Protecting Our Youth

• Partnered with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence [LICADD] and the Suffolk County Police Department to host a Substance Abuse Seminar to understand the warning signs, reduce the devastation caused by heroin and substance abuse, as well as to discuss helpful ways for preventing addiction and how to start a conversation with a loved one who is struggling against this disease.
• Also included a “Shed the Meds” medicine disposal event throughout the program where residents can drop off unwanted or un-needed medications for a safe and echo-friendly disposal.
• Sponsored a seminar on distracted driving – the dangers of texting and driving for teens and their families.
• Created the Huntington Youth Court, a program “for youth, by youth” – where the power of peer pressure is harnessed to prevent delinquent and violent behavior in young people.
• Sponsored the Tobacco Advertising Law, which prohibits cigarette advertising within 1000 feet of a school, day care or park. This initiative was used as a model by municipalities throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties and updated to include beaches. In 2008, Councilman Cuthbertson was honored by the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island for passing a resolution calling on tobacco retailers to sign a commitment to youth pledge, which required the removal of tobacco advertisements from windows.
• Founded the Annual Children’s Halloween Costume Parade in Huntington Village where thousands of children and their parents gather every year to participate in a safe trick or treat program.
• Sponsored the purchase of speed machines and coordinated with the 2nd Precinct and local school districts to use the machine as a traffic calming device near schools.
• Supported efforts in making the Town of Huntington Long Island’s first municipality to allow its residents to access a computer-generated map that tracks the residency of sex offenders. The Town updates this map monthly pinpointing where its Level 2 and 3 sex offenders live and enforcing the law if their residence is within the restricted sensitive areas in relation to schools, playgrounds and day care centers.
• Organized the family oriented “Movies-On-The-Lawn” program at local parks and beaches which draws hundreds of families at each performance.
• Created the Annual “Hunting-Tony” Awards program to recognize and showcase the talented and dedicated high school students who participate in the school’s extracurricular theatrical productions.
• Sponsored the design and construction of a concrete skate park at Veterans Park in East Northport. The TOH was awarded a $250,000 grant through the NY State Environmental Protection Fund Municipal Parks Program, funded by the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund that will support the skatepark construction.
• Sponsored to authorize a pilot use educational agreement with Cornell Cooperative Extension at the Fuchs Pond Preserve for a summer nature study program. The site was acquired in 2002 for the purpose of providing center-based environmental and outdoor learning programs. The Fuchs Preserve Environmental Education Center is a pilot agreement will provide a limited scope of educational services that will enhance the complement of outdoor recreational services offered to Town residents.
• Co-Sponsored legislation to create Sexual Predator Legislation. In 2005, the Town of Huntington was one of the first municipalities to pass Child Protection Legislation. Specifically, that legislation provided that a Level 2 or 3 convicted sexual predator could not live within a “sensitive area” – within 1000 feet of a school and within 500 feet of a park. This amended Town Code in January, 2007 with precedent-setting amendments. This expanded the geographical boundaries by forbidding offenders from living within a quarter mile (1320 feet) of not only schools and parks, but beaches, playgrounds, day camps and licensed day care centers as well.