Cantwell to Bid Adieu

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell announced on Friday that he would not seek a third term.

The announcement was made to members of the media who had been invited to join him at Goldberg’s Famous Bagels in East Hampton. Mr. Cantwell, a Democrat, said that after weighing his options over the holidays, he decided he wanted to spend more time with his family.

“I don’t have specific plans,” he said. “I’m not leaving this to do something new and exciting, other than to take time off and enjoy myself.”

Mr. Cantwell, who is 66, said that in his two terms as town supervisor he had put the public’s interest first and that his personal and private interests had “taken a backseat to that. I want my family’s interests and my interests to get in the driver’s seat.”

He said he had enjoyed every bit of what he has done as supervisor and planned to work hard for the remainder of his term, through December.  Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said Mr. Cantwell had told him of his decision last Thursday evening. “I am disappointed that he will not be seeking another term. Larry has done a terrific job as supervisor and the town is in great shape right now,” he said.

“Larry has been an extraordinary leader for East Hampton and I am sorry that he has decided not to run again,” Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, who was re-elected to a four-year term on the town board in 2015, wrote in an email on Friday afternoon. “I agree with Larry’s inclusive style of governing and feel fortunate to have served with him.” As for her own plans, “I will consult with others, including my family,” she said.

Among Mr. Cantwell’s priorities for the remainder of his term is to pass legislation that would help residents upgrade failing septic systems, which are polluting groundwater and harbors and bays, and “a specific plan to begin replacing cesspools.”

He wants to press the Army Corps of Engineers on its Montauk beach-replenishment project. He said the next steps would include a maintenance plan prepared by the town. “We’ll see whether or not they will listen to the town and other residents in Montauk about what the best option would be going forward,” he said.

Regarding East Hampton Airport, Mr. Cantwell said the town had acted with good faith and worked diligently to put noise restrictions in place. “That approach was taken to keep the airport open, by the way, not to close the airport.” In November, however, the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan barred the town from enforcing three 2015 laws aimed at addressing excessive aircraft noise, siding with an aviation group called Friends of East Hampton Airport.

“Frankly,” Mr. Cantwell said Friday, “that has taken some of the tools we thought we had the power to enact away from us.” One approach the town could take, he said, was to persuade the aviation industry to enact voluntary restrictions. Another was federal legislation hat would grant the town the right to enact local restrictions. “We’re going to pursue that by working with our U.S. Senators and our U.S. Congress,” the supervisor said. The town has hired a lawyer to petition the Supreme Court to hear its appeal.

  In his final year as supervisor, Mr. Cantwell said he would continue to press the state and the Long Island Power Authority to approve offshore wind farms. Concern about the environmental impacts posed by the construction and operation of offshore wind farms is “overstated,” he suggested, but he hopes to get Deepwater Wind, the company that hopes to build a wind farm 30 miles from Montauk, to meet with fishermen and discuss it.

He said that, if anything, the election of Donald J. Trump as president would have motivated him to stay on.

Mr. Cantwell feels good, he said, about having established a constructive dialogue on the town board and between it and the public, “something that was especially needed after the prior town boards.” The board has been focused on problems, “as opposed to political gamesmanship,” he said, “and as a result the public is more engaged, I think, in helping us make some of the decisions. You could argue with decisions that we’ve made, but I think you’d be hard pressed to argue that we haven’t set a tone of cooperation.”

Mr. Cantwell said he had spoken with other board members regarding a successor, perhaps one of their number. “They’re elected, they have a track record, and they have some experience. And I think any one of the three current Democrats on the board would all make a good supervisor,” he said of Mr. Van Scoyoc, Ms. Overby, and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who said later on Friday that she would not be interested in the position. The town supervisor’s post is a two-year term.

Councilman Fred Overton, an Independent, whose term is coming to a close, has said he will not seek re-election.

Mr. Cantwell was elected to his second term as supervisor in November 2015 by a wide margin over Tom Knobel, the Republican candidate. That year’s race was notable as the most expensive ever in East Hampton Town, as hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent by aviation interests to attack the Democratic candidates, who favored the airport restrictions.

Reg Cornelia, chairman of the East Hampton Republican Committee, said that Mr. Cantwell’s announcement presents an opportunity for his party. “I was surprised,” he said on Tuesday. “I thought Larry had his teeth into it and was going to keep going. It certainly opens doors for us, assuming I can come up with a candidate.”

Mr. Cantwell ran unopposed in 2013. He “would have been extremely hard to beat, as he proved in the last election,” Mr. Cornelia said. “I think he’s done some things right and some things wrong. But it definitely shakes things up a bit.” The Republicans were to hold their monthly meeting last night, but screening of candidates for office has yet to be scheduled. “We’re really just beginning,” Mr. Cornelia said.

“Larry’s done a great job, and I’m glad he’s giving us another year,” Jeanne Frankl, chairwoman of the East Hampton Democrats, wrote in an email,  “particularly this important one, when we have a chance to build consensus and move forward with challenging priorities like water protection, sustainability, erosion control, and affordable housing, to mention a few. After that, I hope he’ll be a wise counselor to his admirers in the community.”

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With Reporting by David E. Rattray