Brooke Lupinacci, the Town of Huntington’s director of labor relations, is running for a seat on the town board in 2023.
The Republican candidate is a lifelong town resident: She is an alumna of St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington and now lives in Lloyd Harbor.
As a former prosecutor and former assistant town attorney, she aims to use her skills to continue serving Huntington residents.
“I like that I have the ability to serve the Huntington residents being a Huntingtonian myself,” she said. “My current role I’m finding to be very fulfilling in that I work with the employees in the building and management to forge good relationships and keep the wheels of town hall turning.”
Lupinacci has been the labor relations director for about a year. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from NYU and a juris doctor from Touro College. She began her law career in 2004 as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County. Then, after having her first of three sons in 2015, she became a town attorney.
Lupinacci emphasizes the need to expand youth services and general services for residents in the town. She believes the best way to do that is by growing the town’s skilled workforce.
“As a mom raising three sons in this town, I know we have very robust camp programs and other things for the youth, but I do see places where I think we can expand and enhance those programs, so I’m interested in exploring that,” Lupinacci said. “I also hear that the current board has done a lot of great work trying to improve resident services. There’s been progress made but I’d like to try and build upon that.
“I know all the people there, and I can continue to forge good relationships between employees and management and improve skills of the workforce. A more skilled workforce will better serve the residents,” she added.
Lupinacci specified that she would like to bring programming to high school students who want to learn about alternative paths to college, such as learning a trade.
On the issues of Huntington’s housing crisis, Lupinacci said, “Advancing housing initiatives for seniors, veterans, and young people is important, but I do think it’s important to balance those with the needs of the surrounding community.”
“My plan would be to keep an open mind before making a decision,” she said.
Lupinacci said she’ll judge each proposed development project on an individual basis and hopes to gather public input in community meetings as well as strengthening partnerships with other development stakeholders.
She is not related to former Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci.