Politics & Government

Democrat Smithtown Sup Candidate Shares His Vision for Town

Patch catches up for a Q&A with political newcomer Steven Snair of Nesconset.

Nesconset resident Steven Snair announced last week he will be running as the Democratic candidate for Town of Smithtown supervisor in November. A political newcomer, Snair faces stiff competition in his first campaign for office from incumbent Republican Supervisor Patrick Vecchio and his challenger Robert Creighton. 
 
Snair, 31, is a Kings Park native who graduated from Kings Park High School in 1999. He went on to study at LIU Post before receiving his law degree from Widener University. Since then, Snair opened his own practice of Smithtown Main Street focusing on foreclosure, landlord-tenant disputes and other matters. 

Snair said he’s running for town supervisor due to his passion and love for the town he grew up in. But he’s worried about the town’s future, and keeping it affordable for families to raise their children in. 

Patch caught up with Snair on Monday for a brief Q&A about him and his political views: 

Q: Why are you interested in running for Smithtown Supervisor?  

Snair:  "I think people really need to understand how passionate I am about this town. I’ve lived here my entire life and I work here. It’s a great town. Unfortunately, I don’t think town government is focusing on the future of this town. I feel they are happy with the status quo. 

They say that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay this same. This town is not changing with the times. If the town government doesn’t focus on changing with the times, we are going to be left behind."

Q: What are some things you’ve seen that you feel could be changed to bring us more in line current with the times?  

Snair: "Just where you are sitting you can look around and see numerous vacant stores and dilapidated buildings. I think most of the residents are asking. ‘What is the town government doing about that? What are they doing to draw new businesses to Smithtown?’  I’m saying they haven’t done enough.  

It’s not just here in downtown Smithtown, but our Hauppauge Industrial Park has a high rate of vacancy. What are they doing to draw businesses there? 

If you look to our neighbors to the west, Huntington, they just drew Canon to 
Melville. What did Smithtown do to draw Canon here or other similar companies?   
Those are good paying jobs.

Smithtown likes to attract more restaurants and retail than anything else. Of course,  they are employers but they are not creating the full-time, good paying jobs that people need in order to get by in these tough economic times."    

Q: What sets you apart from the other candidates you’ll be running against?   

Snair: "I have a vision for downtown, especially here in Smithtown, that I think is different from what the other candidates are proposing. I’d like to see mixed-use development and smart growth approach to accomplish that. Then, tie that into the close proximity of the Smithtown railroad station being so close to West Main Street. 

I don’t propose expanding the footprint of Main Street or the surrounding streets. I’d like to propose a smart-growth approach. What I mean by that is I’d like to see vacant space repurposed whether it be for residential or retail, or parks.   

A lot of my opponents may say he will propose apartments, possibly affordable housing. I want to tell you right now, that couldn’t be further from the truth."     

Q: What is your biggest challenge between now and the November election?  

Snair: "Name recognition is going to be a big hurdle. I plan on reaching out to community organizations as well as individuals, getting to know them, listening to what their positions  on the issues are and finding out what new issues may be out there that have not been addressed by the media yet.  So name recognition is going to be one.   

Certainly one thing my opponents are going to attack is going to be my lack of experience and my age. There’s certainly a huge contract there between their age and experience compared to mine. That’s a challenge."    

Snair pointed out that at age 31, he is closer to the age of an average Smithtown resident.

“I’m a lot closer to the average age of a resident here than they are. So I reflect people in this town better than they can. I reflect their perspective.”


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