Question 1: What is your motivation to run for office? What do you hope to accomplish?
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SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD 2009 CANDIDATE ANSWERS (in alphabetical order):
Albie DeKerillis: I am running for Town Council because I feel I offer a fresh perspective on what it costs to raise a family in Southold town. I wish to increase voter input in future town hall planning, and I will recommend legislation that facilitates reform in our town government. I will implement a ten year expense plan, streamlining town hall, and increase services offered to our citizens with the help of grants from the Federal Government. This would vastly benefit the whole community and the children living in our community who are affected with Autism like my stepson.
Albert Krupski Jr.: I was born and raised in Southold Town. I have a deep appreciation for it’s natural resources, it’s special places, and it’s wonderful people.
The reason that I first ran for public office, after graduating college in 1983, was because of the intense development pressures that the whole East End was faced with, and my willingness to be involved in the future of our Town.
People who have grown up here, moved here recently, or are visiting, all appreciate how this Town is relatively unspoiled compared with Western Long Island. Once ruined, the area never recovers.
As a Town Trustee for 20 years, I worked with my fellow board members of all political parties to protect our natural resources. My philosophy was always conservation, use, and enjoyment of the resources. We balanced the property rights of the upland waterfront owners with the property rights of the public to use the underwater lands.
As a Town Board Member, I was instrumental in drafting a drainage code for the whole town, which reduces road runoff from all properties. I am the Town Board liaison to the storm water committee, which directs the Town in its goal of less surface and road runoff, resulting in cleaner waters for fishing, shell fishing, and recreation. I remain committed to these goals.
As Town Board liaison to the Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP), I have worked for four years with the committee, town attorney, and various people in the New York Department of State, to make the LWRP into a document that doesn’t smother the Town in bureaucratic red tape while handing local control for decision-making to the State. This is a work (sometimes a battle) in progress.
Christopher Talbot: My motivation to seek a council seat is that plainly, Southold deserves better. Through my experiences as a lifetime resident of Southold Town, I have developed a healthy regard for Southold’s beauty, and a taxpayer’s skepticism of Southold Town’s services. As one who was born and raised here by parents originally from Brooklyn, a great respect was instilled in me for our common values and nature’s gifts.
As a Master Plumber by trade and a professional Senior Building and Zoning Inspector, I have achieved a level of understanding and experience which I believe will contribute to improving the functioning of Southold Town governance. I intend to address and make certain our Building Department improves its service to our community. Having functioned within bureaucracy of Code and Zoning enforcement, I will bring a fresh perspective for improved professionalism. I will work with my fellow board members to achieve a streamlined process throughout the Building Department and Zoning and Planning Boards. Accomplishing this aim will result in a cut of wasteful spending, a reinforcement of individual property rights, and a savings in cost which should result in real money kept in your pockets.
Jeri Woodhouse: I am a local business owner and an active member of the community with a commitment to public service and transparency in government. I have worked in community organizations and sat on community boards including the East End Arts Council, the Oysterponds Historical Society, the North Fork Environmental Council and the outreach committee of the Peconic Land Trust. From 2004-2009 I served`as chair of the Southold Town Planning Board. I am running for Town Board because Southold is facing urgent problems that require hard-working fiscally responsible people who can make decisions in the public interest without the all too usual partisan politics. I am running to protect our natural resources, provide opportunities for workforce and senior housing, enact a comprehensive plan for a sustainable Southold, update and streamline a town code to create a cohesive and coherent document accessible to town residents, and oversee a government that is lean but not mean.
FISHERS ISLAND JUSTICE 2009 CANDIDATE ANSWERS:
Louisa P. Evans: I am running for re-election as Fishers Island Justice and the attendant Town Board position because I enjoy the job and I have been encouraged by people to continue in the position. I hope to continue to be a fair and impartial justice and as a member of the Town Board to continue to be fiscally responsible while at the same time pursuing the Town’s goal of retaining its rural quality.
Dan Ross: I am running for the office of Fisher’s Island Justice. It is a judicial office created by New York State in 1860 with the requirement that the person who occupies the office must live on Fisher’s Island. In the mid-1970s State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle sponsored legislation that amended the 1860 and made the Fisher’s Island Justice a voting member of the Southold Town Board. The office of Fisher’s Island Justice is a judicial office but it has legislative responsibilities also. The office is elected by all voters in the Town.
According to the U.S. Census 2000, the population of the Town of Southold was 20,599 and Fisher’s Island was 289. Thus, the office of Fisher’s Island Justice which is one sixth of the town board, must be filled by someone from a group that represents less than 1.5% of the population. I believe that to require a member of a legislative body to come from a limited select group violates certain of our constitutional guarantees. The issue is presently before the Courts. If the Courts rule that the office is appropriate as presently constituted I will take such steps as are necessary to fulfill the requirements of the office. Both the Suffolk County Board of Elections and NYS Supreme Court Justice Arlen Spinner have ruled that I am properly on the ballot.
I am an attorney and have previously run for a Justice Court seat and I have also served on the Town Board so I qualified for both aspects of the office. With regard to the legislative duties, the three most important functions for a town board member are 1) making good hiring and personnel decisions, 2) being vigilant with regard to finances, and 3) preservation efforts.
SOUTHOLD TOWN TRUSTEE 2009 CANDIDATE ANSWERS:
David Bergen: It has been an honor to serve as your Trustee the past four years. I wish to continue in this role for while the Board has made significant progress in serving as stewards for the environment while considering the rights of all citizens of Southold, much more needs to be done. While I have worked hard to bring dredging back to Southold, other creeks need to be added to the list eligible to be dredged by Suffolk County. Doing so greatly assists in maintaining a healthy environment for the creeks, supports the value of properties located within these creeks, and provides a navigable channel for users of these creeks. While the purchase of two pump-out boats helps to keep our bays clean, additional programs need to be developed to support a clean and healthy Long Island Sound and Peconic Estuary. While different amendments have been made to the Town Code to assist property owners with the permit process, additional changes can be made to clarify the code making it easier to understand, and to create language in the code which supports both the environment and private property owners’ rights.
John Bredemeyer: I am seeking the position of Town Trustee to offer Southold voters a lifetime of knowledge and experience in protecting the waters of the Town and County: Ten years as former Town Trustee (seven as president of the Board) and twenty five years with the County Health Department’s Bureau of Marine Resources as a Peconic Estuary Program Researcher, performing numerous field studies and laboratory work that is helping unravel the inner workings of the Brown Tide as well as stopping polluters and inspecting and sampling our bathing beaches to make them safe for our children. I believe I am uniquely positioned, to share this large amount of acquired knowledge for the betterment of the Town. Equally important, however, is my desire to help the Trustees carry out their mission into the future. Sadly, not everyone knows what a Trustee is and what they do. Fortunately, however, the Trustees have in their “legal tool-box” a never before used law that may help address this problem, one that will allow Town voters to adopt regulations that the Trustees propose to them. If elected, working with my fellow Trustees and the people, I will seek to create such legislation, for voter approval, that will help define the Trustees, their relationship to the Town Board and fix in law specific protections of our marine heritage such as the to right to access the waters from a private dock and to freely access the foreshore.
Jill Doherty: I have truly enjoyed the elected position of Town Trustee and look forward to another four years. There is great satisfaction in knowing that I can be a voice for so many. I feel that more work needs to be done to bring common sense and balance to Town Codes. The scenic byways and vistas on the East End of Long Island are what attract and keep us here. In making decisions on applications every month, I keep this in mind. It is a balance between the right to enjoy the use of our property in a reasonable manor, and keeping the natural surroundings that we so much enjoy.
One way that I am trying to keep this balance is my work on the Stormwater Runoff Committee. Road runoff is one of the biggest pollutants of our creeks. The Federal Government has mandated many new programs that the Committee is working on accomplishing over the next several years. Although the Town has met many of these guidelines, we have a long way to go. I hope to continue to get road-end drainage put in place or upgraded to reduce the flow of toxins in our creeks and bays. We need to make our waters cleaner in order for our fisheries to thrive. At the same time, I am upgrading our public access to these waters, so that it is both easier and safer to access our waters and enjoy the many activities that it allows. Working with community members I was successful in getting the New Suffolk Boat ramp replaced with private funds, saving the taxpayers approximately $80,000.00. There are creative ways to get things done without spending a lot of money. I will continue to get the less complicated projects done, while working towards resolutions for the larger issues.
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Candidates for Trustee: Ed Harbes, Audrey Horton and Karl Spielmann did not respond to our questions. Candidates who did not respond before press time are welcome to add their answers below using the comment box. SoutholdVOICE members are also welcome to post their comments below. Please stay on topic and start new topics in the forum! Thanks.
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