Wilkinson beats Zwirn; Quigley and Stanzione beat Leber and Whelan

Recommend

Comment

Email this article

Print this article

Get news alerts

RSS Feeds

Share Digg Mixx Linked In Facebook Twitter Delicious

Bill Wilkinson

see all images

Republican Bill Wilkinson was elected East Hampton Town supervisor on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Ben Zwirn.

Mr. Wilkinson received 67 percent of the vote—4,587 votes to Mr. Zwirn’s 2,286, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

There was a jubilant atmosphere at Republican headquarters Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, where party faithful who had gathered to watch the returns were confident that Mr. Wilkinson’s two running mates, Theresa Quigley and Dominick Stanzione, had won Town Board seats.

By the end of the night, the numbers showed their confidence was not unfounded. Ms. Quigley and Mr. Stanzione received 4,057 and 3,590 votes, respectively, while their Democratic opponents, John Whelen and Patti Leber received 2,834 and 2,481.

“I say this is just great for the Town of East Hampton. It’s a great night for a great town,” said Mr. Stanzione.

“I say it’s wonderful. Thank you to the voters for giving confidence to us because we can do it,” said Ms. Quigley.

Ms. Quigley, 54, is an attorney with Farrell Fritz in Bridgehampton who served as town attorney during Supervisor Jay Schneiderman’s administration and Mr. Stanzione, 55, owns the arbitrage firm Colonial Capital Advisors and he played a large role in the creation of the town’s Budget Advisory Committee.

“We’ve got our town back were gonna get the answers we deserve we’re going to untangle the mess that was left behind by the McGintee years and we’re going to have good open government. I’m very happy tonight,” said former East Hampton Town supervisor and Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, who was at the Republican event.

Mr. Wilkinson, 60, a former senior vice president with the Walt Disney Company, quipped, “I’m going to Disney World” when asked what he planned to do on Wednesday.

“I think the turnout is incredible,” he said. “That’s what I’m most thankful for.”

Mr. Wilkinson said that he plans to sit down with State Assemblyman Fred Thiele to work on a plan for more deficit financing.

“Then it’s on to restructuring the town and reducing the operating budget. We have a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time,” he said.

Mr. Zwirn, 57, a deputy Suffolk County executive in charge of intergovernmental relations, called Mr. Wilkinson to concede the supervisor race after the Republican candidate took a 2 to 1 lead in early results. Mr. Zwirn was the supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead during a financial crisis in the early 1990s, and was the only candidate in this fall’s roster who had prior experience in government.

“The voters decided this one. The voters in this town sent the message that they are not happy with the way things are going,” said Mr. Zwirn. “The numbers for Bill Wilkinson were very impressive. I’ll be geared to help East Hampton in any way that I can. We all want what’s best for East Hampton, after the elections we all put politics aside.”

Mr. Wilkinson, who had been the Republicans’ designated candidate since the spring of 2008, lost to former Town Supervisor Bill McGintee by 104 votes in 2007. He was one of the first critics of Mr. McGintee’s fiscal mismanagement, a deepening scandal that unfolded since that election, which culminated in both Mr. McGintee’s resignation last month and the resignation of Mr. McGintee’s budget officer, Ted Hults, in June.

Mr. Whelan, 52, is a project manager with Stelle Architects in Bridgehampton. He is the son of Duane Whelan, who served as the East Hampton town attorney for 25 years and wrote the town’s zoning code.

“I’d be very interested in running again in two years,” he said. “I’ll be very involved, definitely. I’ll be following the town closely.”

Patti Leber, 56, is a real estate agent and the vice president of the Montauk School Board, who was a former stock broker with Merrill Lynch.

“It’s been a learning experience every step of the way,” she said. “I learned something new every day.”

Results for Prudence Carabine, who waged a write-in campaign for Town Board, will not be available until the Board of Elections certifies results.

In other races, incumbent Superintendent Scott King has etched out a 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent victory against Town Engineer Tom Talmage, in a hard fought race that centered around $2.2 million that Mr. King had discovered had been removed from his surplus lines by Mr. McGintee. Though Mr. King told reporters that he was unaware that the surplus was missing until he began to inquire about the money to the Town Comptroller’s office, Mr. Talmage insisted that Mr. King had been remiss in his duties by not informing the public that his surplus was missing sooner. Incumbent Town Justice Catherine Cahill won by a 53.3 percent margin against challenger Richard “Andy” Hammer, an attorney in private practice in Montauk.