Allegations Of Assault During Meet The Candidates Night

DIX HILLS, NY — Tension in the race for Suffolk County Legislature's 16th District between Democratic incumbent Susan Berland and Republican challenger Hector Gavilla came to a head last week. It manifested at a Meet the Candidates night Tuesday at Half Hollow Hills High School East where Berland says Gavilla charged at her while Gavilla claims Berland's husband physically assaulted him.

Stephanie Berland, daughter of Susan, wrote a letter to a Huntington Facebook group, Huntington Matters Community Forum, where she said Gavilla came "barreling down the aisle," heading straight for Berland. In her letter, Stephanie said Gavilla went "charging at [Berland] yelling 'YOU'RE A LYING PIECE OF S—T!'" Stephanie said her mother had her back turned, so "she didn't even see him coming." Stephanie said Berland turned around when she yelled out to her.

Berland told Patch what she said she saw when she turned around.

"I saw my opponent’s menacing eyes staring in my face, and he was trying to get to me," Berland said. "I heard my daughter shriek, and I literally turned my head over my left shoulder, and his face was in my face. The only thing separating us was part of my daughter’s shoulder. It was turned towards me to protect me from him."

Gavilla called everything in Stephanie Berland's letter inaccurate and false.

"Everything in there is false," he said. "It’s a mischaracterization of everything that happened. I went over there. I had some words with her. Then all of a sudden, her husband comes charging at me and puts his two hands on my chest. He tries to push me. I yell, ‘Get your hands off of me!’ And then he runs out."

Gavilla said he doesn't recall what he told Berland before the alleged attack.

Berland said Gavilla's allegations against her husband, Sanford N. Berland, a judge on the New York Court of Claims and acting Supreme Court justice, are "absolutely, totally, false."

"My husband never laid a hand on [Gavilla]," she said. "No one in my family laid a hand on him. I can’t account for anybody who tried to pull him away from me, but nobody in my family laid a hand on him."

The Suffolk County Police Department said it was not called to the school the night of the Meet the Candidates event.

The race is a rematch of 2017 when Berland defeated Gavilla by a 55.15 percent to 44.85 percent margin.

Before the incident, the two were taking turns on stage speaking to the audience. Gavilla said before he approached Berland, they had made their closing statements, with Gavilla going first. He said Berland's "entire closing statement was just attacks" on him, and the moderators didn't allow him to make a rebuttal, as he says they did for her. He said he followed other candidates he saw congregate to the back of the room, which is when the altercation took place.

The video below features the entire Meet the Candidates night. Berland and Gavilla have their debate around the 22-minute mark. Gavilla makes his closing statement around 39:20, with Berland making hers at 41:30. Gavilla attempts to make his rebuttal around 43:36. Since all cameras were facing towards the front of the room, the altercation wasn't caught on tape. It does start around the 45:10 mark of the video, as you can hear a girl in the background scream "Hey!" and see the following reactions of other candidates.

"I'm sure our school security guard staff will take care of that," a moderator says around the 46:20 mark.

Stephanie said her father got between her, Berland, and Gavilla, to prevent Gavilla from getting closer.

"Hector's face was so close to mine and my mother's...close enough that his rage was abundantly clear, and it was terrifying," she wrote in the letter.

Gavilla called the letter "absolutely false."

"[Stephanie's] trying to make it sound like I’m an animal, and no, I’m not," Gavilla said. "I went over there to basically tell Susan that it was wrong what she said, because everything she said about me at the end were criticisms of me. [Berland] instigated this. She pushed me, because I know that she wanted me to take it to another level, but I would have nothing to do with it. There’s false information out there that’s been posted."

Gavilla said he hopes there's video of what happened.

"I’m looking for anyone who has a video of it," he said. "I’m hoping that the school has video surveillance of it, because I saw they had video cameras on the ceiling. I’m very upset about what happened."

Pamela Setchell, who manages the Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society, wrote in a Facebook comment that she witnessed what happened, as she said she was standing with the Berlands.

In a response to Gavilla, she wrote "YOU YELLED 'You're a lying piece of s—t!' [at Berland]. You scared the living hell out of the three of us and everyone around us...Stephanie reacted as any daughter would have and spoke back to you. SANDY BERLAND was the last to come over. He was sitting in the audience and got up. He never touched you! He didn't get near you! He NEVER had his hands on you!"

Jim McGoldrick, a lifelong Huntington Station resident who was at the Meet the Candidates night, said he was disgusted by what happened.

"The worst part about this whole thing is there were high school kids there walking around," he told Patch. "And [Gavilla] comes using foul language. Come on, where’s the class that needs to be? I’m upset about the behavior of Hector with his foul mouth directed at a woman, and everything in front of the kids. You just don’t do things like that. He turned the whole thing upside down."

McGoldrick said he recommended the Berland family to leave the building, which they did. He said the family was outside talking to others, himself included, for over 20 minutes before he suggested they go home rather then re-enter the building.

Andrew Raia, New York State Assemblyman, District 12, who is running for Huntington Town Clerk, told Patch he saw the aftermath of what happened between Berland and Gavilla.

"Tensions always run high towards the end of a campaign, but it’s never an excuse for those on both sides of the aisle to lose their cool, particularly in a public forum where kids are present," he said. "You’re supposed to set an example. As far as I’m concerned, both sides are to blame. That’s just it. You’ve got to work on defusing tensions like that, not ramp them up. We’re supposed to rise above that as elected officials."

The Berland vs. Gavilla chapter may finally be closed on Nov. 5.

Additional Coverage

Candidate Profile: Susan Berland

Candidate Profile: Hector Gavilla

Hector Gavilla's letter to the editor in response to Berland's candidate profile

Susan Berland's letter to the editor in response to Gavilla's letter

Berland and Gavilla Clash on Red Light Cameras