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Southampton Town supervisor hopeful Frederick Havemeyer said this week that he has more than enough signatures to get on September’s ballot, where he intends to challenge incumbent Jay Schneiderman for the Democratic Party line.
Mr. Havemeyer, 76, of Bridgehampton, a lifelong Southampton Town resident and a former Republican and Town Trustee, said he had 550 signatures as of Monday afternoon—50 more than the 500 required to get on the ballot—and that he intended to file his petition with the Suffolk County Board of Elections before the deadline on Thursday, July 13, and will continue to canvass for signatures till then.
“It’s wonderful—it really is,” Mr. Havemeyer said of the support he has received from the community. “It’s very, very fulfilling to have so many warm and wonderful comments from people wherever I go.”
Anita Katz, the Democratic Party Board of Elections commissioner, could not be reached for comment this week.
David Reisfield, executive director of the Long Island Environmental Voters Forum, a nonprofit political organization based in Riverhead that recruits and campaigns for pro-environmental candidates, added that Mr. Havemeyer had “more than enough” votes to get on the ballot.
“We’re above where we need to be, and we’re still collecting until tomorrow night,” Mr. Reisfield added on Monday. “When we go to people’s houses they are actually happy to be signing our petition. Fred is liking it, and as am I, who has been sweating every detail.”
His group pushed for Mr. Havemeyer to challenge Mr. Schneiderman because of his views on a controversial application for a proposed luxury golf course resort community called “The Hills at Southampton.” Since announcing his candidacy in June, Mr. Havemeyer has held multiple press conferences and also approached the Pine Barrens Commission to demand that it reject the application, which now calls for 117 residential units and an 18-hole golf course on nearly 600 acres in East Quogue.
Mr. Havemeyer announced last month that he wanted to challenge Mr. Schneiderman, an Independence Party member who has been cross-endorsed by the Southampton Town Democrats, for the Democratic line after he declined to reject the golf resort application. Discovery Land Company, the Arizona developer behind the project, needs Town Board approval of special zoning called a planned development district to move forward. The developer just last week filed its Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
On Monday, Mr. Havemeyer said he is not a single-issue candidate even though, to date, his campaign platform has focused on pushing the Town Board, and Mr. Schneiderman in particular, to reject the application.
“It’s not a one-issue situation,” Mr. Havemeyer said. “The most important thing is that we’re suffering from overdevelopment. Rampant overdevelopment. We need to figure out how to scale things back.”
If he wins the Democratic primary in September, and goes on to win the supervisor seat in November, Mr. Havemeyer said he would look to require that all future development incorporate some sort of affordable housing component.
He also said he would share more of his plans once he is officially on the September ballot: “As time goes by we will roll out a whole platform that will be comprehensive.”
Amanda Bernocco on Jul 12, 2017