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Roy Stevenson, seen with his wife Polly, is running for Southampton Village Board.
Having spent the summers of his childhood in the bucolic Southampton Village idyll, and the last two decades as a year-round resident, local shop owner and community volunteer Roy Stevenson is ready to give back.
Currently the chairman of the Southampton Village Planning Board, on which he’s served since 2007, Mr. Stevenson tossed his hat into the ring for one of two available Village Board seats this week, forming an independent political party dubbed “1640,” after the year of village’s founding.
A Harvard graduate from Glen Cove, Mr. Stevenson was president of Eastman Machine Company before he and his wife, Polly, bought one of his childhood haunts, Lillywhite’s toy and sporting goods store on Jobs Lane, and moved out to Southampton full time in 2001.
“Lillywhite’s had been my favorite place to go when I was a boy, deliberating for hours over which plastic model or new accessory for my bike to purchase,” he recalled.
“We enjoyed becoming part of the fabric of the village,” Mr. Stevenson continued in a biography shared with The Express News Group. As he got to know the challenges of running a small business in Southampton, he also became aware of changes taking place in the village, due to the growing popularity of the Hamptons and economic trends. If not effectively managed, those changes could impact the quality of life in the tight-knit community, he wrote.
Mr. Stevenson ran for Village Board in 2007, losing by just 13 votes. He was soon appointed to the Planning Board by then-Mayor Mark Epley.
“In my mind, the major issues are remediating and protecting [Lake] Agawam and the other water resources in the village, slowing the trend to subdivide lots to develop more houses, revitalizing village business district with better parking and transport, developing and initiating a realistic workable plan to provide a sewer system in the business district and improving village government efficiency (i.e. spending less money more wisely),” the candidate wrote in a release announcing his run.
“With the COVID inspired influx of people, there is more pressure on the village than ever, so it seems like now or never to try and maintain the beauty and specialness of this place l have loved my whole life and made my home and livelihood for 20 years,” he wrote.
Mr. Stevenson is running for one of two seats that are up this spring. They’re currently held by incumbents Mark Parash and Andrew Pilaro. On Friday, both said they’re undecided about whether to run for reelection.
“I’m still focused on this term,” Mr. Parash said, though he noted that the pandemic’s predation and a year of shutdown have had an impact on his business, Sip’n Soda. “I really need to be dedicated to my business with the year I’m coming off.”
Mr. Pilaro joked, “Am I up for reelection already? … It’s been two years? It feels like a million.” The lawmaker said he’s discussed reelection bids with his former running mate, but they do not have a vision yet. “We want to see how things progress.”
Mayor Jesse Warren — whose first term expires this spring — does have a vision and enthusiastically acknowledged a bid for reelection. He will seek reelection “absolutely,” he said. “I’d love to continue the work we’ve done.”
Listing accomplishments including procuring grant funding for Lake Agawam remediation and lowering taxes, he said, “I definitely would love and hope for another two years.”
So far, no one has announced plans to challenge him.
During a typical cycle, ballot petitions may be signed beginning on April 3, and May 8 is the first day they may be filed, with May 15 the last day to file. Hopefuls must garner signatures that represent 5 percent of registered voters in the municipality; that was 75 signatures in Southampton last year. Given an unprecedented volume of new voters registered for last year’s election cycle, the number will be higher this year.
Election day is Friday, June 18.
