A push by Suffolk Republicans to designate the publication where convicted ex-Legis. Fred Towle (left) works as an official county newspaper has hit a snag.
Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said the South Shore Press does not appear to qualify under state law because it does not have paid circulation and is not entered as second class mail matter. “I’m not of a mind to designate something as an official paper if I know we can’t do it,” said Lindsay.
Legis. Daniel Losqadro (R-Shoreham), the minority leader, said research from legislative counsel only lists qualifications for an official paper and does not say the Press is ineligible. “Until I see something that says they do not qualify, I see no reason” to oppose it.
Towle, a columnist and sales and marketing executive at the Shirley-based newspaper, was forced to resign as a county lawmaker in 2003 and was later jailed for six months in 2006 for taking more than $10,000 in bribes and misusing campaign funds for gambling junkets, limos and Mets season tickets.
The legislature designates two official county newspapers — one Republican and one Democratic — to share in legal advertising which officials say can total $400,000 to $600,000 a year.
A resolution splitting the Republican designation between the South Shore Press and Long Island Business News was tabled at the Suffolk Legislature’s organization meeting Jan. 2 after concerns were raised in a GOP caucus. Those concerns, sources say, were mainly over leaders’ choice of the Long Island Business News over the Smithtown Messenger.
Rick Brand
Sources say that Smithtown GOP leader Bill Ellis was unhappy with the Messenger, but he denied any bad blood, saying he only wanted the designation rotated “more fairly.” But at least one GOP lawmaker, who did not wish to be identified, also cringed at the selection of Towle’s paper, saying leaders must “have rocks for brains.”
Suffolk GOP chairman Harry Withers, sources added, defended the naming of the South Shore Press, saying that Towle does not own the weekly, but only works there. Other Republicans also said the Democrats last year named the Press as one of 10 town papers eligible for local legal ads. “I know people are going to say it was done before,” said Lindsay. “But that was before anyone asked for an opinion.”