A local businessman is putting his financial weight behind the two challengers seeking to win seats in this month’s Westhampton Beach Village Board election.
Lawrence Citarelli, owner of First Hampton International Realty, a real estate development, sales, design and construction firm in Westhampton Beach, donated $1,000 this week to the joint campaign of Brian Tymann and Rob Rubio. They are the challengers looking to unseat incumbent Village Board members Hank Tucker and Patricia DiBenedetto.
Mr. Citarelli made his contribution to the Our Village Party’s page on the crowd-funding website gofundme.com and urged others to do the same in a press release issued Monday.
“After months of review and research,” Mr. Citarelli wrote, “the people I firmly believe will be best suited for the job … in bringing Westhampton Beach into the 22nd century are Rob Rubio and Brian Tymann.”
Mr. Citarelli could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe page, which was started by Mr. Tymann, had attracted 14 donors, accounting for $3,758 that would go into the Our Village Party’s war chest. Mr. Citarelli’s contribution was double that of the next-highest donors.
Campaign contributions must be reported by the candidates to Village Clerk Elizabeth Lindtvit, who then forwards the documentation on to the State Board of Elections.
Ms. Lindtvit said while it is not a regular occurrence, candidates can file jointly as a party when reporting the contributions they received. “Most people claim nothing,” she said. “So this GoFundMe thing is definitely a first.”
Kyle Campbell on Jun 3, 2015