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UPDATE: Republican Candidate Drops Out of Southampton Supervisor Race, Joining Democratic Turmoil

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John Leonard.
Rick Martel, who won the March 18 special election, was sworn in to a seat on the Southampton Town Board on April 3. DANA SHAW
Willa Bernstein withdrew from the Southampton Town Board race on Monday.
Tom Neely, a longtime Southampton Town bureaucrat, was tapped to step in as the lone Democratic Party candidate for one of the two council seats on the November ballot after both of the party's previous nominees announced they were withdrawing from the race on Monday.
John Leonard
John Leonard

John Leonard.

Rick Martel, who won the March 18 special election, was sworn in to a seat on the Southampton Town Board on April 3. DANA SHAW

Willa Bernstein withdrew from the Southampton Town Board race on Monday.

Tom Neely, a longtime Southampton Town bureaucrat, was tapped to step in as the lone Democratic Party candidate for one of the two council seats on the November ballot after both of the party's previous nominees announced they were withdrawing from the race on Monday.

John Leonard

Three of the six candidates who had been chosen by the Democratic and Republican parties to run in the Southampton Town Board election this fall withdrew from the race this... more

A Solution

The traffic disaster is caused mainly by huge trucks, not passenger cars, and not by local residents. Here is the solution. Eastbound: Add a new third high-occupancy vehicle lane on Sunrise Highway from Westhampton Beach to the start of County Road 39. Ban all trucks over 10,000 pounds from the HOV and middle lanes along that new three-lane section, and ban all trucks over 10,000 pounds from the left lane on existing County Road 39 all the way to the diner in Southampton in both directions. Left lane on County Road 39 for vehicles under 10,000 pounds only. Westbound: Ban ... 28 Apr 2025 by Staff Writer

Blinding Hypocrisy

Jesse Warren for supervisor? Really? That’s what the psychotically ambitious former mayor of Southampton Village recently proposed to the local Republican leadership. The inverted symmetry of it is striking. Current Town Supervisor Maria Moore, with a successful term behind her, had been the acclaimed mayor of Westhampton Beach Village before, credited with a major downtown restoration and the installation of a transformative sewer system. Jesse Warren, currently out of office, was the mayor of Southampton Village, remembered for little except the constant acrimony with the village trustees that finally drove him from office. A race between Moore and Warren could ... by Staff Writer

Come Together

Hampton Bays is the embodiment of the “Cheers” theme song: It’s a place “where everybody knows your name.” If I describe Hampton Bays to someone not from here, it’s compared to Stars Hollow in “Gilmore Girls” or a small town you see in a Hallmark Christmas movie. But, as Bob Dylan said, the times, they are a-changing. We are a small hamlet with a big heart. When one of us is suffering, we rally together. When one of us succeeds, we all succeed. This is what makes Hampton Bays so special. The people and the community here care so much ... by Staff Writer

Two Sets of Rules

Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger rammed through a bloated $37 million annual budget, the largest in Southampton Village history. Spending continues to spiral out of control, up another $1.2 million this year alone, on top of the $2.1 million increase the year before. There is no discipline, no plan and no regard for the taxpayers who are footing the bill. He said that there would be no increase in taxes. That was untruthful. Village taxes will increase by a quarter of a million dollars. Also, this budget fails to account for the lifetime health care and other benefits that Bill ... by Staff Writer

Positive Actions

Denunciation by recitation would not stand up in court, nor should it in the court of public opinion. Without the strengths of context, evidence or sources, Carol Scott’s Letter to the Editor [“Bad for Southampton,” Letters, April 24] unfairly maligns Gordon Herr and, indirectly, the elected officials he has supported over the years. This prime example of poor opinion-shaping requires a response. Higher taxes: Reports from various local news sources inform that pension and health costs challenge public budgets in all five East End towns. Note: Past Democratic supervisors received high marks and lower bond rates from credit rating agencies ... by Staff Writer

How Did This Happen?

If I had a dollar for every person who has called, emailed or stopped me on a village street in the past two weeks to express their outrage over the solar canopy erected in the Jobs Lane parking lot, I would be a very wealthy man. From young to old, lifelong residents to newcomers, their overwhelming sentiment is one of confusion and deep disappointment. And questions. Lots of questions. “How did this happen?” “Who made that decision?” “Did the ARB approve this?” “Why didn’t we know?” As co-chair of the village’s environmental committee, I applaud installation of renewable energy equipment ... by Staff Writer

Finding a Balance

A two-page spread in the current issue of New York magazine is headlined: “Where Is Our Post-Car City?” The subhead: “We need to be building right now. Instead, we’re stuck in traffic.” The piece details many non-realized ideas over the years to provide more means of mass transportation in the city. There have been many ideas on Long Island, too, to encourage public transit. A former presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, Lou Howard, promoted for years a plan for a monorail running in the center of the Long Island Expressway. It didn’t get anywhere. And the cost to ... by Karl Grossman

Not a Joke

Just last week, the Southampton Town Democratic Party’s vice chair, who jokingly described herself as Chairman Gordon Herr’s “henchwoman,” went after a former elected official and a former Southampton Town Planning Board member [“Beware of Grudges,” Letters, April 24]. Why? They dared to speak out about Gordon’s alleged backroom deals, especially in light of The Southampton Press’s own editorial criticizing the party boss for eliminating choice in this November’s town elections [“Under Attack,” Editorial, April 17]. This appears to be his playbook: trying to silence anyone who questions the power structure through public attacks, bullying and intimidation. I personally experienced ... by Staff Writer

You've Been Duped

I’d like to respond to Andi Klausner’s recent letter [“Beware of Grudges,” Letters, April 24], in which she assumed the role of grifter Gordon Herr’s “henchwoman.” Andi, you’re not the henchwoman — you’re the patsy. Andi’s letter got me thinking: Why would a well-respected activist, mother, wife, Housing Authority commissioner and vice chair of the Democratic Committee lie to Southampton voters about the existence of a cross-party endorsement deal admitted to and corroborated by both the Republicans and Conservatives? The answer? She wouldn’t — she isn’t a liar. Then, the epiphany came: Like the rest of the committee, Andi didn’t ... by Staff Writer

Not Welcome

Consider this a public thank you to Charles McArdle, Southampton Town highway superintendent. Mr. McArdle is one of very few elected officials to actually work for the people who elected him and not for an out-of-town, private corporation that has decimated the Pine Barrens under which flows our drinking water. Discovery Land has bamboozled and/or confused most of our elected officials, to say nothing of the unelected Planning Board. Now, despite the fact that on their original planning documents Spinney Road is clearly labeled as a town road and not a dirt path, as Jessica Insalaco of Discovery has decreed ... by Staff Writer

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UPDATE: Republican Candidate Drops Out of Southampton Supervisor Race, Joining Democratic Turmoil

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