Candidates Spar In League Of Women Voters Debate Thursday Night

The final debate of the 2015 campaign season was held on Thursday night with candidates for Suffolk County legislator, Southampton Town supervisor and Southampton Town board going head to head one last time before heading to the polls.

In the at times heated county legislator debate, opponents Republican Amos Goodman and Democrat Bridget Fleming agreed that county finances need to be addressed as quickly as possible, but disagreed on pretty much everything else. According to Ms. Fleming, she is most qualified for the county position because of her experience as a Southampton Town councilwoman and her past public service work as an assistant district attorney fighting sex crimes, saying she has the knowledge and focus to handle any of the county's issues. For Mr. Goodman, he said he is most experienced in the business world and has worked on large scale budgets in the past. His experience growing businesses, he said, could be used to repair the county's floundering finances.

In the supervisor debate, Republican Richard Yastrzemski and Democrat Jay Schneiderman covered several topics, including aircraft noise, Planned Development Districts, hiring a town manager, the Tuckahoe Center and water quality. Both candidates discussed the looming possibility that Community Preservation Funds will be able to be used for water quality issues, saying there is potential to make strides in the issue.

For Town Board, Democrat John Bouvier, Republican Damon Hagan, Democrat Julie Lofstad and Republican Christine P. Scalera are all focusing on quality of life issues, saying that traffic, water quality, affordable housing and code enforcement are all interrelated. All four are promising to increase the quality of life for all of the town residents while preserving the rural nature of Southampton Town. The issue of affordable housing is split between the candidates, with Mr. Bouvier and Ms. Lofstad pushing creating a system matching senior citizens with extra space with younger members of the work force to provide housing. For Ms. Scalera and Mr. Hagan, the focus was on streamlining the process of getting rental permits.