Dr. James Bertsch’s mission is to join with others to help local residents take a more active role in community life. He hopes to bring the civility and inquiring nature of the classroom to the public sphere. James serves as a board member for the YMCA (Patchogue) and a twice-elected trustee for the Board of Education for Sayville Schools.
The through line between James’ civic and political commitments is coalition building and inter-group collaboration. James has conceptualized of unifying community events like environmental clean-ups, art shows, panel talks and veteran gravestone restorations. Over 300 people and 15 different Greater Sayville organizations have restored the gravestones of 400 veterans interred in Greater Sayville.
James also helps lead a group of 10 prominent local residents dubbed the Sayville Michael Murphy Team. The team’s goals are to inspire local devotion to the legacy of Michael Murphy and to weave the LT Michael P. Murphy Navy SEAL Museum into the civic fabric of the community.
James studied in Minnesota and Colorado and volunteered through the Catholic Church serving children in Chicago’s inner city. Having taught on the collegiate and high school levels, James served as a school administrator in two nearby school districts, Connetquot and Patchogue-Medford Schools. James has served as a Special Education administrator for the past decade, serving at a high school for life skills students and children with psychiatric disabilities.
James envisioned and founded the Greater Sayville Civic Association and directs all Sayville-based actions for Save the Great South Bay.
To advocate for the local community, James writes environmental, civic and human interest stories for Newsday, the Suffolk County News, The Patchogue Advance, Save the Great South Bay, the Long Island Press and the Islip Bulletin.