Former Southampton town councilor replaces Taldone as FRNCA chairman

A familiar face returns as chairman of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association.

Brad Bender, former FRNCA chairman and Southampton town councilor, has taken over the role previously held by Vince Taldone.

Mr Taldone, the long-time chairman, will remain a general member of the board of directors, but will leave Flanders for Hampton Bays.

Mr Bender was arrested in 2015 while serving as a city councilor and pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone. as part of a $ 1.8 million program which involved a physician assistant from Riverhead. He admitted in court that he traded the oxycodone pills for cash and steroids.

Mr Bender said his problems started as a result of an injury in construction that led to him undergoing several surgeries. He became addicted to opioid pain relievers after that, he said. He has now been out of prison for four years.

“I have taken responsibility for my actions and I’m a better man for it right now because of it,” Mr. Bender said.

He said he went through a 12 step recovery program and admits he has an “addictive personality”.

Mr Bender, who resigned his post as a city councilor on the morning of his arrest in November 2015, was sentenced to two years in prison at Lewisburg US Penitentiary. His sentence was ultimately shortened by six months.

Before going to jail, Mr. Bender sold his house and closed his construction business. He divorced and put everything he wanted to keep in a storage unit, which he paid for up front, he said.

Now he has a house in Riverside.

Since returning from prison, Mr. Bender has been open to sharing his story. In 2018, he spoke at the Southampton Town Opioid Addiction Task Force Forum.

Mr. Bender was elected president at the FRNCA meeting on September 23.

“It was a logical choice,” said Mr Taldone of Mr Bender’s appointment as president. “Some people might be surprised because of all of this with drugs and jail. But he’s back now. If you believe in the land of the second chance, then why not us, especially since he knows how to do that, and he has already done it?

Mr Bender had previously served as chairman of the FRNCA for four years before being elected to the Southampton City Board of Directors. Mr. Taldone replaced him as President in 2011.

Mr Taldone, a former New York City city planner, has chosen to resign as he plans to move to the more walkable Hampton Bays as he cannot drive due to limited vision.

“Hampton Bays is relatively affordable, but it’s not cheap,” he said. “But there are also supermarkets, drugstores, hardware stores and restaurants on Main Street and there are sidewalks that people actually walk on, so you don’t look like a monster,” a- he declared.

His current neighborhood in Flanders is not ideal for walking around, he said.

“Even though we have a traffic light at the corner of Oak Avenue and Flanders Road, it’s still a pretty threatening street to cross to get to the bus stop,” he said.