Previously Published in The Messenger
By Matt Meduri
All eighteen seats on Suffolk County Legislature are up for grabs in November, with sixteen incumbents seeking re-election. Two are term-limited, Legislators Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) and Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga). Legislators are limited to six (6) two-year terms.
The Fifth Legislative District (LD-05) was an open seat in 2023, reclaimed by former Legislator and former State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket). The noted environmentalist and geologist once represented the district in Hauppauge in the 1980s, before embarking a thirty-year career in Albany until his 2022 upset defeat to Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson).
Englebright is vying for another term, not grandfathered in by the term limits referendum passed by voters in 2021. The district encompasses Belle Terre, East Setauket, Old Field, Poquott, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Setauket, South Setauket, Stony Brook, Terryville, and parts of Centereach, Coram, and Mount Sinai.
While Englebright defeated Anthony Figliola (R-East Setauket) in 2023, the margin was relatively thin – just about 6-7 points. The once solidly-blue turf dominated by Three Village has become much more competitive, delivering a razor-thin result in the overlapping Fourth Assembly District last year, a district won by President Donald Trump (R-FL) by about 1,000 votes.
As such, the GOP has nominated Laura Endres (R-South Setauket) to compete for a spot on the horseshoe. Endres kicked off her campaign last month at Castaways in Port Jefferson Village, and sat down with The Messenger for a glimpse into her candidacy.
Laura Endres, Esq., grew up in Brookhaven hamlet and graduated from Bellport High School in 1988, later graduating from Touro Law School in 1998 with a J.D. She began her focus as a solo attorney in the legal areas of residential and commercial real estate, landlord/tenant representation, and business transactions.
Endres also has a background in County government, having served as Deputy Suffolk County Clerk, overseeing about 130 employees and managing the workflow of departments concerning recording, court actions, business certificates, and judgments.
Endres’ current law firm, she argues, gives her a comprehensive background in managing “little cities.”
“My firm represents condo, co-op, and homeowners association (HOA) boards; what that means is giving legal advice to little cities,” Endres told The Messenger. “We do all of their contracts, we help them with their budgets, elections, any complaints that they may have, such as helping them deal with problem homeowners. It’s like a microcosm of a municipality, and the responsibilities are microcosmic of those of a Suffolk County Legislator. I’m there to help them get them where they need to go in a legal and efficient manner.”
While her firm does handle litigation, Endres does not work in that world, rather working in real estate matters residential, commercial, building, zoning, and proper suburban planning.
“Being in the real estate profession, you learn how to interact with people, you learn what’s really needed for building. It’s a big plan; you have to look at the very large picture when you’re dealing with things,” said Endres. “You have to make sure that you have the proper fuel, energy, utilities, water quality, sewers, roads, and infrastructure. I’m excited to put it to use on a larger scale rather than an individual basis.”
Endres is looking to put her experience with a wide array of housing options to the test, saying the County needs “commonsense ideas” when it comes to development.
“We want a good mixture of everything in commonsense doses. We don’t want all apartment buildings or all single-family homes. It all comes down to suburban planning. Some of the solutions that are used at the Town levels, which is not the level I’m seeking, include 55-and-older communities and tax breaks to those kinds of developments,” said Endres. “Those tenants don’t have schoolchildren, but we need to do something like that for young people so you can buy into development when you’re younger, and when you’re older, you age out of it and then sell to young people once again. There could be caps on what you can sell for so you can make some money to get to the next level, but it would give the next generation a path to ownership and wouldn’t leave them with just renting as an option.” Endres also floats the idea of an all-Veterans complex, similar in nature to a 55-and-older community. Such a development could include mixeduse zoning, with shopping, doctors, and activities in one place. Endres, a military mom and the wife of a Veteran, also understands what Veterans need and want, stating, “Veterans like to be with each other and live around each other.” Three of Endres’ children are Veterans, with another currently enlisted in the Air Force serving as a jet mechanic in Charleston. Her husband served in the Navy and the Marine Corps. “My concern with the apartment buildings is it doesn’t help with our school tax base,” she said regarding development that is seen as rampant in some parts of Suffolk. The environment is a crucial aspect of LD-05’s landscape, something that Endres addresses with her experience in planning for wastewater infrastructure and sewage treatment plants. “I will fight alongside the State and other Legislators, as well as County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) to get as much funding into the district as we can,” said Endres, adding that environmental regulations, while well-intentioned, culminate in unfunded mandates that keeps the municipalities lagging behind. “We don’t need environmental regulations that we can’t implement because we don’t have the funding for them. We can’t put the cart before the horse, but I see where we need to go,” said Endres, adding that infrastructure goes hand-in-hand with environmental concerns. “I’m very pro-labor, our unions are the heart of our people, they’re the ones who are working and bring home the money to spend it in our communities. It’s very important that our unions and contractors are here and not from out-of-state. It should be done for us, by us.” Endres would also like to work to further improve the County’s Social Services Department, which has come a long way from the department whose actions – or inactions – resulted in the devastating Thomas Valva case. “We cannot be neglectful. One of my pet projects is to do as much as we can with our Social Services. If I’m elected, I’ll listen to all of the Social Services people. I want to let the constituents know that I have the energy and drive to get out there and be good with making relationships, putting people together, and making solutions. I’m not a one-issue person. The County is on a good road, but I think that if I were elected, I would be able to work better with the current majority to get things done.”