Democratic challenger Alexander E. Sklavos of Locust Valley is seeking to be elected as supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay.

Sklavos maintains that the Town of Oyster Bay suffers the same problems of patronage and abuse of one party rule that Nassau County endured before Tom Suozzi took office, abuse which, he said, has led to residents of Oyster Bay paying taxes that are the highest per capita on Long Island.

"The Town of Oyster Bay is where the Republicans make their home," Sklavos said. "In Oyster Bay, you don't get voted out of office, you just get recycled. As this is my first time running, I don't owe anyone anything. I have not been part of the machine that has been in Oyster Bay for 54 years. I can make the tough decisions that need to be made without regard to patronage or paying back favors."

Sklavos promised that if he is elected one of his goals will be to tear down and build back up the departments that are in place in Oyster Bay, departments that are not necessarily working as efficiently as they might.

"There are people who are being paid who are not showing up to work," Sklavos said. "Try calling the Planning and Development Department on any afternoon and no one is going to pick up the phone. It takes six to eight weeks to get a permit, and even longer to get a final inspection. That's people not doing their jobs."

If he becomes supervisor, Sklavos said his priority would be to go from department to department and find out who is showing up for work and who isn't, and who is doing their job if they do show up. "Bureacracy has become a dirty word because of the situations that are occurring in Oyster Bay today," he said. "People have become too comfortable."

Sklavos also claims that the current administration is not doing enough to actively seek out solutions to what he believes is a senior citizen housing shortage, a problem he seeks to remedy if elected. "Right now, it's market driven," Sklavos explained. "If a developer wants to put up senior housing, he or she can apply for a permit, but there is nothing being done to seek out developers, to creatively find the two-acre parcels that are needed, and to encourage developers to build more."

Sklavos said his first order of business would be to appoint a person to act as a broker. This person, he explained, would actively seek out the land that was needed, approach people to sell their property, and find abandoned sites that could serve for building senior housing. "It's about finding the creative solutions to find the space for the housing we so desperately need," Sklavos said. "Especially with the increase in taxes that are occurring, people are flocking out of here."

Sklavos also said that under the current supervisor, code enforcement is not being efficiently run, there are not enough summonses being written, and there is a huge illegal tenancy problem throughout the town. "Oyster Bay was built over centuries of hardworking people," Sklavos said, "but take a ride around town hall and look at the state of illegal tenancies a block away."

Sklavos is an attorney practicing family law in Nassau County. He attended Union College and went on not only to achieve his law degree from St. John's University, but was also named Clinician of the Year by the St. John's University Elder Law Clinic.

Sklavos is a member and officer of the Knights of Columbus (5314) in Bayville, a member of the Nassau County Bar Association, where he sits on its board of directors and Attorney Grievance Committee. Sklavos also mentors 'at risk' middle school children and is co-chair of the NCBA student mentoring committee.

A lifelong Nassau County resident, Sklavos and his wife Kathleen are raising their sons, Nicholas and Lucas, in Oyster Bay.

"If elected, I will be here 24 hours a day," Sklavos said. "My work ethic is second to none. What's happening in Oyster Bay is one group has been in power way too long. You can't sit on your heels and wait for emergencies to occur and then solve them, and that has been the hallmark of my opponent's office."