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|  | | By Gregory Zeller | | |
May 29, 2008 | 11:22 AM
Political pressures are mounting. Rival factions have gained the upper hand. Town operations are running with the silky smoothness of pebbles in a blender. Things are tough these days for Brookhaven's head honcho, and so what does Supervisor Brian Foley do? Announce a run for higher office, of course.
Foley, punching bag of the right and hardly the left's favorite son, can espouse all he wants about the "exciting opportunity" of gunning for Caesar Trunzo's state Senate seat. He can rattle off his credentials like ingredients in a half-baked pie, cook up sound bites about his county and municipal experiences and how they've prepared him for the challenges of Albany.
Hogwash. This attempted exit (stage left, of course) from Brookhaven politics is both hollow and shallow, as graceless and inglorious as the supervisor's rocky tenure.
It's hard not to see Foley's announcement as an unmitigated, tail-tucking retreat, coming as it did less than a day after his Town Board rivals plundered his office and sucked away his authority the way mosquitoes suck blood. Yes, board meetings happen when they happen and yes, Suffolk Democrats plan their nominating conventions eons in advance, but the symbolism is undeniable: Foley took a spanking, and the next day announced his desire to get out of Dodge.
Early in 2007, many wondered aloud if Foley would even seek a second term in the supervisor's office. With the Town Board likely to shift right, some questioned whether he had the stomach for the kind of fights that inhabit Town Hall — not just any town hall but Brookhaven Town Hall, where lawmakers tend to leave in handcuffs or on the political equivalent of stretchers.
It's worth noting that Brookhaven has had problems with supervisors, the way Hogwarts has problems with Defense Against the Dark Arts professors and Spinal Tap has problems with drummers. Foley's not the first town chief to leave, or at least try to, with something less than the admiration of a grateful township. Brookhaven bosses tend to gravitate toward the "challenge" of higher office, usually in the middle of their terms (for thoughts on how that works out, please Google "Felix Grucci"); others, such as high-spirited GOP superstar John LaValle, leave office and disappear from public circles so quickly, you'd think they entered a witness-protection program.
And now we get Foley, battered and bruised and raising the white flag. Never once has he mentioned the idea of going after Trunzo — at least not publicly, and certainly not during last year's supervisor campaign — but suddenly it's his mission, his destiny. Never mind the two worthy Democratic candidates already in that race; never mind that Foley's presence promises the kind of Clinton-Obama infighting that regularly cripples Democrats; never mind that the inevitable circus will fracture his party's best shot at Trunzo's seat, and a Senate majority, in years.
Foley doesn't want to play in Brookhaven anymore, and for a professional officeholder whose résumé is distinctly lacking in private-sector accomplishments, one supposes there's nowhere to go but up.
He turned critics around earlier this year, when bullying rivals tried to blitzkrieg their way to total town authority. Before the Inauguration Day echoes faded, the Town Board's conservative majority was trying to usurp every ounce of power from the supervisor's office; that he was able to rally public sentiment and land a counterpunch squarely on the majority's nose suggested Foley had more fight in him than some suspected.
He showed further grit when he appointed Jon Schneider deputy supervisor. Schneider will never be mistaken for a Reaganite, but Congressman Tim Bishop's former right-hand man is not a product of Brookhaven's political machines; he's his own man, a credential sorely lacking on Independence Hill.
And it was doubly impressive when Foley, faced this year with a critical budget shortfall, didn't immediately go to his left and raise taxes or tap some emergency fund. Instead, he ordered his department heads to cut spending; again, it appeared the supervisor was considering all the options and fighting for what he thought was right.
In those cases, he was. But in the end, we get this mid-term attempt at a hasty withdrawal, consequences and unfinished tasks be damned. We get Foley the quitter, not Foley the fighter.
Pundits expected more. Voters demanded more. But all along, only Foley knew the truth: Brookhaven is just a line on his résumé, and the fight was never in him.
Why people would ever again trust this man with their votes escapes me. We wish him luck in his Senate quest — when all is said and done, Foley is still a decent man — but excuse us if we don't pay too much attention. Back here in Dodge, there's work to do.
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