Suffolk Notebook:With One Month To Go, Bellone Retains Funding Advantage

One month away from Election Day, county exec candidate Steve Bellone claimed to be holding roughly $830,000 on hand while Republican nominee Angie Carpenter reported just under $300,000. However, the reports were not yet available online as of Saturday morning to verify the numbers.

With campaign finance reports due Friday, Bellone's campaign staff said it had raised over three-quarters of a million dollars since the last report in mid-July. Roughly two-thirds of the money raised came from a .

Correction: An earlier version of this report stated that Republican candidate Angie Carpenter had filed an extension for filing her finance report. That was incorrect.

Suffolk Supes Call Shift in Community College Tax Unfair; County Exec Disagrees

A group of Suffolk County supervisors in Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's preliminary budget, which would transfer a tax on students who attend out-of-county community colleges from the county level to the town level.

The supervisors likened the proposal — which  has yet to pass through the county legislature, along with the rest of the proposed budget — to an unfunded mandate. However Levy's office said the issue was about fairness, considering students from Babylon and Huntington attend community colleges out of Suffolk County than the towns pay into the tax.

County Comptroller Joe Sawicki estimated that the shift in payment could cost the 10 Suffolk towns $11 million collectively next year.

Cupcake Mailer in Legislature Race Draws Controversy

A mailer sent out to voters in Suffolk County's 18th legislative district has resulted in charges of sexism in a race to fill an open seat.

Elizabeth Black, a Republican running to replace Democrat Jon Cooper — whose term is expiring due to term limits — had that running for and serving as a school board member is "not going to be all cupcakes and lollipops.”

Democrats responded last week by sending out a mailer with an image of Black appearing to pop out of a cupcake, mentioning her quote to Patch.  “If Elizabeth Black’s tax increases weren’t enough, her out-of-control spending the school board takes the cake," the mailer reads.

Over 40 women swung back with a letter stating: "This offensive imagery and language has no place in our society and we expect better, especially from one who seeks to represent us in our government."

Readers have taken the debate online, as had over 75 comments as of Saturday morning.