As a politician, he made significant inroads into longtime Republican strongholds and for a time was the only Democratic supervisor in Suffolk.

The three Democratic supervisors called for the "immediate adoption" of legislative oversight reforms.

Politicians can't recall the last time, if ever, there was a Democratic presiding supervisor of Hempstead.

He said the Democratic supervisors had no right to deny these changes, but the supervisors disagreed.

Last fall he ran for office himself and is the new Democratic supervisor of North Hempstead town.

He took office in January 1897 and won his position as head of the finance committee in a caucus of the Democratic supervisors.

He called the borrowing procedure ludicrous, citing it as an example of "chaos created by Democratic supervisors."

He said that both Republican and Democratic supervisors were under pressure to approve a plan, so that one would not be imposed by Judge Spatt.

Philip Cardinale, Riverhead's Democratic supervisor, said his town's appointment has been held up in committee too.

But the plan did not win the support of the four Democratic supervisors on the board.