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The SV-21 ticket: Andrew Pilaro, Michael Irving, and Mark Parash
Incumbent Village Board member Mark Parash is running for re-election.
Incumbent Southampton Village Board Member Andrew Pilaro is running for re-election.
Former Southampton Village Mayor Michael Irving is running for the top spot in Southampton again.
It’s a new political party, but the members of the “SV-21” ticket that was unveiled on Monday — incumbent Southampton Village Board members Andrew Pilaro and Mark Parash and former Mayor Michael Irving — are all familiar faces.
The trio tossed their hats into the ring for seats on the Village Board and mayor on Monday, April 12. So far, they’ll face off against incumbent Mayor Jesse Warren and political newcomer Roy Stevenson, who last week announced his bid for Village Board.
Former Mayor Irving lost a re-election run to Mr. Warren in 2019 by a slender 45-vote margin. When Mr. Irving ran for mayor the first time in 2017, Mr. Warren was a write-in candidate who garnered just 151 votes. Mere months after relinquishing his seat, in November 2019, Mr. Irving signed on with three other former mayors to a letter criticizing Mr. Warren’s leadership style.
The advice the veteran electeds offered didn’t sink in, Mr. Irving agreed. In fact, Mr. Irving said the mayor’s actions demonstrate “a disregard for the rule of law and a disregard for the rule of ethics.”
Mr. Warren’s recent attack on Village Board colleague Joseph McLoughlin, replete with an accusation of bribery, solidified Mr. Irving’s desire to pursue the mayoral seat.
“I had been thinking about it prior,” he said. “I really didn’t need to get back into it, but there have been so many rules and etiquette that’s been broken, it needs a challenge.
“I felt that somebody in the village should run, and I was kind of disappointed nobody stepped up,” he added. “But if you want to make change, the best way to do it is to get involved.”
Looking back on his own tenure, Mr. Irving is most proud of environmental and business accomplishments, which include the preservation of open space on Lake Agawam, and a rain garden to improve drainage on Pond Lane. He launched the Business Revitalization Committee and village website, and by consolidating bond issues into a single loan, earned the village a AAA credit rating all while implementing his philosophies of good governance as a responsive and inclusive concept.
Mr. Irving doesn’t just want to make a change and restore stability, good governance, and unity to the village; he’d like to see projects begun during his tenure in office that have languished during the Warren administration, progress.
“A lot of our environmental projects seem to have gotten off track,” he said. That’s not good , he said, especially considering how the pandemic led to an increase in population as summer residents fled New York City to stay in their seasonal homes year-round.
Last year’s campaign for village board was marked by an unprecedented descent into mudslinging and negativity. While the current mayor denies having a hand in the campaign, which saw “his” ticket of Mr. McLoughlin and Gina Arresta victorious, Mr. Irving said, “Everything stops at the mayor’s desk.” He’s prepared for “going into the washing machine,” but offered “in a small, local community, it shouldn’t be that way.”
Asked if he was ready to be the target of mudslinging, Village Board member Mark Parash said, “I don’t see the need for it.”
As a lifelong resident of Southampton Village, he said he was “taken aback” by the attack on Mr. McLoughlin.
Noting he was undecided about seeking reelection earlier in the month, Mr. Parash said, “I woke up the other day and said ‘I want to do this.’… I realized that stepping away now wasn’t part of what I am.”
“I am pleased Michael is running as a mayoral candidate because Southampton Village has built its reputation on character, honesty and respect,” Mr. Parash stated in a release announcing the ticket. “These are the values that have made this village a special place for all. We are looking forward to getting the village back on track with great leadership. Stability, character, and respect are not a thing of the past, but rather, the fundamental qualities that our village must reaffirm for success.”
“As I reflect on the past year, I realize how successful we have been in our community endeavors; while many locales throughout this country have faltered, we have survived and thrived by working as a team,” said Mr. Pilaro. “Therefore, continuity is an invaluable part of success and the reason I have made the decision to run again with Michael and Mark. Our joint ticket is about coming together as a village and using our experience to govern in a more productive manner.”
Speaking of Mr. Stevenson, the incumbent said they’ve known each other for a while. “I wouldn’t see a need for any negative campaign. We can all run on what’s best for the village.”
He has no plans to resort to negativity and, said, Mr. Pilaro, “If people sling mud, that’s out of my control. For me, I want to run the best campaign possible and show how Mark and I have done a very good job for the last two years and will continue to do so going forward.”
