Candidate Profile: William J. Lindsay​ For Suffolk Legislature

LONG ISLAND, NY - Suffolk County residents will be hitting the polls next month to elect several local representatives.

In addition to local town and village races, residents should look into who will be running to represent one of the 18 legislative districts in Suffolk County. This year, Election Day falls on Tuesday, November 5.

In anticipation of the big day, Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

William J. Lindsay, 47, of Islip is running for re-election as Suffolk County Legislator for District 8, which includes Bayport-Blue-Point, Holbrook, Holtsville, Sayville, West Sayville, Oakdale and parts of Ronkonkoma, Bohemia and Medford.

His opponent is Anthony Piccirillo (R).

Lindsay (D), earned his Bachelors Degree in Business and is currently half-finished with his MBA(Master of Business Administration). He was first elected in November 2013. Before that he worked as an insurance broker.

Check out Patch's full Q&A with Lindsay below:

Patch: The single most pressing issue facing our community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Lindsay: Sewers along the coast. Continue to fight and obtain funding to sewer homes along the south shore.

P: What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

L: Character and qualifications. My opponent has never held a job that involves finance or managing people, in his personal life he hasn't been able to pay his bills or maintain a residence. He has a long history of bad debts which he still has not satisfied.

P: Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

L: Sewers, reducing the size of government, fighting the drug epidemic, keeping crime rates down, continue the fight against MS13, working with business leaders to assist their success, retaining our young professionals, supporting working families and addressing the housing shortage.

P: What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

L: Successfully obtained $26.4 million for sewers in Oakdale, passed the only legislation in the last 20 years that reduced the size of County Government, worked with law enforcement and treatment/prevention experts to develop drug awareness program for all Suffolk County Students, traveled to El Salvador to meet with local law enforcement and US embassy staff to create new partnerships assisting with the MS13 Gang crisis, worked for 18 months with industry leaders in manufacturing on Long Island to collaborate on creating a training facility housed in Suffolk County, working with civic and business leaders to revitalize downtown Holbrook and Sayville in hopes of creating housing opportunities attractive to young professionals.

P: The best advice ever shared with me was ...

L: One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by people less qualified than you.

P: What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

L: I have always viewed being a legislator as an act of service, I do it with passion and desire to do what is right for my community. I have no aspirations of seeking higher office, when my time on the legislature is done I will continue to serve my community in other ways but not in elected office.