William Holst
WILLIAM G. HOLST, Esq. grew up in Smithtown, where his parents were local merchants. Bill graduated Smithtown Central High School in 1970, having served as junior and senior class president. He was an officer of the Greater Smithtown Chamber of Commerce in the mid 1990s while operating his own law practice. Bill became a member of the Chamber Board shortly after serving as School Board President for the Smithtown Central School District. He helped organize a public forum on Downtown Revitalization in 1995 and he worked on the Chamber’s issue of getting paved public parking behind the stores on the north side of Main Street (between Bank Street and Landing Avenue), first as an officer of the Chamber and later as a Suffolk County Legislator. During his career, Bill has been appointed to a number of governmental positions and was twice elected to the Suffolk County Legislature. As a Legislator he was the prime sponsor of the legislation creating the Downtown Revitalization Citizens Advisory Panel and served its Chair in 1998 and 1999. Bill also was the Chair of the Legislature’s committee for Economic Development and Education. Since March of 2004, Bill has been an Assistant County Attorney in the Suffolk County Department of Law. He previously served as the Corporation Counsel for the City of Long Beach (2002-03) and as an Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of Smithtown (1987-88). Bill is a graduate of New York University (1974) and St. John’s University School of Law (1982). He served in the United States Army (1975-78) as a journalist at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Camp Zama, Japan. Bill resides in Nesconset with his wife, Laura. They have two adult children, Marcia and Ian. His daughter and son-in-law reside in Smithtown and have twin four-year-old boys. Bill is an 11th generation descendant of Smithtown’s Founder, Richard Smythe.
