Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia calls out Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson for threats against him recorded on ring doorbell

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Andrew Raia 516-449-5986

10/18/2021

Today Town Clerk Andrew Raia announced his intention to file a complaint with the Suffolk County District Attorney, The United States Attorney, NY Bar Association and the Huntington Board of Ethics after a recently released Ring doorbell video captured Huntington Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson making verbal threats against Mr. Raia who is the current sitting Town Clerk for The Town of Huntington. 

Cuthbertson, who is also a candidate running for the Suffolk County Legislative seat vacated by William Spencer, is responsible for approving the budget of the Town Clerk as a member of the Town Council.

Mr. Cuthbertson apparently became enraged after reading a widely circulated letter to the editor criticizing him for negatively distorting the face of his political opponent Stephanie Bontempi in a town wide political mailer. The letter was submitted by Andrew’s mother, Jo-Ann Raia, the former Huntington Town Clerk who retired in 2019. 

In the video Mr. Cuthbertson can quite clearly be seen and heard planning to exact revenge after he wins his election to the Suffolk County Legislature against “Andy”.  The use of “Andy” is a direct and derogatory reference to Andrew Raia.  It is no secret to anyone involved in Town politics that the former Town Clerk, Jo-Ann Raia, is well known for demanding that her son be called Andrew. It was later independently confirmed that Mr. Cuthbertson was in fact talking about the current and former Town Clerks in the disturbing video. 

In his announcement, Raia was quoted as saying “What is scary is the fact that Mark is threatening me after he plans on winning his election. Most people that win and lose elections are more gracious to those that they have to continue to work with in the public and private sectors. When Mark lost to me nearly 20 years ago in our run for the State Assembly I forgave a lot of people that bet on the wrong horse. I did it with a smile and was happy to do so because the public demands that our elected officials reach across party lines and work together. As the sitting Town Clerk I work very hard to remain apolitical and work in a bipartisan manner with all of the members of the Town Board regardless of political affiliation because the public demands nothing less.”

Retired Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, from her home in Huntington, said, “If Mark has a problem and wants to respond to my observations over nearly a quarter century, he has every right to do so in the same public forum I chose, but he does not have a right to plan personal attacks against my son while walking door to door. I’m very proud of Andrew, he has always worked in a bipartisan fashion throughout his many years serving us in Albany, in the State Assembly and continues that tradition as Town Clerk. Elections by their very definition are partisan in nature but we all must come together as elected officials and private citizens alike after those elections to do the people’s business.”

Mr. Raia said he is demanding a full public apology from Councilman Cuthbertson and an explanation as to what type of revenge he was planning. “I can live with threats against my political career, I’ve been through 12 campaigns and I’ve been threatened by the best including former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the one constant remains the same, none of them are in office anymore and I am; But I’m not even running this year and If Councilman Cuthbertson is threatening me after he wins, one can only imagine what he will do when he loses his election. “

“Desperate people do desperate things. People should be allowed to support the candidates that they choose without fear of retribution from sitting government officials that have a vote on my budget and office operations as the duly elected Town Clerk!” Said Raia

The following is a re-posting of former Huntington Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia‘s letter to the editor. 

Dear Editor:

The recent attacks levied against Suffolk County Legislative Candidate, Stephanie Bontempi by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson are not only false but are patently offensive to me both as a resident of Huntington and a Woman.

For 38 years it was an honor to serve the Residents of Huntington as your Town Clerk. During my tenure I have seen a lot of candidates come and go and I have witnessed my fair share of political slanders. Although I always considered negative campaigns to be unhealthy for the political process, I understood the temptation, if not the necessity for some candidates when they are down in the polls and the voters are calling for a real change.

Falsifying Ms. Bontempi's facial features and inferring financial dependency on her husband in over 7 campaign mailers are personal attacks that serve no legitimate campaign purpose and only add to the public’s contempt for our current political environment.

As your Town Clerk, one of my many functions was to serve as the Secretary to the Town Board. For 38 years, I personally recorded every Town Board Member’s votes during Town Board meetings and I have witnessed Councilman Cuthbertson recuse himself dozens of times over nearly a quarter century on critical development votes that have made Huntington what it is today, both the good and more importantly the bad when Councilman Cuthbertson’s vote could have made a difference. One needs to just search Town Board meeting minutes to see a very common statement from him, “I have to recuse myself from this vote due to a business relationship with the applicant.” One also needs to just search Mr. Cuthbertson’s campaign contributions to see a direct correlation between his votes, or “non votes” and developers and their attorneys in the Town.

This behavior is wholly unbecoming of someone in Councilman Cuthbertson's position, I am sure his parents taught him the “Golden Rule” and that age old expression “People in glass houses should not throw stones.” He should be ashamed of himself and apologize. After nearly a quarter century in public office, you would think he would have more decency than to doctor the picture of a woman and insinuate that women need to rely on our husbands to achieve our dreams, but I guess Mr. Cuthbertson has forgotten that we are living in the 21st Century.

Sincerely

Jo-Ann Raia

Huntington Town Clerk (Ret)