Chip Is Off The Bloc

The East Hampton Town Republican Committee will kick off its 1997 political campaign with a new chairman. Perry B. (Chip) Duryea 3d, who has led the organization for the last nine years, resigned Monday night at the party's annual convention, saying business and family obligations had to take precedence.

"When I took over the chairmanship, my life was a lot simpler," Mr. Duryea said yesterday.

Mr. Duryea was replaced at Monday's meeting by Frank Duffy, who has been vice chairman and is the owner of the Grill restaurant in East Hampton Village. Mr. Duffy, a former advertising executive, said the change had been discussed for some time.

Business Comes First

Mr. Duryea and his father are expanding the family's wholesale seafood distributorship and restaurant on Tuthill Road in Montauk. The family angered its neighbors when it closed access to their houses over a part of Tuthill Road in connection with its planned business expansion. In addition, word that the Duryeas had had discussions with the Cross Sound Ferry company about a South Fork ferry terminal on their property, which is on Fort Pond Bay, aroused some alarm.

Mr. Duryea will retain his committee seat for Montauk's Sixth Election District and said he expected to be involved somewhat in the coming campaign.

While the press and even the nominees for town office were barred from the convention, all reports said it went as planned.

As Expected

Town Councilman Thomas Knobel was nominated as expected to run for Supervisor, and Patricia Mansir, Planning Board chairwoman, was picked to run for his Town Board seat. Councilwoman Nancy McCaffrey also will seek a third term.

Ed Deyermond, the Southampton Town Assessor and a Sag Harbor Village Trustee, had been interviewed by the committee as a potential nominee. He said yesterday he withdrew from the process "for personal reasons" and wished the nominees "all the best on Election Day."

The committee also endorsed Kevin McCrudden, a public relations consultant from Southampton, to run against County Legislator George Guldi, a Democrat going after his third term. The Southampton Town Committee is to hold its convention at 7 tonight at the Southampton Inn. Mr. McCrudden is expected to get the nod there as well.

Rousing Speech

In East Hampton, committee members said Mr. Knobel arrived at the convention after its formalities were done and gave an impassioned speech that twice brought the committee to its feet.

Mr. Knobel will face the Democratic incumbent, Supervisor Cathy Lester, in what promises to be a fiery contest. Both are former Town Trustees, and Ms. Lester has been vehement in opposition to Mr. Knobel's work to increase the Trustees' jurisdiction.

He told The Star Tuesday that he intended "to run a campaign that is inclusive of everyone. I'm not going to reach for one splinter group or another because I believe playing off second-home owners, or senior citizens, or some other group is wrong."

"And, I want to put an end once and for all to this nonsense that just one party is good for the environment," he said.

The Town Democratic Committee has postponed its convention, apparently to early June. Job Potter and Roberta Gosman Donovan, both Planning Board members, are said to be the favorites to run against Mrs. Mansir and Mrs. McCaffrey.

Mrs. Mansir said she hoped her campaign would address "everything from day care for children to senior citizen care, and the person in the middle who is the care giver." She also said she was pondering ways to address "the survival of the middle class and reducing bureaucracy" in town government. Both are familiar goals for the local G.O.P.

Robert Savage, the town attorney, was nominated by the Republicans to run for Town Justice and James Bennett for Highway Superintendent, seats they had pursued unsuccessfully in 1995. Robert Kouffman, an attorney and former East Hampton Village prosecutor, was also interviewed for the Justice nomination.

Judicial Race

Mr. Savage, who lost to Justice Roger Walker last time, is now seeking to unseat Administrative Justice Catherine Cahill, a former co-worker in the District Attorney's East End Bureau. He was appointed town attorney by the Republican majority on the Town Board shortly after his defeat and committee members said he had been in mind for a second shot at the bench since then.

Judicial races are normally more restrained and civilized than other political contests, the candidates held in check by rules of ethics that do not pertain to others. But the race between Mr. Savage and Justice Cahill already is giving off some sparks.

Last winter, she wrote a memo to the Town Ethics Board, criticizing his representing private clients in Justice Court while serving as town attorney. The Ethics Board declined to look into the matter, after Mr. Savage notified Justice Court that he had turned all his East Hampton cases over to another firm.

Mr. Bennett is making his second charge at Christopher Russo, the Democratic Highway Superintendent who has been elected four times since 1989. Town Assessor Fred Overton will seek a third term. His opponent is yet to be named.

Edwina Cooke, an accountant from Wainscott, will go up against Town Clerk Fred Yardley, a Democrat with two four-year terms under his belt. Mrs. Cooke is a nonvoting member of the G.O.P committee, and her husband holds a committee seat.

The Republicans, who have held a majority on the Trustees for many years, nominated seven of their eight incumbents.

Leon Overton, the Assessor's brother, declined to run after being elected an assistant chief of the Springs Fire Department.

Trustee Slate

The incumbents who will run are Diane Mamay, the Clerk, James McCaffrey, the Councilwoman's husband, William Ritter, Gordon Vorpahl, Joshua (Jack) Edwards, John Carley, and Joseph Bloecker, the only Trustee from Montauk.

He will be joined on the ballot by Sylvia Murphy, a political neophyte and resident of the same hamlet. Born and raised in Peru, she works in the Town Housing Office. Bill Mott, who works for Pulver Gas, will take the ninth slot.

With its ticket established, the Republicans have begun to set their campaign in motion. George Cafiso, an Assessor, was named campaign chairman, Councilman Len Bernard was picked to lead the group that will write this year's platform, and Sam Story, the owner of Three Mile Harbor Boat Yard, will head the fund-raising effort.

Role Vague

Elected officials, such as Mr. Cafiso and Mr. Bernard, were forced to resign from the committee two years ago, when a law declared it a conflict of interest for Republicans and Democrats alike. They are not, however, precluded from playing a role in campaigns.

Mr. Duryea was vague about what role he would play. "This is the proper time for me to take a secondary position. It's become such a big job. There are 14,000 voters in town, campaigning has become very sophisticated, expensive, and time-consuming and should have someone in charge who can devote his full energies," he said.