Smithtown Today had the pleasure of sitting down with Larry Vetter, a man who we would describe as truly decent and well informed in matters that many residents are concerned with. In fact, incumbent Ed Wehrheim has gone on record, expressing his respect and gratitude for Mr. Vetter running a clean campaign based on his expertise and informative resources for public awareness. Larry Vetter has primarily funded his own campaign out of pocket, using well written Op-Ed segments in local news mediums to keep Smithtown residents abreast of his views and concerns. If you missed out on any meet the candidate debates or his published views, Smithtown Today’s got the bottom line for our readers before you vote next week.
About the Candidate:
Larry Vetter has described himself as the Quintessential Long Islander. He moved to Smithtown in 1979. He’s married with four children and still lives in the same home he bought in 1979. Mr. Vetter has spent his entire career in the Private sector, starting off in logistics and distribution. In the late 80’s he began his career in the environmental industry, which was just budding back then. Mr. Vetter started his own environmental clean up consulting firm approximately seven years ago, which he presently operates out of his Lindenhurst office.
What are your primary concerns which you hope to make your focus?
Sewer Infrastructure:
Sewers would be the most obvious, given my background in environmental clean up. If we don’t start addressing this issue soon, clean drinking water will not be available to future generations. This is not a political football… it is based on scientific evidence to assure the health safety that is necessary, not only for our future generation, but for the current health of residents. We have an opportunity to work with Suffolk County, to assist us in getting grants to carry a bulk of the costs, but we can’t be reluctant to act. Smithtown has a history of looking a gift horse in the mouth. We’ve had a number of different initiatives and ideas that we’ve basically snubbed. We can not afford to snub this opportunity.
Brain Drain- Exodus of Our Young
I have also been very vocal about what I call the Brain Drain in Smithtown. That is the exodus of our young families and talent. This is something that I have first hand knowledge of, having children who do not live in Smithtown anymore. We as parents are proud to provide our children with an excellent education from our Smithtown Schools and then on to College. But our young minds can not find the jobs, equivalent to their skill sets. Furthermore, they can not find affordable starter homes or apartments in Smithtown. We can utilize Industry parks to attract high-tech companies to Smithtown, which in turn means the right type of job for our young talent.
Industrial Parks:
When we think of industrial parks, Hauppauge immediately comes to mind, however Nesconset, St. James and Kings Park also contain industrial zones with warehouse type structures. It seems to be a rather significant oversight to have within our borders one of the largest industrial parks and yet not have any plans for developing it. My proposed solutions to this growing problem are extremely doable…
- Develop an industrial development association. This can be done with resources we already have within the town.
- Technology companies often need minimal raw materials and shipping is often parcel post; something we are situated very well for.
- Open discussions with Suffolk in an attempt to develop sewer system plans in Smithtown.
- Transportation initiatives. Why not work with the county to develop alternative transportation from our nearby rail hubs to enable easier movement into and out of the industrial park?
A vibrant downtown
A vibrant downtown is vital to assure a blooming future for generations to come. Suffolk County has a downtown initiative that several towns on Long Island are taking advantage of. Towns that have embraced this idea are currently undergoing revitalization, making them magnets for the younger generations. A viable sewer system, transportation systems, upgrading our railroads and bus routes as well as retooling our road systems, improved sidewalks, pedestrian areas and improving parking areas will be a start. We have to find ways to finance downtown revitalization, outside of the town’s fiscal spending. A good way to start is by developing a good repoire with Suffolk County, but I think that state and federal funding would come into play as well. In the meantime, there are a few ways to begin improving our downtown areas that do not involve a major renovation, massive funding or complete overhaul.
- We can utilize our highway department to begin the process of making the towns more pedestrian friendly by repairing damaged sidewalks and making crossings safer.
- Our building department can develop new rules to ease permitting processes to encourage building owners to make repairs and improvements to attract businesses.
- As a town we can ease the permitting process that would allow more festival type occasions to provide entertainment for Smithtown families.
On the public’s view on Local Government officials:
When did we all stop expecting integrity from our politicians? I have always felt and stressed that integrity and honesty were the cornerstone of my business and all those within my networking groups have come to know me for that. If someone goes on record and says they will get the job done, they have an obligation to the public to follow through on their word and the Public should follow up and demand accountability when officials break promises.
On Voter Turnout and the Election:
We live in an era of readily available information. A click of the mouse and you can discover much about a person. Choose the right people to guide this town into the future and make sure that our kids, grandchildren and even great grand children have an opportunity to enjoy life and nature in our community.
For more information on Larry Vetter, please visit his Facebook page or View some of his Op-Ed pieces online.