Edwin Perez | General Election Voters Guide

Perez said, if elected, he will focus on economic development, protecting the environment and holding down taxes. It’s important to develop the area along Pulaski Road south to Jericho Turnpike, Perez said. “We need sewer service south of Pulaski. I will seek money to do a feasibility study to make that happen,” Perez said. Economic development and jobs are linked, and infrastructure development and sewers are ways to make that happen, he said, along with better transportation options to connect the rail lines with town centers. A sewer project also will help protect the environment, and he would work to make sure the Department of Environmental Conservation is fully funded to provide the resources. Perez said there should be salary caps on school administrators. “No school administrator should be collecting a salary higher than the governor,” Perez said, noting some administrators earn far more than the governor’s current $179,000 salary. “How long do you sustain this? It’s oppressive to the middle class.”

Perez, 59, of Huntington, is running on the Democratic Party line. He works in the training department at the Suffolk County Board of Elections and also is president of Diversity Resource Network, a marketing consulting agency. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Bernard M. Baruch College. He is an appointed member of Huntington’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Perez previously served as director of Suffolk County’s Office of Minority Affairs and as director of community relations, where he was an ombudsman. He received the Long Island Hispanic Counseling Center’s Humanitarian Award and is a member of the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He founded the Friends of Huntington Station Latin Quarter. He is making his first run for elected office. Perez is married with three children.