East Hampton Councilwoman Sylvia Overby Says She Will Not Run Again for Town Board

East Hampton Town Councilwoman Sylvia Overby announced last week that she will not run for a fourth term on the Town Board — joining Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, with whom she first ran for elected office, in departing office at the end of this year.

“For the past 12 years, it has been my honor to be an East Hampton Town Council member for this extraordinary community and the people that make it special,” she said in a statement shared with The Press last Thursday, January 19. “However, after more than 20 years of public service, including seven years on the East Hampton Town Planning Board and numerous town appointed committees, I have made the decision — and it is a difficult one — to not seek reelection in 2023.

“My hope for the future of East Hampton is that our leaders will continue to honor the unique character, history, irreplaceable natural resources through robust preservation, and not succumb to the pressures of suburbanization and overdevelopment,” she added. “Hold firm, and restore or preserve the beauty of our landscape and enhance the quality of life for our community.”

Overby, a Democrat, was first elected to the Town Board in 2011 with Van Scoyoc. At the time, they were the only two Democrats on the board, but kept the Republican Party, which had seized the majority in the wake of the financial crisis, at bay. They had both served for several years on the Town Planning Board together before running for elected office as well.

She said she does intend to stay involved in town issues and would like to join some of the committees that advise the Town Board on various subjects.

She also said that she feels privileged to have been chosen by the people of East Hampton to help lead the town over the years. “I hope I have always been the type of leader who left a path to follow,” she said.

Her decision leaves an open seat on the Town Board up for grabs in this fall’s election.

Councilman David Lys, a Democrat whose seat will also be on the ballot, has already said he intends to seek reelection to a second term on the board, the lone incumbent who will be defending a seat this year.

Democratic Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez has announced that she intends to seek the supervisor’s post. She is in the midst of her third four-year term on the council; if she were to win the supervisor’s race, it would leave an open seat for the remaining two years of her term. The last time that happened, when Van Scoyoc moved offices in 2018, Lys was appointed by the board in January for a one-year term and then had to run in a special election to complete the final year of the term, before running for a full term.

Democrats have held all five board seats since Councilman Fred Overton retired at the end of 2017, and the East Hampton Town Republican Party has struggled even to find candidates to field a full slate for the Town Board and East Hampton Town Trustees tickets in the last two election cycles.

Both parties began holding screenings for potential candidates this week. Democratic Party Chairwoman Anna Skrenta said that the party has screened six people for the three Town Board seats thus far. The party has had 26 people ask to screen for the various open seats.

As is common in East Hampton, neither party’s leaders would say who is screening or has asked to screen for any position.

In contrast, the Southampton Town Republican Party, which is trying to capitalize on two Democratic board members — including Jay Schneiderman, the former East Hampton supervisor — being prevented from running again by term limits and seize back majority control of that board, has already held its traditional one-night screening and nominating process and chosen its three candidates for the Town Board seats. Southampton Democrats are still holding screenings and will nominate candidates in early February.

The East Hampton Democrats will hold their nominating convention on February 8, Chairwoman Anna Skrenta said. All 36 members of the committee will vote on the party’s nominations.

Republican Party Chairman Manny Vilar said the town GOP held its first screening session last week, and will hold another next week and won’t announce its candidates until next month.

Unlike Southampton, East Hampton does not have term limits for Town Board members, and both Overby and Van Scoyoc could have sought reelection to new terms in office if they had desired.

The town ballot this year will include the three Town Board seats, nine Town Trustees seats — the last time all nine Trustees’ seats will be on the ballot together in the same year — two tax assessors, one town justice and the superintendent of highways.

No other incumbent elected officials have yet announced that they do not plan to seek reelection.