greene v nolan v barraga
05-24-2006, 01:42 PM
Change on the horizon
Democrat Nolan hopes to remove GOP from town leadership, fill supervisor seat to finish McGowan's term
BY RICK BRAND AND JOHN VALENTI
Newsday Staff Writers
May 24, 2006
The St. Mark's Lane home of Phil Nolan is less than a quarter-mile from Town Hall. But a quick walk to work in the morning isn't the reason he wants to be the next Town of supervisor.
The longtime Democrat wants the job because he thinks there are problems in Town Hall - and because he believes he can fix them, bringing a "fresh face" to a town governed by Republicans since the 1960s.
A graduate of High School, Class of '67, Nolan last week recved the endorsement of the Democratic Committee and will run against Republican candidate Thomas Barraga, a Suffolk County legislator, and longtime Republican councilwoman Pamela J. Greene, who is running as a Conservative.
All three could face primary challenges, sources said, in the battle to fill the remaining term of former supervisor Peter J. McGowan. That term expires Dec. 31, 2007. McGowan resigned March 9, pleaded guilty to misusing his campaign fund and is serving 90 days in county jail.
"Both of them have been part of the Republican system thr entire lives," Nolan said of Barraga and Greene. "One [Barraga] for three decades and one [Greene] for a decade-and-a-half. The notion that ther of them is a fresh face is laughable. That place has been dominated by Republicans for 40 years."
Nolan, 55, is director of environmental waste management for the Town of Huntington. Previously, he was a Suffolk County legislator, superintendent of highways for the Town of Babylon, chief of staff to the mayor of Yonkers and director of a private municipal maintenance firm specializing in highway, road and airport maintenance. In 1987 and 1989, he lost hotly contested races for town supervisor to Republican stalwart Frank Jones.
As Nolan prepares for his third run, warring Republican factions in are strafing each other in advance of what is expected to be a divisive floor fight at the town convention tonight at party headquarters.
State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood), the town GOP chairman, sent a letter to party activists last weekend, urging them to back Barraga (R-West ) for supervisor.
But Greene backers say key votes in the party executive committee's 10-7 endorsement of Barraga were improperly cast and that she should have been the party designee. Greene's supporters maintain that party bylaws bar GOP vice chairwoman Jeanette Messina from voting as a zone leader and that Trunzo, as chairman, is permitted a vote only in case of a tie. They also maintain the votes of two zone leaders not present were improperly counted.
Nolan seems bemused by the Republican infighting. He's seen it before.
In 1982, he exploited a nasty split among town Republicans to defeat thr 10th District nominee for the county legislature: Peter McGowan.
Nolan likes his chances.
"Am I qualified?" Nolan said. "You bet. I'm more than confident that at the end of the day I can say I've prepared my entire life for this position."