Susan D. Ambro

Ambro would like to further standardize the metrics according to which the town assesses property values, as she believes current assessment practices are inequitable and unfair. “They arbitrarily and capriciously will increase someone’s taxes with no basis for doing so,” she said. Ambro said that properties in some Riverhead hamlets are assessed differently than in others, and that she was motivated to run for the position after the town increased the assessed value of her own home — in her opinion, inappropriately. Additionally, Ambro would like the tax assessor’s office to have more of a say in commercial property tax abatements granted in the town. Too many local commercial properties receive such abatements, and they last for too long, she said.

Ambro, 58, of Wading River, is running on the Democratic, Independence and Working Families party lines. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from SUNY Fredonia, and a law degree from Quinnipiac University. For 31 years, she has worked as a criminal defense attorney in the Riverhead office of the Legal Aid Society, which provides representation to indigent clients. There, she has represented children in Family Court and addicts in drug diversion programs. She represents hundreds of clients every year, she estimated. Ambro is active in local Democratic politics, having served as a Suffolk County Democratic committeewoman since 2012, and a Town of Huntington Democratic committeewoman from 1988 to 1992. She is married and has one child.