When Steve Bellone stepped in as Supervisor for the Town of Babylon in January, it was a full court press. He hired managerial consultants to evaluate and increase efficiency, put an employee training program into place, formed a technology committee and had a plan of action ready to roll that he had been in the making throughout his campaign. He also started a Monday night basketball game for employees, some of whom have taken him up on the offer regularly. "This gives the employees a chance to elbow the Supervisor," said Bellone laughing as he talked about his first 100 days in office April 11.

From the outset, Bellone wanted to build on the administration of his predecessor Richard Schaffer, a popular supervisor whose managerial style won wide political and public support throughout the record-breaking nine years he was in office, but he also hoped to build a record of his own. At his inauguration speech in January, he told supporters he needed to move forward and define his own administration.

For the most part, Bellone stepped into a financial situation that was better than the one inherited by his predecessor. In Schaffer’s final budget plan, he pushed through a tax increase that put the Town in on a sounder financial footing than it had been for years. Its bond rating has been going up and most of the problems with the state’s audit have been resolved. That’s not to say, said Bellone, that the town can go on a spending spree. "We still have to be careful, and should always be careful how we spend taxpayers' money," he said.

One way to be careful, he believes, is to manage people more effectively and efficiently. The Town has implemented a program to train employees to do their jobs better, to evaluate every position within the town and to make employees part of the process. He outlined those plans, as well as many others at a State of the Town address given last week.

"The message I am sending out is that no matter which department you are working in; no matter what you do, from the Supervisor right down the line to the parks personnel, the security personnel, the secretaries and the people fixing roads, we are connected by one mission, which is to serve the people of the Town of Babylon," said Bellone. "When you are out there, you have to represent the Town the best way you can."

Bellone has a master’s degree in public administration and has been interested in public management for a long time. His excitement, he said, comes from being able to implement many of those ideas in a town—and a job— he loves.

But, unlike a corporation or business, the work at hand has some significant differences, Bellone pointed out. "We don’t serve investors or stock holders," he said. "While a corporation has a single approach, which is to do one thing and to make a profit at it, government has to do everything, and our bottom line is not profits, it’s serving people."

To accomplish that, he defines his administration as one that focuses on people and operates with people who understand that mission.

"He’s actually done a pretty good job," said William Hill of West  Babylon, a Republican who ran for Supervisor four years ago. "He’s a lot more open, and there’s a lot more interaction at the board meetings between the public and the board. I think he’s trying hard and reaching out."

But Hill, like others, has problems with some of Bellone’s appointments, particularly that of Peter Casserly as Planning Commissioner who also works as a consultant for one of the Town’s biggest cell tower developers. "That’s a horrible conflict of interest," said Hill.

Harsher criticism comes from Copiague resident Kimberly Wilder whose husband Ian ran against Bellone under the Green Party banner. She can latch on to an issue and hang in like a bad cold, and attends board meetings regularly, raking Bellone over the coals on everything from freedom of information to environmental issues.

Even harsher criticism came recently from Independence Party leader Kenneth Herman who chastised Bellone for political partisanship in his dealings with Councilman Lindsay Patrick Henry, an Independence party candidate who ran for the board with Republican support. Wagging his finger at Bellone, he told him: "No secret meetings and back-room deals from this day forward."

"I think he's managed to keep the worst aspects of the Schaffer administration in terms of political patronage, taxes and a closed door government," said Henry. "He's talked a lot about doing things, but I have not seen anything of substance."

Of his criticism, Bellone said it is part of the job and part of the democratic process he understands as an avid student of history. But, he added, even criticism has its limits.

"Disagreements are fine, but there are some people who do not want to enter into a constructive dialogue to resolve issues," said Bellone referring to the continued and expansive objections lobbed at him and his administration by Wilder and others. "I have to be able to distinguish between those who raise valid disagreements and those who are simply attempting to continue a political campaign I won in November."

Bellone’s comfort level with those who disagree with him may come from the knowledge that he can listen, analyze, and then accept or reject the criticism, knowing all while that he has three other Democrats on the Town Board and a comfortable majority. That’s not to say he moves along without wrestling with difficult issues. The heat from many a political debate, even among members of his own party, has filtered out of his office from time to time.

One, of late, involved Henry. As the only member of the minority party in the board, Henry views himself as a political watchdog and has taken up that role with vigor. He has struggled with Bellone and Town employees over access to public documents, nearly sunk the agreement between the Town and its new auditor single handedly, and captured the attention of the press.

At first, Bellone seemed confounded by Henry’s approach, and appeared ineffective in handling the political fallout, but time and thought has set his administration on a smoother course, and things have quieted down.

But Henry said it's simply a matter of his not having applied for any information of late that the Bellone administration doesn't want released. "I see no real difference in the way they are handling things," said Henry. "The only time he does anything of substance is when people stand up and demand it."

"I understand that we will have political differences and I would expect that he would not support everything I did, but I also believe there are some good things we can do together," said Bellone in discussing his relationship with Henry. "The important thing is that we have to communicate with one another and maintain a relationship of mutual respect if we are going to accomplish anything."

Others point to Bellone's positives. "He has a lot of energy and genuine commitment," said Jeff Casale the Democratic Town leader. "He’s also a visionary and seems to be working very hard to establish and excellent foundation for the town’s future."

"He's doing a good job and his heart is in the right place," said one Republican who asked not to be named.

Bellone works long days and finds that giving the job all the time it needs is no problem. The difficult part is carving out time for himself, something he says is vital if he is going to be able to perform well professionally. "You don’t have much time for anything else and the job can be overwhelming, but you have to make an effort to put it aside for at least a while."

Bellone understands that a study of history people and their lives provides a road map he can use for the future. He looks at those who have faced similar problems and studies what they did. Success and failure, he said, provide a great lesson for those willing to learn from them. (Continued on page 8)

But history is more than a course of study for the Supervisor who once stood looking over the Grand Canyon—and his future—and made the decision, after being discharged from the military, to head into a life of public service. With nothing more than a cooler on the seat of his beat up old car for company, he explored his country and then came home.

Bellone works ten, twelve or 14-hour days, "whatever it takes," he said, sipping on a can of Coca-Cola, a mainstay of his diet. On a wall in his office is a picture of Harry Truman, his political hero. Truman, says Bellone, is proof that decency, honesty and personal commitment are not in opposition to what it takes to be a politician, despite today’s public perceptions.

Bellone looks to more recent history for lessons as well. He reached out to former Town Supervisor Anthony Noto and both men talked about the Town over lunch. "He is not my contemporary," said Bellone. "When he was Supervisor, I was in high school and I was interested more in football than politics, but everything I have learned about Tony Noto told me he was a man who tried to do the right things for the right reasons."

Bellone said he learned that it is as important to be concerned about how you go about doing the job as it is to do the job itself, something that Noto learned the hard way. "If you are trying to do the right thing, it is important for you to know how you get the message across to the public," said Bellone. "Sometimes you can get those two things confused, but I think Tony Noto still has a lot to offer. He started the residential garbage district and knows a lot about the town and government. He is a gregarious guy with wonderful stories to tell."

The young man who stood wondering at the vastness of the grand canyon has come a long way. In his first 100 days he’s confronted a his new role with energy, and found both surprise and wonder in doing a job he loves. He handles more than 500 employees and a $140 million a year operating budget, miles of town roads, parks and beaches. He keeps his finger on the pulse of the public by walking, and jogging the streets he’s charged with paving and cleaning up, and talks to people at Bally’s gym in Copiague, where he works out two to three times a week. And, he measures his success or failures in different ways, including by the number of elbows he takes on the court on Monday nights.