Democrat Joseph M. Terino announced his candidacy for the office of Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor last week.

Terino said he entered the race because he sees a need for real leadership in the town. He said there are tough decisions that are not being made. As a resident of Syosset Groves, Terino fears that because of a lack of strong leadership at the supervisor's office, there will be an 860,000 square foot mall built in his backyard, when an active hand from the supervisor could have prevented the dire situation currently at hand, he said.

"The owners of the site have demonstrated a willingness to negotiate the size of the proposed mall but, over the last ten years, the town, rather than rolling up their sleeves and hammering out a solution, has put the future of our community in the hands of the courts, and spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to pay for outside counsel to litigate the matter," said Terino. "Yet, time and again, the Town has lost in their efforts to block the development of the Mall at Oyster Bay. The stalling tactics have backfired and the Town had its bluff called. The mall company has not given up and gone away as the Town leaders wished. Rather, the mall company fought on and has vowed to continue fighting for their rights as owner of the site."

According to Terino, time is running out. "In November 2003 the Supreme Court ordered that the Town issue a special use permit for the construction of a 860,000 sq. ft. mall," said Terino. "Currently, a decision is pending as to whether that order will be entered as judgment. If and when the ruling is reduced to judgment, the town leadership will have no choice other than to continue to spend our tax dollars on outside counsel to file yet another appeal. Appeals may delay the inevitable but the history of this case has shown us that the Mall Company has the law on their side."

If elected, Terino said he will not shy away from the tough job ahead. "It's time to get back to basics. Taubman owns the property," said Terino. "The owners of the site are a mall development company. The property is zoned commercial. While some would like to see alternative development, those parties do not own the property. The courts have been ruling against the town since this whole mess started some ten years ago. Enough is enough!"

Terino said he will tirelessly negotiate with all concerned for a settlement with which all parties can live if he is elected.

Terino is an attorney with a history of public service. After graduating Fordham University's College of Business Administration and School of Law where he was the 1995 Recipient of the coveted Archibald R. Murray, Public Service Award, he began his career serving Nassau County as an Assistant District Attorney. He now operates a general law practice in Syosset while continuing to serve the public as a member of the Nassau County Assigned Counsel Defender Panel and Part time prosecutor for the Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency. Terino is also a coach in the Syosset Soccer league and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He lives in Syosset with his wife Kara and sons, four-year-old Joseph and three year old twins Patrick and Daniel.