Airport Money Flows To One Side

Financial filings with the New York State Board of Elections indicate that roughly three-quarters of the money raised by East Hampton Republicans since June has come from businesses and individuals with ties to the town’s airport.

Of the $79,000 raised by Republicans this reporting cycle, at least $58,200 came from helicopter companies and their backers or people with connections to the airport. The most recent campaign finance disclosures were due on Oct. 2; more recent contributions will not appear until after a filing date at the end of next week.

Town Democrats said they raised just over $95,000 during the same period.

HeliFlite Shares of Newark, N.J., was listed as contributing $5,000, as was MVRE, which shares the same Newark address. HeliFlite is among a group suing the Town of East Hampton hoping to overturn new noise-control measures.

The company provides charter helicopter service, including to East Hampton Airport. In 2013, its chief executive officer, Kurt Carlson, told Business Insider that a five-person trip from Newark to East Hampton would cost upward of $3,000 for the 40-minute ride.

HeliFlite has been tied through a New York attorney to the appearance last week of anti-Democratic-candidate door hangers being distributed by hired workers. The East Hampton Leadership Council, which said it was responsible for the effort, and gives an apartment address in New York City, has yet to file campaign finance disclosures.

Another big donor to the East Hampton Republicans was David Heller of Manhattan, a retired Goldman Sachs executive who gave $10,000. He is a member of HeliFlite’s board of directors.

During a debate Tuesday night sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Tom Knobel, the Republican Committee chairman who is running for supervisor, said that aviation interests “do not think the town is acting in good faith. They want to talk with someone who they think has an open mind.”

He also said that David Gruber, a one-time supervisor candidate himself and airport activist, had contributed more than $300,000 to the Democrats over the years.

In a phone interview yesterday, Mr. Gruber said that the money had overwhelmingly been spent on his own 2001 campaign for supervisor.

“The message is pretty clear that they want to elect a slate that will do their bidding,” Kathleen Cunningham, the director of the Quiet Skies Coalition, said yesterday. “It’s a little terrifying. It’s a lot of money.”

“Tom Knobel’s support of the aviation interests has always been very clear,” she said. The Republicans, she said, “want to take Federal Aviation Administration funding and lift the town’s restrictions on when loud aircraft can use it.”

According to the Democrats’ most recent disclosure, which covers July 12 through Sept. 28, the actor Alec Baldwin was among top donors to their Campaign 2015, contributing $5,000. Mr. Baldwin has a house in Amagansett and has been active in local preservation efforts and Democratic campaigns. He is a founder of the East Hampton Conservators, a political action committee that has overwhelmingly supported Democrats. Janet Ross of East Hampton gave $10,000.

Others giving large sums to the Democratic funds included Mr. Gruber, and Pat Trunzo, a former East Hampton Town councilman who has also been outspoken about airport noise.

Overall, Campaign 2015 accepted 130 individual contributions, as reported in the most recent filing. The Democrats’ other main fund had 33 individual contributions.

The East Hampton Town Republican Committee, the G.O.P.’s main fund-raising vehicle, listed 37 individual donations during the same period.

Margaret Turner, who is running for a seat on the East Hampton Town Board, accepted $1,000 each from Hampton Hangars of Wainscott as well as from two pilots who keep aircraft at the airport.

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To see campaign finance discosure reports of active committees supporting East Hampton candidates for the period of July 12 through Sept. 28, click on the links below. Committees not listed reported no activity for that period.

Campaign 2015 (Democrats)

East Hampton Town Democratic Committee

Friends of Larry Cantwell (Democrat)

East Hampton Town Republican Committee

Turner for Town Board (Margaret Turner, Republican)

Lisa Mulhern-Larsen (Republican candidate, East Hampton Town Board)

East Hampton Conservators (political action committee)