Long Island is at a crossroads. Rising housing costs are pushing families out. Aging energy infrastructure leaves the region economically exposed. Young people who grew up here cannot afford to stay. The decisions made in the next decade on clean energy, smart growth, transit, water, and education will determine whether Long Island thrives or slowly hollows out.
Paul Tonna has been fighting to get those decisions right for more than twenty years.
As a Suffolk County Legislator, Executive Director of The Energeia Partnership, Chairman of the South Huntington Water District, and one of the region’s most recognized civic voices, Tonna has worked across every level of Long Island’s public life, preserving open space, advancing clean energy, advocating for smarter housing, and helping develop the next generation of regional leaders.
For Tonna, this is personal. Long Island is the place where he and his wife Carol are raising their eight children. That shapes everything about how he approaches the work.
A Philosophical Foundation for Public Service on Long Island
Tonna’s path to public life is not a typical one. He studied philosophy at New York University, earned a master’s degree in theology from Immaculate Conception Seminary, and pursued doctoral studies at Fordham University. That kind of background is rare in local government, and it shows in how he approaches problems. Tonna is not interested in quick fixes, he’s in it for the long game.
His family life is the reason he’s so passionate about making sure Long Island remains a great place. He and his wife Carol have built their family through adoption, welcoming eight children, Peter, Paul, John, Grace, Mary, Carolann, Joseph, and Lucy, representing a wonderful mix of nationalities, cultures, and faiths. Paul wants to make Long Island accessible for all young adults, including his eight children, so they can raise their own families here.
Two Decades of Elected and Civic Leadership in Suffolk County
During his time as a Suffolk County Legislator Paul Tonna pushed for anti-smoking protections, programs to address homelessness and child poverty, and the Greenways Fund, which helped permanently preserve open space and farmland across Long Island. None of those fights were easy, and none of them were won alone. They required building coalitions with people who did not always agree, and staying at the table long enough to get something done.
Today Tonna serves as Chairman and Commissioner of the South Huntington Water District and as Executive Director of three regional organizations: the Suffolk County Village Officials Association, Build Green Long Island (formerly the U.S. Green Building Council Long Island Chapter), and The Energeia Partnership, a leadership academy that brings together people from government, business, education, and the nonprofit world to work on Long Island’s biggest challenges together.
Clean Energy and Modernizing Long Island’s Power Grid
Anyone who has opened a PSEG bill lately knows Long Island has an energy problem. The region runs on aging infrastructure and fossil fuels, which means higher costs for residents and businesses and real vulnerability every time a major storm rolls through or supply gets disrupted.
Tonna has been pushing hard for a smarter approach, including offshore wind, battery storage, and a modernized grid built for the demands of today’s economy. He also serves in an advisory role with the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at Stony Brook University, and has been a strong supporter of a fifth rail corridor for Long Island, a transit investment that could reduce traffic, cut emissions, and connect more communities to economic opportunity.
Smart Growth and Responsible Housing Development on Long Island
Long Island’s housing crisis is already here. Young families and working people are leaving because they simply cannot afford to stay, and that trend does not reverse itself without deliberate action.
Tonna has been a steady advocate for building smarter, not just building more. That means development near train stations, mixed-use projects in underused commercial areas, and growth that is matched to what the water supply and local infrastructure can actually handle. The goal is not to change what makes Long Island worth living in. It is to make sure people can still afford to live here.
Investing in Long Island Education and Workforce Development
As a father of eight, Tonna also has a very personal vested interest in education. He has pushed for stronger investment in public schools, fairer funding, and workforce programs that prepare young people for the jobs that are actually coming, in clean energy, technology, and the knowledge economy.
Through The Energeia Partnership, he has helped build a pipeline of civic leaders across Nassau and Suffolk counties who are ready to take on these challenges.
Awards and Recognition in Public Service and Conservation
The list of organizations that have recognized Tonna’s work tells its own story. He has received awards from Molloy University, St. John’s University, the National Association of Social Workers, Habitat for Humanity, The Nature Conservancy, the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission, the American Jewish Committee, and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, among others. He is an Eagle Scout and a former board president of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
The range of these awards is vast. These are awards from every corner of civic life. They reflect how much Tonna has been engaged across different communities for decades.
Looking Forward
Paul Tonna believes if the right decisions are made on housing, energy, transit, and education, Long Island would be a place where young people choose to stay, families could afford to put down roots, and communities could be stronger than they are today. That is the Long Island he has been working toward. And he is not done yet.