A Message from Legislator Lynne C. Nowick

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” Herman Melville

It is my sincere privilege to represent the residents of the 13th Legislative District in the Suffolk County Legislature. As your legislator, I welcome your concerns, your ideas, your problems and your questions so that I can serve you and your family effectively.

I have dedicated my energies to many projects in my first six years in the Legislature, including downtown revitalization, environmental protection, tax stabilization, public safety and consumer protection. My staff and I are proud of our constituent service – making certain that government is responsive to the needs of the public. Please feel free to contact my office with any questions or concerns you might have and we will be happy to assist you.

It is an honor to chair the Consumer Protection Committee and to serve on the Parks and Recreation Committee, which I had the privilege of chairing for the past two years, as well as the Public Safety and Ways and Means Committees. Consumer protection has always been a passion of mine and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that the rights of our residents are protected. My involvement with these committees provide me with a wealth of information and the guidance to best serve the residents of the 13th Legislative District, as well as those of Suffolk County.

I am pleased to have been able to preserve 20 acres of pristine property on the Nissequogue River and the historic Thomas Helme Mills house, which sits on more than two acres in St. James. For several years, I have sponsored the Family Summer Concert Series at the Smithtown Library, which has been enjoyed by thousands of Long Islanders.

My commitment to protecting the youth of our county along with my involvement with the Public Safety Committee prompted me to introduce legislation in 2007 to ban the sale of cough and cold medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM) to anyone under 19 years of age. I am proud to say that this legislation passed unanimously and was signed into law making it the first of its kind in the nation. DXM is found in over the counter cold and cough suppressants and when used as prescribed can be safe. However, recent studies have concluded that teenagers are abusing such medicines in an effort to get “high.” The ingredient that causes this “high” is DXM, which can be dangerous.

In addition, I sponsored legislation in 2007, which was signed into law, establishing a public education campaign for Wireless AMBER Alerts. The first few hours are crucial in locating a missing child so I believe the more ways to communicate this tragedy, the better we are serving our community and safeguarding our children. Please sign up today at www.suffolkcountyny.gov so you can receive free wireless amber alerts on your cell phone or personal computer.

Suffolk
County Legislator
13th District
Honorable
Lynne C. Nowick

59 Landing Avenue
Smithtown, NY 11787

Phone: 854-3900
Fax: 854-3903

Aides:
Susan Eckert
Carol McGuire
Greg Moran
David Ryan

e-mail:
Lynne C.Nowick
@suffolkcountyny.gov

District Demographics

The 13th Legislative District (L.D.) of Suffolk County is located in the northern portion of Long Island, New York. It encompasses the Town of Smithtown and a small portion of the Town of Huntington. The district includes Smithtown, Fort Salonga, Kings Park, San Remo, Nissequogue, Head of the Harbor, and St. James, as well as portions of Commack and East Northport. The district is bounded by Route 25 to the south, Larkfield Road to the west, the Long Island Sound to the north, and the Brookhaven Town line to the east. It consists of 60 election districts with approximately 78,000 constituents.

Biography

Lynne C. Nowick is a life long resident of St. James and has been a Suffolk County Legislator for the past six years. In 2007, she was re-elected for another two-year term. Legislator Nowick represents the 13^th Legislative District, which covers Smithtown, Fort Salonga, Kings Park, San Remo, St. James, Nissequogue, Head of the Harbor and parts of Commack and East Northport. Prior to being elected to the Legislature, Lynne was the Tax Receiver for the Town of Smithtown.

Legislator Nowick currently chairs the Legislature’s Consumer Affairs Committee and is also a member of the Ways and Means, Public Safety, and Parks and Recreation Committees, of which she chaired last year. For the second year in a row, Presiding Officer William Lindsay has appointed Legislative Nowick as the representative for the Suffolk County Legislature on the Suffolk County Review Committee for County Siting of Memorials and Symbols and Naming of County Facilities, Parks and Roads, as well as serving as Chairperson of this Committee.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has also appointed Legislative Nowick to his Suffolk County Budget Panel.

In 2007, Legislator Nowick was the sponsor of a local law to ban the sale of cold and cough medicines containing dextromethorphan to persons 19 and younger. It is the first law of its kind in the nation. Continuing her efforts to protect children, she also passed legislation to establish a public education campaign to encourage residents to register for AMBER Alerts via their cell phones or computers.

During her tenure, Legislator Nowick has continued her fight to save taxpayers money while providing responsive, efficient government services. In addition, Legislator Nowick is working to preserve open space and farmland within her Legislative District and is teaming with the Towns of Smithtown and Huntington to achieve these goals.

In 2006, she co-chaired the Suffolk County Homeowners Tax Reform Commission, which was established by a resolution that Legislator Nowick sponsored, to address new ideas about the collection of school property taxes and new alternatives for funding our school districts. The Commission held three public hearings and met a number of times and then issued a report with its findings and recommendations.

Long Island Business News named Legislator Nowick as one of Long Island’s “Top 50 Women” for 2007. Lynne serves on the Board of Trustees of the Harbor Country Day School and on the Honorary Board of the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Legislator Nowick is also an honorary member of the Smithtown Rotary Club and the Greater Smithtown Chamber of Commerce. Lynne was inducted into the Smithtown School District Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2004, where she was honored as the “Pride of Smithtown Schools.”

Legislative Accomplishments

Consumer Protection

· Co-sponsored a local law requiring consumer’s deposits for furniture be placed in an escrow account by the seller until the merchandise is delivered to the consumer

· Co-sponsored legislation to provide heating assistance to more Suffolk County residents through the Home Energy Assistance Program

· Sponsored a local law to require all nursing homes and health care facilities to have a defibrillator on site

· Co-sponsored legislation to establish a Suffolk County policy to safeguard against identity theft through a review of all county polices and requirements in the collection of personal data and maintaining confidentiality of that data

· Sponsored a local law to permit the seizure of vehicles of unlicensed home improvement contractors

· Sponsored a resolution to exempt families of deployed or mobilized active duty military personnel from paying County parks daily fees

· Co-sponsored legislation to amend the County Consumer Protection Policy for recipients of gift certificates and/or gift cards to ensure that Suffolk purchasers of such are fully informed as to the fees and charges that may accompany the purchase of a gift certificate and/or card

· Sponsored legislation to authorize the Suffolk County Department of Law to study the feasibility of legal action against asphalt companies to recover any monies that were paid by the county through illegal bid rigging by contractors

· Sponsored a local law to strengthen enforcement of gas station and motor fuel distributor laws in Suffolk County

Economic Development

· Sponsored legislation to appropriate $300,000 to plan for the expansion and improvement of Sewer District 6

· Co-sponsored legislation to promote economic development and a cleaner environment by establishing a County policy to encourage the manufacture of bio-diesel

Environmental Protection

· Co-sponsored legislation to adopt a local law to update the County vehicle standard and to promote the use of alternative fuels

· Co-sponsored legislation to create a Suffolk County policy to encourage the use of bio-diesel fuels as an alternative to diesel fuels

· Co-sponsored legislation to promote energy efficient dredging projects throughout Suffolk County’s waterways by requiring the use of bio-diesel on the barges that are performing the work

Health and Human Services

· Sponsored legislation to ban the sale and purchase of Salvia Divinorum, a psychoactive herb that is a potent hallucinogenic

· Sponsored a local law to prohibit the sale of cough/cold medicines containing DXM to children under the age of 19 in Suffolk County

· Co-sponsored a local law to prohibit the sale of tobacco products or herbal cigarettes, rolling papers or pipes to anyone under the age of 19

· Sponsored a resolution designating August as Medicine Abuse Awareness Month

· Sponsored a resolution recognizing the month of November as Mental Health Awareness Month in Suffolk County

Land Preservation

· Co-sponsored legislation to preserve over 15 acres of land in the Head of the Harbor

· Co-sponsored legislation to acquire the historic Thomas Helme Mills house in St. James

· Co-sponsored legislation to acquire the Lewis Oliver Property (Northport) in conjunction with the Town of Huntington and the Village of Northport

· Co-sponsored legislation to acquire over 20 acres of pristine property along the Nissequogue River in St. James

· Co-sponsored legislation to preserve more than six acres of parkland adjoining the Arthur Kunz County Park in Kings Park

· Stated with the entire Suffolk County Legislature the desire to avoid high density development of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center property

Memorials

· Co-sponsored a resolution to appropriate funds for a memorial for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack

Public Safety

· Co-sponsored a resolution to establish an “In Case Of Emergency” (ICE) public education program to assist responders in emergency situations

· Co-sponsored a local law to make it illegal to use products that can conceal or alter the use of alcohol and drugs in a person’s body before a drug and alcohol screening test

· Co-sponsored legislation declaring the month of April as “Underage Drinking Awareness Month” in Suffolk County

· Sponsored legislation to establish a public education campaign to encourage residents to sign up for wireless AMBER alerts

· Co-sponsored a resolution to purchase automated external defibrillators for County facilities

· Co-sponsored legislation to authorize the donation of body armor vests to the United States Department of Defense to protect our citizen soldiers. (These vests have been decommissioned by the Suffolk county Police Department, but can still be used on vehicles as a protection against explosive devices.)

· Co-sponsored a local law to prohibit all registered sex offenders from residing near schools, day care centers and playgrounds

· Sponsored legislation to appropriate funds for planning for the new construction of the Fourth Police Precinct

· Co-sponsored legislation to establish a new program in the Office of Women’s Services to mitigate domestic violence

· Co-sponsored legislation to disseminate information to promote child safety and accident prevention for Sports Utility Vehicle owners

· Co-sponsored legislation to establish a pilot program to determine the potential usage of electronic monitoring devices for DWI offenders

· Co-sponsored legislation to enhance evacuation plans for pets and animals

Real Property Taxes

· Sponsored legislation to create the Homeowners Tax Reform Commission to research and recommend alternatives to the existing real estate taxation system

· Sponsored a memorializing resolution supporting NYS Assembly bill A-6753 to establish a commercial assessment ratio in counties with populations of over 1.4 million

· Co-sponsored legislation to expand income eligibility limits for real property tax exemptions granted to seniors and veterans

· Sponsored a tax exemption program for homeowners of structures deemed to have historical value

Committee Assignments

2008
Consumer Protection - Chair
Parks & Recreation
Public Safety
Siting of Memorials & Symbols and Naming of County Facilities, Parks and Roads - Chair
Suffolk County Executive's Budget Panel - Member
Ways & Means

2007
Parks & Recreation - Chair
Health & Human Services - Member
Public Safety - Member
Siting of Memorials & Symbols and Naming of County Facilities, Parks and Roads - Chair
Ad Hoc Committee for Contract Agencies – Member
Environmental Trust Review Board – Member

2006
Parks & Recreation - Chair
Economic Development, Higher Education & Energy

Consumer Protection
Labor, Workforce & Affordable Housing

Homeowners Tax Reform Commission

2005
Economic Development, Higher Education & Energy - Chair
Parks & Cultural Affairs – Vice Chair
Consumer Protection - Member
Public Safety & Public Information - Member

Suffolk County Industrial and Commercial Incentive Board
Suffolk County Cancer Resources Commission
Suffolk County at Work Commission

2004
Economic Development & Energy - Chair
Veterans & Seniors – Vice Chair
Health & Human Services Committee – Vice Chair

Ad Hoc on Affordable Housing - Member
Budget & Finance - Member
Public Safety & Public Information - Member
Ways & Means and Consumer Protection - Member

2003
Consumer Protection and Government Operations - Member
Economic Development & Energy - Member
Human Services – Member
Parks, Sports & Cultural Affairs - Member

2002
Consumer Protection and Government Operations Committee - Vice Chair
Social Services - Member
Finance & Financial Services- Member
Public Works & Transportation – Member
Veterans & Seniors - Member

2008 Family Summer Concert Series

Location: 'The Village Green' on the front lawn of the Smithtown Library at 1 North Country Road in Smithtown