Politics & Government

Meet the Candidates Night Yields Huge Turnout, Many Turned Away from Meeting

Disappointed would-be attendees were turned away due to overcrowding at the library.

Randy Altschuler, Tim Bishop, Ira Bernstein, and Steve Englebright were there last night. But many who came to see them couldn't even get in the door.

More than 40 would-be attendees were turned away from last night's "meet the candidates" meeting of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library. All 100 seats were taken well before the meeting started, thus filling the room to its legal capacity. Any more people would have created a fire hazard, according to acting library director Ted Gutmann.

Civic association president Kara Hahn called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and representatives from the Suffolk County Board of Elections gave a demonstration of new voting machines before Gutmann took the microphone and asked those without seats to leave the overcrowded community room.

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It took a few minutes for that to happen. At the urging of past association president Herb Mones, some audience members with seats gave them up for those who were dues-paying members of the civic association or Three Village residents, for whom the seats were primarily reserved. The displaced meeting-goers gathered in the lobby of the library.

"They should have known that this venue was not appropriate," said Ed Lenox, a Selden resident and past president of the Mid-Brookhaven Republican Club. "I'm a little annoyed. I think they should have been better prepared for this."

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Hahn said after the meeting that turnout was difficult to anticipate and had exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Sometimes we almost fill the room, but this was an unusually large crowd," she said. "I'm sure we'll be considering whether we need to change the venue in the future."

Bill Schaub, a past civic association president, called the huge turnout a weathervane for people's current thoughts on politics.

"That's how hotly contested this election is...if this is a microcosm of what's going on," he said.

The meeting itself, during which the candidates took turns responding to questions posed by civic association board members, was reportedly smooth-running and informative. Three COPE officers from the sixth precinct were on standby in squad cars outside the library, but were not called upon for assistance.

"Everyone was very respectful and listened to everything," Hahn said. "We were ready for disruption and there was none. I think it was a real success."


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