By Lauren Lee
The Suffolk County Legislature recently approved issuing subpoenas for an investigation into missing documents following former legislator Sarah Anker’s departure from office last year. At the special meeting of the Government Operations, Personnel, Information Technology Committee on Oct. 11, District 10 Legislator Trish Bergin, a Republican, outlined the allegations against Anker.
Anker, a Democrat who represented the 6th District in the Suffolk Legislature for 12 years before term limits led to her departure in December 2023, is the subject of an investigation that was assigned to the committee by Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, a Republican, on Sept. 9. Anker is currently running for State Senate.
Republicans hold a veto-proof 12-6 majority in the Suffolk Legislature.
District 6 Legislator Jim Lennon, a Republican, said his office received calls from constituents seeking updates on issues that had previously been addressed by Anker’s office. Bergin said Anker’s staff reported they had no records of these constituent issues.
District 8 Legislator Anthony Piccirillo, a Republican, and District 15 Legislator Jason Richberg, a Democrat, recused themselves from the investigation, and legislative staff are contacting possible witnesses to testify before the committee.
According to Bergin, Anker initially responded to calls from her office but has since stopped communicating with her legislative staff, as have her former staff members. After presenting the investigation’s context, Bergin moved to authorize subpoenas.
District 3 Legislator James Mazzarella made the motion, and District 11 Legislator Steven Flotteron seconded it. Both are Republicans.
District 9 Legislator Samuel Gonzalez, a Democrat, questioned the timing of the vote, noting that while Lennon took office in January 2024, the investigation was only assigned this September, amid the race for State Senate that Anker is now engaged in.
“My question is, and of course we’re all following proper procedure in the course of this serious allegation, my only question is why now?” Gonzalez said.
Bergin responded, “I’m certain that Legislator Lennon’s office did, in fact, report the missing files upon taking office.”
Legislative Counsel William Duffy said Anker and her staff were first given the chance to return missing files. He also said Lennon’s staff did not at first realize how many documents were missing. “They were going to meetings, and once they started engaging in civics and different groups, it became clear how much more was missing than originally believed,” Duffy said.
To further allay concerns about timing, Duffy said several committee members were involved in the recent probe on the cyber attack against the Suffolk County government, and they wanted to finish that one before beginning this investigation.
Gonzalez reiterated his concern about the timing of the probe given the upcoming election, saying, “For anyone, I’m talking about Republican or Democrat, it just shows a very bad impression of what may be occurring here, and I just need to put that on the record.”
Mazzeralla said he understood Gonzalez’s position, but disagreed this case was related to the election, saying the candidates have been campaigning for months now.
