Email Sparks Political Back And Forth In East Hampton Town

An email from an East Hampton Town Republican Committee official to committee members earlier this month has sent political sparks flying, with Democrats saying it suggests the GOP has improper access to, and perhaps influence on, the East Hampton Town Board’s work session agendas—accusations that drew quick denials from Republicans.

The email, from Carole Campolo, the secretary of the East Hampton Town Republican Committee, was sent to a number of committee members, a group mailing that included Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and Councilwoman Theresa Quigley. The subject of the email was the Town Board work session on February 14—and, specifically, a proposal to turn the town’s scavenger waste plant over to a private company.

“As per the resolution voted on at our committee meeting on Wednesday, February 8, please find listed below the agenda for Tuesday’s Town Board work session that will take place at the Montauk firehouse beginning at 10 a.m. Other items may be added to the agenda,” the email states. Attached to the bottom of the email is what ended up being part of the agenda of that week’s work session.

A copy of the email was provided to The Press anonymously. Several GOP officials, including Ms. Campolo, confirmed its authenticity.

East Hampton Town Democratic Committee Chairwoman Jeanne Frankl and Town Independence Party Chairwoman Elaine Jones took aim at the email this week. Ms. Frankl called it “disgusting” and said that members of Democratic minority on the board have long complained about not knowing the agendas for work sessions ahead of time.

“I was shocked to hear about it myself,” she said. “I really had no idea that the agenda for the Town Board was being developed by a Republican committee.”

Republican officials this week—Ms. Quigley, Mr. Wilkinson, Ms. Campolo and Town GOP Chairman Kurt Kappel—emphatically stated that the party does not create Town Board agendas. “The East Hampton Republican Committee does not set the agenda for our politicians and Carol Campolo has no right to speak for the East Hampton Town Republican Committee,” said Mr. Kappel.

Ms. Campolo said that the resolution that the committee voted on at the meeting on February 8 was about rallying Republicans to speak at Town Board meetings in an attempt to provide more balance to the public comments, which are heavily dominated by Democrats, she said. The idea was to have a Town Board member provide the committee with a copy of the agenda, and send it around to committee members to see if people would be interested in speaking about certain topics, she said. That week was the only week the committee was provided with an agenda, said Ms. Campolo, although she said she couldn’t remember who gave her the agenda.

“Our Town Board members—specifically Theresa Quigley and Bill Wilkinson—are under assault at every Town Board hearing from community activists mostly from Amagansett who are rude, obnoxious and don’t always tell the truth,” Ms. Campolo said.

Getting more Republicans to come out to speak at Town Board meetings was an idea that, in part, originated with Ms. Quigley and Mr. Wilkinson. The two approached the committee at its February 8 meeting to ask some of its members to support them at Town Board meetings, said Ms. Quigley. That would entail sending committee members meeting agendas, said Ms. Quigley. “The audience is peppered with Democratic committee people who come and are prepared,” Ms. Quigley said. “So they said, ‘Well, how can we help?’”

Mr. Wilkinson said he is the only person who sets the agendas for work sessions. He denounced claims that the agendas originate from the GOP committee.

“They’re just being silly,” he said of Ms. Frankl and Ms. Jones. “They’re just outright silly. It’s been a campaign of theirs for years to be silly, and they’re getting really good at it.”

In the email, Ms. Campolo also stated that she wanted to publicly speak on the topic of the scavenger waste plant and that Ms. Quigley and Mr. Wilkinson, who have supported privatizing the facility, have been “alone” in their stance on the issue on the Town Board.

She criticized Republican Councilman Dominck Stanzione—who was not copied on the email—for siding with the Democratic majority on the issue. “His own political interests and fortunes have become more important than the interests of the taxpayers and voters he vowed to serve,” she wrote. “It appears that he is turning his back not only on Bill and Theresa, but also on each and every one of us” on the Republican committee.