Island Profile: Stephen Kiely, public service runs in the family

When Stephen Kiely, Shelter Island’s newly-hired Town Attorney, was in high school, he worked at a deli in Port Jefferson where local politicians, including Suffolk County District Attorney James M. Catterson Jr., and State Senator Ken LaValle, had breakfast every Sunday.

There, the 16-year-old got his first exposure to the heady world of Long Island politics and public service, and made some valuable friends. “I served them egg sandwiches,” Kiely said. “That’s how I met them.”   

Public service runs deep in his family. His maternal grandfather, father, uncles and brother were policemen and his maternal grandmother, who was in the Marines during World War II, bought a home in Sag Harbor where young Stephen spent summers growing up. His paternal grandfather died in the Battle of Anzio when Mr. Kiely’s father was 10 months old. 

He graduated from Newfield High School, went south to graduate from Guilford College in North Carolina and returned to Long Island, graduating from the Hofstra University School of Law magna cum laude in 2004.

Mr. Kiely worked as an assistant town attorney for Brookhaven, and then for Southampton, where he developed expertise on conservation and zoning issues, and in 2007 drafted a year-round rental law that was an example for other East End towns seeking to regulate short-term rentals in non-owner-occupied buildings.

He served three years as senior deputy county clerk for Suffolk County. In 2014 he went to work as assistant town attorney for Southold, going back to the kind of municipal law he found most fulfilling. He drafted local laws, including a short-term rental law, and a law establishing a historic preservation floating zoning district to preserve structures without punitive restrictions on property owners.

“We were having issues with historical churches going on the market, and we didn’t want the streetscape to change,” Mr. Kiely said. “A historic preservation floating district established enhanced financial incentives to preserve the churches.” 

In 2016 he left the Town of Southold position to focus on his private practice. Mr. Kiely ran twice for public office as a Republican, but was not elected. In 2018, he ran for Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge, and lost, and in 2019 gathered enough signatures to challenge Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell in a primary. In the end, he withdrew. Mr. Russell went on to win the election by a small margin.

“I think I could have beaten him,” Mr. Kiely said.

He lives in Mattituck with his wife, Julia, and their two children, Isabella, 6, and Quinn, 4. His first wife Amy lives nearby with their sons Brody, 16, and Brett, 14, and Mr. Kiely says he sees them every day. His mother passed away 10 years ago, and his father lives in Florida, but he still has family on Long Island, and is close to his wife’s parents, Doug and Becky Broder, who have lived on Shelter Island for decades.

From the living room kitchen and porch of his in-law’s gracious Victorian home in the Heights, the renovation of The Chequit looms large, as it does in the story of Mr. Kiely’s first months as Shelter Island’s Town Attorney. Introduced socially to Stacey Soloviev when she was reviving the Peconic Winery, he ran into her again at last year’s Strawberry Festival and asked how the Chequit renovations were coming along.

Not well, she said, explaining that her contractor was unable to find the steel needed to complete the work. Mr. Kiely made a few calls, and found someone who was able to supply the steel needed for the job and willing to take over as general contractor.

Still in private practice, he began to represent Stacey Soloviev. He filed an application for a zoning area variance to the Shelter Island Planning Board, which was approved. He also submitted a building application, still pending, for a Chequit swimming pool.

Now that he has accepted the position of town attorney, Mr. Kiely says he will recuse himself on this, and all other applications that come from the Soloviev properties on Shelter Island, including the question of transferring moorings in Dering Harbor. “My in-laws live across the street [from the Chequit]. I’m going to be harder on her than anyone because I’m going to hear about it at Sunday dinner,” he said.

He also filed an ethics request with the New York Bar Association about his work for the Soloviev Group on the North Fork. “If there is no conflict, I’ll continue to represent her on the North Fork,” he said. “If she did something that is a detriment to the community, I would not represent her.”

Mr. Kiely said he jumped at the chance to be the town attorney for a place that he cares about and to work for a Board, “where each and every one of them has the Town’s interests at heart. Where I have worked before there were always those who wanted the power, or the paycheck, or as a stepping stone.  This Board is looking through the lens of what is right for the community.”

Mr. Kiely said he sees many ways he can help the Town. “I’ve seen land use zoning from both sides — the good government can do and the bad government can do. I don’t like change, but change is inevitable and I’ll help ameliorate it.”

Lightning Round — Stephen Kiely

What do you always have with you? A copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and some prayers from my mother.

Favorite place on Shelter Island? My mother-in-law’s front porch.

Favorite place not on Shelter Island? My backyard in Mattituck.

When was the last time you were elated?  When I got offered this position.

What exasperates you? Fake news, rumors. Learn the facts.

When was the last time you were afraid? My 16-year old had COVID, got pneumonia, and lost about 20 pounds. He’s fully recovered.

What is the best day of the year on Shelter Island? We always have Easter here and it’s the true beginning of spring.

Favorite movie or book? ‘The Godfather.’

Favorite food? Spaghetti with meat sauce, we called it gravy.

Favorite person, living or dead, who is not a member of the family? Robert F. Kennedy