meet those demands, decreases. This was one way of managing resources to provide for those needs in this economic climate we find ourselves, he said, estimating that the changes freed up $100,000 for money for the county’s food pantries.

“I think he handled a lot of tough questions and was frank and expansive in his responses,” said Martin Cantor, director of the LIESPI. “This surely was not a ‘puff’ session.”

Levy also talked about the high cost of education on Long Island, saying that while it has one of the best systems in the country, it needs to be made more affordable. To accomplish that, he is working to encourage school districts to consolidate many of the services it provides such as transportation, maintenance and security. “But,” he added, “we have to change the mindset to encourage school officials and the public to recognize the need for change.”

Sitting in the audience was former County Executive Bob Gaffney, now president of Dowling College. At times, Levy recognized Gaffney and the challenges both faced as chief executive officers of a county that serves 1.4 million people and is listed as one of the safest and richest counties in the country, according to Forbes magazine.

“The county executives in this county have a tradition of not commenting once they are out of office,” said Gaffney. “Each of us, from Peter Cohalan, to Mike Lo Grande, to Patrick Halpin, to me, have served and faced different times and different problems and while there are some similarities, we have let the next guy do their job. That said,” he added, “I think he’s [Levy] doing a good job.”