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Politics & Government

Councilwoman Connie Kepert Running for Re-Election

The incumbent for Council District 4 will be a candidate in the upcoming elections.

Town of Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert will be on the ballot for Council District 4 in the upcoming elections.

Heading into this race, one of Kepert’s top legislative priorities includes working towards the safety of Route 25 through channeling development into centers and preserving the land in between, reducing the number of entrances and exits on the roadway. The Councilwoman is also a supporter of traffic calming, advocating for entities such as bike lanes and walkways to create safe places for pedestrians to travel.

Her legislation is also working on a number of sustainable projects, including the United Artists Theater in Coram, The Meadows at Yaphank, and several in Middle Island.

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“These projects create this live-work-play environment that provides affordable places to live for young people as well as seniors,” noted Kepert. “We want to keep our kids here on Long Island, and that’s one of my priorities.”

Kepert has been the Councilwoman for Council District 4 since 2005, but was heavily involved with the council district system long before her first election.

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“I was one of the leaders in the campaign to create council districts,” said Kepert. “Many people felt that they weren’t getting the proper attention from town board members…we went out and gathered 17,000 signatures, got ourselves on the ballot, and we won.”

The councilwoman’s past accomplishments include the successful implementation of the Energy Star legislation, which requires new homes to be built per Energy Star standards and is calculated to reduce carbon content in the air by 180,000 tons. Similarly, Kepert pushed through the Green Homes legislation, providing current homeowners incentives for investing in energy conservation measures for older homes.

Kepert will be running against Republican Rick Cunha this election for the second time. Cunha challenged the incumbent in 2009, losing by a little less than 700 votes.

“[Cunha] doesn’t see a need for a diversity of housing - he thinks that concentrating solely on single-family homes is a good idea, and I certainly disagree with that,” commented Kepert. “We need that diversity if we want to keep our kids on Long Island, and if we want affordable places for them as well as seniors.”

The Councilwoman’s past community efforts have involved her participation in a variety of civic affairs for 20 years. In addition to serving as President for both the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organization and the Middle Island Civic Association, she helped create and served as President for the Longwood Alliance.

Kepert is a resident of Middle Island and earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology at SUNY College at Oneonta. She went on to get her master’s in public policy from the University of Oregon and obtained her teaching certifications from Dowling College on Long Island. In addition to her role as Councilwoman, Kepert is both a special education and social studies teacher at Longwood High School.

Council District 4 includes Gordon Heights, Yaphank, Middle Island, Bellport, North Bellport, Brookhaven Hamlet, and parts of Farmingville, Medford, Holtsville, Coram, Ridge and North Shirley.

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