Challenger Seeks Schneiderman's Job, There is little dispute between Tim Motz and the incumbent legislator

On many issues, the two candidates vying for the job of county legislator seem to see eye to eye.

The Republican incumbent, Jay Schneiderman of Montauk, and his Democratic challenger, Tim Motz of Water Mill, both support preserving open space and creating more affordable housing. They are both opposed to the Broadwater liquefied natural gas platform in Long Island Sound and to new vehicle ferry service to or from the South Fork. Both would like to see the Plum Island Animal Disease Center shut down rather than upgraded to a Biosafety Level 4 facility.

Mr. Schneiderman said Plum Island might be better used as a wind farm or a medical research facility.

The differences are in the details.

Mr. Schneiderman is running on a platform that has changed little since he first sought public office as East Hampton Town supervisor in 1999. He wants to keep taxes low while protecting the environment and providing housing and economic opportunities for the district's middle class.

Mr. Motz says he wants to "prevent the total suburbanization of the East End." To do that, he suggests that the county spend the bulk of the recently approved $75 million open space bond on land in the Second Legislative District.

Transportation issues are also high on his agenda. Among other things, he supports the creation of a rural transit authority, as proposed by the Five Towns Rural Transit Committee, that would operate light rail services on the Long Island Rail Road tracks with connecting shuttle bus service. "With the right person in there, we might be able to have some success with that," he said.

While Mr. Schneiderman said he thinks a rural transportation authority is "a great idea," he believes it falls into the same category as the failed Peconic County proposal. "The obstacles to creating it are enormous. I don't see the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ceding anything."

He said the widening of County Road 39, which he supports, will alleviate some of the traffic problems plaguing the South Fork.

Mr. Motz agreed, but said the project would solve the problems only as far east as Southampton. "That's not a panacea," he said.

Mr. Motz was born in Garden City and grew up between there and Quogue, where his father is now the mayor. Prior to becoming a spokesman for the Suffolk County Police Department, he was a speech writer and deputy communications director for County Executive Steve Levy. He was an aide to former Legislator George O. Guldi and in 2001 was the chairman of the Southampton Town Democratic Committee. He was also a reporter for the western edition of The Southampton Press.

"I was perfectly happy as an aide, but in politics if you really want to make the decisions, you have to run," he said in an interview with The East Hampton Star staff last Thursday.

Mr. Schneiderman was born in Southampton and grew up in Huntington and Montauk, where his family owned a motel and he has lived for many years. He served for eight years on the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, and was East Hampton Town supervisor for two terms, beginning in 2000. In 2003, he unseated Mr. Guldi.

He is the chairman of the Legislature's parks and cultural affairs committee and its ad hoc work force housing committee. He serves as the vice chairman of the Legislature's environmental, planning, and agricultural committee and its consumer protection committee, and sits on the economic development, higher education, and energy committees.

He has sponsored a number of environmental bills in the past year and a half, including one that would have banned the retail sale and application of some lawn chemicals and another that bans treated lumber in marine environments.

He has also succeeded, he said, in "tapping into [county] funds that we always could have had" for local projects.

Although the pesticide ban has not passed, Mr. Schneiderman said last Thursday that he believes he has "brought a lot of issues to the forefront" during his time in office. "Cancer rates are much too high in Suffolk County. We need to have public policy that seeks to reduce toxins in the environment."

He was one of only two legislators to vote against the county's vector control program. "I think they're a little too trigger happy with their pesticides," he said, adding that a "strong proactive program" would be better.

Mr. Motz also said the vector control program should be "scaled back dramatically."

Mr. Schneiderman may have two years of experience as a legislator on his side, but Mr. Motz said he has the county executive on his. "My main advantage is I am a close ally of Steve Levy. I do think he's doing a good job and it would be great for him to have an ally in terms of bringing more to the East End," he said.

"If I win, it won't be a fight. I can work with Steve Levy, [East Hampton Town Supervisor] Bill McGintee, and Congressman Tim Bishop." It's time, he said, to give Democrats "a shot to actually have some real progress."

He may be an ally of Mr. Levy's, but he does not always agree with him. One of the county executive's most controversial proposals, to deputize some county police officers as immigration agents, was "a horrible idea," Mr. Motz said.

"These are officers of the peace," Mr. Schneiderman said. "You don't want, every time the police walk down the street, for people to run away."

Mr. Motz said he wants to "try to address the influx of day laborers" into the county.

As for Mr. Levy's crackdown on overcrowded houses in Farmingville, many of them filled with Latino laborers, Mr. Motz said, "I support what the county executive is trying to do. . . . I think the process stunk. . . . I agree code enforcement should be stronger but I wish he had showed more sensitivity in the process."

The county executive's efforts to crack down on contractors employing people who are in the country illegally "is another way you can address that," Mr. Motz said.

Dealing with people in the country illegally is "a federal function, not a county function," Mr. Schneiderman said. "County Executive Levy scored a lot of points with a lot of those people who were frustrated, but at the same time, there is a danger of increasing anger against a sector of your population."

With so many low-wage jobs in the county that do not pay enough to live on, "we've created a situation that almost forces people to live in overcrowded conditions," Mr. Schneiderman said.

While he does not want people to live in houses so packed that they present fire hazards, he said, "you can't just use code enforcement to deny tenants' rights, violate civil rights, and toss people out on the street with nowhere to go." Mr. Schneiderman said he does not want the Latino community to be a "scapegoat."

"I feel the tension when I talk to people and they're blaming this group of people," he said. "I think the heat is building. It's palpable."

"I think very strongly that it's got to be treated with extraordinary kid gloves," Mr. Motz said of overcrowded housing. "Levy's done the exact opposite."

Addressing the issue of day laborers and undocumented workers is part of a larger economic challenge for the county. "The reality is employers are bringing in low-wage workers. That's playing a big role in forcing out middle-income people," Mr. Motz said.

Keeping taxes in check for seniors, providing day care services, living wages, and affordable housing, and improving public transportation "are all part of the puzzle," Mr. Schneiderman said.

Mr. Schneiderman said he would like accessory apartments to be legalized in East Hampton so that the town can "work first with the housing stock you have." He also suggested exploring 40-year low-interest loans.

Mr. Motz suggested donating properties from tax defaults to be used for affordable housing. He is also a proponent of apartments in downtown areas.

"We've got to find a way for there to be an economic diversity in the community," Mr. Schneiderman said.

While he has worked for open space preservation on the East End, he said Thursday that "there isn't a lot left threatened with development. That's not to say we shouldn't keep fighting to preserve land, but when you talk about preserving the character. . . it isn't just preserving the land, it's preserving the people."

Mr. Schneiderman said he wants open spaces to be enjoyed by people from across the economic spectrum. "To enjoy open space is becoming the exclusive domain of the affluent. I'm worried about this area. Government has to try to assist so it's not just a rich and poor community."