James W. Versocki

Versocki said the most important issues the town faces are its fiscal problems, environmental issues and development. “The new administration is going to have to really dig through the history of the town to make sure that when it resolves something, it’s resolved,” Versocki said. A new administration will need to work to make sure “the webs of corruption are sufficiently untied,” he said. The town needs to bring in an outside forensic auditor so the administration will “be able to present to the public and the state comptroller the true financial state of the town,” Versocki said. The town will be able to get its bond rating up — and borrow at lower interests rates again — when rating agencies see transparent budgeting and financial controls put in place, he said. The town needs to review its practices: “You have a culture of doing things over decades . . . there are people who may process permits and not realize that way is incorrect,” Versocki said. The town also needs to sit down with state and federal officials to come up with plans to address the Grumman plume and other environmental problems, he said. The town also needs a master plan for development, he said.

Versocki, 44, an attorney from Sea Cliff, is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Women’s Equality party lines. He is a labor and employment attorney at a private law firm. He earned an undergraduate degree from Lehigh University and a law degree from Emory University School of Law. He previously worked as a prosecutor at the New York State Attorney General’s Office under three attorneys general, handling fraud cases. He worked as a criminal defense attorney for almost two years before joining his current practice. He is married, with one son.