Uncontested Election on Tap for Mayor, Trustees in Westhampton Beach

In what will be an uncontested election on June 21, voters in Westhampton Beach will vote for a mayor and two Village Board seats.

On the ballot next month will be Mayor Ralph Urban, Trustee Kimberly Monsour and trustee candidate Christopher Mensch. All three are running under the mayor’s Key Party banner.

Urban was appointed mayor by the Village Board at the beginning of the year, following the departure of former Mayor Maria Moore, who was elected Southampton Town supervisor. Urban appointed Monsour to fill the remainder of his term on the board.

Trustee Stephen Frano, whose term is up next month, will not seek reelection to the board. Frano is retiring and will be splitting his time between the village and a home he recently built in North Carolina.

The mayor said that Frano would be missed on the board. “He’s a hands-on kind of guy,” he said. “He’s been very valuable.”

Mensch, who currently serves on the village’s Architectural Review Board, will seek to fill Frano’s seat.

The three, as a group, filed a nominating petition with the village securing their candidacy. No other petitions were filed by the May 17 deadline. There has been no word of any write-in campaigns, but voter turnout in the village is traditionally low, so a write-in candidate could wage a serious challenge for the mayor or trustees positions.

Urban said he looks forward to a full term as mayor in order to complete a number of projects that were begun under Moore, including the sewer district, implementation of a Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan, or LWRP, upgrades to the Village Marina, the restoration of the Governor John Adams Dix Windmill and flood mitigation work.

“I am looking forward to a full term as mayor. I would like to finish out these things, at least — but I am getting older,” he quipped.

Mensch, 46, a Westhampton Beach native who lives in the village with his two daughters and owns a construction business, Coastal Management, said this week that he has a desire to serve his community. “I want to participate,” he said, “and continue all the good work that’s been going on in the village. I live and work in the village and I’m happy to have the opportunity to be part of it and help out.”

“I think it’s a very good fit.” Urban said of Mensch. “He’s younger and is going to have a new set of eyes on things. It’s always a good idea to get a new perspective.”

Urban said that Monsour has worked diligently on the board since taking office in January. “She’s been very helpful, open-minded and productive,” he said. “She’s willing to work hard.”

Monsour said that the last few months have gone well, and she was both settling in on the board and enjoying the work.

She said that she also looks forward to a full term, and shares some of the same goals as the mayor, particularly improvements to the marina. She said she has also been working with other board members on improvements to the entrance to the Maria Z. Moore Park off Glovers Lane, enhancing village signage and other projects.

“I was very impressed with how the board handles things,” she said of her initial time on the board. “I think having members of the community come speak on issues they were concerned about was nice to see.

“Originally, I didn’t know what to expect,” she added. “I dove in and embraced it, and it’s been great.”

The mayor said he resurrected the Key Party — signifying the “key to solutions” — from when he first ran for Village Board.

As for the potential for write-in challengers, the mayor said that while it’s always a possibility, he’s hoping that his record, and that of the current board, will stand on its own.

“Things attract interest only when they’re going wrong,” he said. “I guess I would like to see a vote of confidence, but it’s not human nature to do that. It’s human nature to show up and try to change things if they’re going in the wrong direction. If they’re going in the right direction, just leave it be.”