East Hampton Casting 'Wide Net' in Search for New Town Board Appointee and Other Posts

Supervisor-elect Kathee Burke-Gonazalez and other members of what will be the next East Hampton Town Board are putting out a call to members of the East Hampton community who might be interested in serving in town government to step forward and talk with them about possible posts up for appointment next year — including an empty seat on the Town Board.

In her first announcement as the supervisor-elect, Burke-Gonzalez said that she has set up a dedicated email for those interested in service, ServeEHT@gmail.com, and is running newspaper ads seeking potential candidates for appointments.

“We want to cast a really wide net,” she said this week of the effort to step out of the internal channels that have more typically led to appointees to various government posts. “There’s a tendency to only look at the people in your circles, in the circles of the five or four sitting board members. But maybe there is somebody out there who we haven’t thought of or don’t know, and maybe it’s time for a change. Change is growth.”

Political affiliation would not be a limiting factor Burke-Gonzalez, a Democrat, said. The five-member Town Board has been made up entirely of Democrats since 2018, but the incoming supervisor said she and her Democratic colleagues would not be above appointing a registered Republican if he or she were the best candidate.

“We are looking for people who share our values and our vision for the future of East Hampton — whoever they may be,” she said on Tuesday. “Democrat, Republican, it doesn’t matter. This is an opportunity for anybody.”

With her own council seat coming open when she moves to the supervisor’s chair, and several appointed board seats up for reappointment, Burke-Gonzalez said that she and the other three board members — incumbents Councilwoman Cate Rogers and Councilman David Lys, and Councilman-elect Thomas Flight — will begin holding interviews with candidates for various posts in December.

Burke-Gonzalez said that any sitting members of appointed boards will be expected to partake in the interview process in order to retain their current seats — similar to incumbent elected officials being expected to screen with nominating committees.

“In an ideal world,” Burke-Gonzalez said, she would like to be able to announce the board’s choice for the appointment to the fifth seat on the Town Board at the January 2 organizational meeting, along with those to the posts on the town regulatory boards, citizen advisory committees and various other technical advisory committees. But, she acknowledged, with the December 1 deadline to apply and the holidays looming, it may take more time to vet candidates.

As was the case in 2018, when current Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc left a council seat open with two years remaining on his term, the board will appoint someone to take Burke-Gonzalez’s chair for one year, and then schedule a special election for November 2024, the winner of which would hold the seat for the final year of the term before having to seek election again for a full four-year term.

In 2018, the board appointed Lys, who then had to win a primary election and general election later that year, and then a general election again in 2019. Earlier this month, he was reelected to a second four-year term.

Burke-Gonzalez said she expects the new board to “hit the ground running,” when it is formally sworn in on January 2.

“The new administration will establish a shared list of priorities and a comprehensive to-do list, so we can make as much progress as possible in a short amount of time, knowing that things never seem to move fast enough in government,” she said in a statement released by her office on Monday. “The engagement of town residents and stakeholders is critical to open, responsive government. We need qualified and dedicated people to fill numerous positions and we encourage all those who are interested to reach out and let us know.”