Southampton Town candidate debate attracts nearly 200 people

The two candidates for Southampton Town supervisor were able to agree on one issue during a debate held Friday night in Hampton Bays: there should be no more affordable housing projects built in the hamlet.

“There is a saturation level that has been met,” said incumbent Republican Town Supervisor Linda Kabot during the nearly three-hour debate held on October 16 at the Southampton Town Senior Center on Ponquogue Avenue.

“You have my pledge that these affordable housing [projects] will be moved to another district east of the canal ... if I am your supervisor,” said Southampton Town Board member Anna Throne-Holst, Ms. Kabot’s opponent. Ms. Throne-Holst has earned the Democratic endorsement for supervisor in the general election on November 3.

Ms. Kabot and Ms. Throne-Holst were just two of the town candidates featured during the debate, which attracted nearly 200 people and was sponsored by the Hampton Bays Civic Association. Also participating were Southampton Town Board incumbents Chris Nuzzi and his running mate Jim Malone, both Republicans, and current Town Board member Sally Pope and her running mate, Bridget Fleming, both Democrats.

Additionally, both highway superintendent candidates—Democrat Alex Gregor and Republican John McGann—answered questions, as did four of the five incumbent Town Trustees—Republicans Jon Semlear, Eric Shultz, Ed Warner Jr. and Fred Havemeyer—and their two Democratic opponents, Chris Garvey and Bill Pell. Trustee Brian Tymann, who is also running for reelection, was not in attendance.

Southampton Town Justices Barbara Wilson and Deborah Kooperstein, and Town Clerk Sundy Schermeyer, all of whom are running unopposed, also introduced themselves to the audience at the start of the debate.

In addition to speaking on a variety of town issues, the majority of those pertaining to Hampton Bays, candidates answered dozens of questions posed by civic association members and some of the nearly 200 people who were in attendance Friday night.

Though they agreed that Hampton Bays should not be the home of any more affordable housing projects, Ms. Kabot and Ms. Throne-Holst had differing opinions on how to lower school district taxes in the hamlet. Ms. Throne-Holst said she would like to see the Hampton Bays School District investigate the possibility of sharing services with municipalities on the East End, while Ms. Kabot said she would like to see a reform of the way school taxes are distributed in Albany.

“I believe the State of New York should reform its school taxes and formulas,” Ms. Kabot said.

Another question directed toward Ms. Throne-Holst asked what she thought were the most pressing issues for Hampton Bays. Her response: code enforcement, over-development and keeping the Southampton Town Animal Shelter open.

Another hot-button topic pertaining to Hampton Bays was what could be done to preserve the hamlet’s historic structures. Ms. Pope, who lives in Remsenburg, said that saving the Canoe Place Inn, which its owners want to raze in order to make way for a time-share complex, is of utmost importance to her.

“I know there are almost 1,500 of you who have submitted petitions,” Ms. Pope told audience members, referring to a recent attempt to preserve the historic structure.

The town’s $78.8 million budget, which calls for the elimination of 44 town positions, and the municipality’s financial problems were also discussed during Friday’s debate. One question asked of Ms. Throne-Holst was what she knew about the town’s financial situation that prompted her to call for a forensic audit of the town’s books earlier this year.

“I knew how to ask the questions,” Ms. Throne-Holst replied.

Ms. Kabot noted that her proposed 2010 budget cuts $4.5 million from the town’s current spending plan. Still, her proposed budget would still raise the town property tax rate by 5 percent—the highest allowed under town law—a move that is needed to help pay down the estimated $10 million deficit in the town’s capital fund.

The proposed 2010 budget also eliminates $1 million in spending for the town’s animal shelter, which is located in Hampton Bays. Under the current spending plan, the town facility would receive no funding in 2010, leaving the 200 animals now housed at the shelter with an uncertain fate come January 1, 2010. Meanwhile, a local non-profit group, the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, is trying to work with the town to keep the shelter open.

Mr. Malone, the Republican Town Board candidate, stressed that he has lived in Hampton Bays for many years and hamlet residents should put their support behind his campaign.

“How about we actually put someone on the Town Board who lives in the community,” Mr. Malone said.

Ms. Fleming, who lives in Noyac and is making her first bid for public office, stressed that the town needs to curb overdevelopment by implementing responsible growth.

Ms. Kabot and Ms. Throne-Holst, and the four Town Board candidates, all agreed that protecting Hampton Bays from overdevelopment was an important part of their campaign.

Dozens of people, many of whom could not find a seat in the crowded senior center, began to file out of the meeting early after it became apparent that it was going to exceed the two-hour mark. A few people said they were upset that they had to write their questions down on index cards and submit them to the civic association, noting that the system led to several questions being asked twice.

One man became irate that “issues like immigration were never discussed” during the debate. Hampton Bays Civic Association President Bruce King told him that he was “out of order” as the man stormed out of the room.

Though they have differing opinions, both supervisor candidates and all four Town Board candidates said next year would be a difficult one due to budget deficits and declining revenues.

“This campaign is about ideas and the will to make difficult decisions,” Mr. Nuzzi said.