Over the last four years,  Ed Wehrheim has successfully renovated over 75% of the Towns Parks & Beaches. Our future goal is to build on the expansive park system, creating more recreational space, including athletic fields and playgrounds for people with disabilities, for the community to enjoy

There is no greater priority than preserving Smithtown’s pristine shores and open space. Pioneering clean energy on Long Island, Top Priority. Deemed Long Island’s first Clean Energy Community (by NYSERDA) Smithtown has pioneered clean energy under the leadership of Ed Wehrheim. Initiatives to install solar panels on various town buildings are underway. The town has begun installation of electric vehicle charging stations in 2019. By the end of 2021, Smithtown will have EV Charging stations located in all three business districts. We planted over 675 trees in 2020 & plan to break that record in 2021. Ed Wehrheim continues to foster vital water quality and bioremediation programs such as Shellfish seeding, building natural bioswales & updating the town’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. 

In the last four years, Ed Wehrheim and team have made unprecedented progress in revitalizing the three downtown areas. With completed projects the Lake Avenue Revitalization, new municipal off street parking in Kings Park & Smithtown, rebuilding the entryway to the LI Innovation Park at Hauppauge, and the renovation of Landing Golf Club, the Town of Smithtown is quickly filling once vacant and blighted storefronts. Vacancy rates are down within the township, despite worldwide pandemic and economic fallout. Properties that were boarded up for over decades are now pristine new businesses, generating significant commercial tax ratables, which help to lower residential property taxes over time. After Wehrheim pushed state and county leadership to cut through the red tape, the Kings Park sewer construction is slated to begin in January of 2021. Also underway is a new park and municipal parking lot, at the center of Lake Avenue in St James. This is the final stage of revitalization, designed to create a walkable downtown. 

Last adopted in 1957, the Master Plan for the Town was desperately needed to align with the current economy, population and land usage. Under Ed Wehrheim’s leadership, the Smithtown team has focused the plan on preserving residential neighborhoods & agriculture, creating an Open Space fund, pedestrian friendly vibrant downtowns & rehabilitating industrial areas, which were once used as dumping grounds. This plan ensures a vibrant quality of life for the next half a century.

Since Wehrheim was first elected to serve as Supervisor in 2018, Smithtown has received a AAA bond rating from Moody’s Credit Report. The 2020 report commends Wehrheim, citing a large and growing tax base and strong, proactive management taken by the Town Board during the pandemic. Additionally, Wehrheim took immediate and unique measures at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic to mitigate the possibility for fiscal fallout. He decreased over-time and cut discretionary spending by 15% and implemented a retirement incentive to preserve jobs. Wehrheim delivered a 2021 operating budget with the lowest overall tax increase in Suffolk County. Had it not been for the pandemic, the town would have been able to lower taxes.