Arthur Graham, an East Hampton Village trustee and a candidate for mayor in the June 16 election, and David Driscoll, his running mate on the Fish Hooks Party ticket who is vying for one of two open board seats, talked in an interview on Sunday about how they would govern, and what it will take for the village to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I think we’re a lot closer to the end than we are the beginning,” Mr. Graham said. Once there is more widespread testing, which can identify who has contracted and possibly developed immunity to the coronavirus, “we can open up a lot faster, as long as we maintain social distancing and mask-wearing in public.” Based on his reading of newspapers and other reports, he said, “I think there are a lot more people who have developed antibodies, either from having a light case or from having been asymptomatic.”
“To get the village to bounce back, you have to get the people to bounce back,” Mr. Graham said. “We need to create the atmosphere in which people are confident that they can be safe. If people are confident they’re safe, they’ll go out and spend money and go to restaurants.”
The local response to the pandemic has been led by county and state officials, but Mr. Driscoll, who served in the New York City Police Department for 38 years, said village government also has a key role to play during such a crisis. “It puts the spotlight on planning,” he said. “We had a heads-up about what was coming down the pike, and early on you should plan for the worst case. On the local level, you get together and do resiliency training for all the departments.”
Mr. Graham, who is vying against Barbara Borsack, the deputy mayor, and Jerry Larsen, a former East Hampton Village police chief, cited his more than 30-year career at a large investment firm in New York City as excellent preparation for the role of mayor. “I ran a very large national sales force, and ran trading desks,” he said. “My experience managing people and operations gives me the background, the temperament, and the ability to react to different situations. And I think that also applies to David. The two of us really are the professionals in this race. I don’t think you can say any other candidate has the depth of experience that we do.”
“Life experience and professional experience matter,” said Mr. Driscoll, who would be a newcomer to the board. He is competing for a seat against Mayor Richard Lawler and Ray Harden (Ms. Borsack’s running mates), and Sandra Melendez and Chris Minardi (Mr. Larsen’s). His time on the police force has trained him in “planning, analysis, management, and execution,” said Mr. Driscoll, adding that he also learned to appreciate “the importance of having the community as a full partner.”
To broaden the village board’s community outreach, Mr. Driscoll proposes organizing town hall-style question-and-answer sessions, including talks with congregants following religious services. He also said board members should have more interaction with business owners. “This village has some of the brightest and most creative people anywhere,” he said. “As a board, our problem-solving capacity would be enhanced by efforts like that.”
Mr. Graham said his decisions as mayor would be “data-driven,” citing the village board’s recent decision to acquire a mobile parking-enforcement system for police use. Before deciding how to create more parking in the village, he would use the new system to analyze the current parking situation, he said. “I want to see the data of who’s parking in the lots, and how long they’re staying, then we can see what the demand really is. There may be 40 cars that are parking there all day and doing the two-hour shuffle,” that is, parking for the maximum amount of time, then leaving and immediately re-entering.
He said he would explore the possibility of giving people the option to pay for a third hour of parking, but that he is not in favor of Mr. Larsen's proposal to charge for all parking. “He’s suggesting $3 an hour for parking. My wife would be down at Village Hall with a pitchfork if she had to pay $3 to go to Stop and Shop,” said Mr. Graham. “So now the stick of butter that costs her $2 will cost her $5. I don’t think paid parking is going to fly with residents.”
He also took issue with a recent campaign email from Ms. Borsack stating that "Our party, the Elms Party, is the only one that can say we are all lifelong, full time residents of this village.”
“Isn’t that nice?” asked Mr. Graham, who said he has lived in the village since 1980. “I would have loved to have been born here, it’s a great place to live. But had I been born here, I probably wouldn’t be the person I am now, and to say only people who were born here can run this village is kind of isolationist. I love this village as much as anyone.”
Mr. Driscoll, echoed that response and noted that he has been coming to the village since he was a child, and had been the longtime co-owner of the Chowder Bowl snack bar at Main Beach. “I’ve been plugged into this community for as long as I can remember,” he said.
The candidates would both like to see the police play a more active role in making traffic flow more smoothly through the village. They are also eager to look at the village code to amend outdated regulations, such as the one that got Colleen Moeller, the owner of the Petit Blue children’s store, in trouble for placing a stuffed animal in front of her business in an effort to attract customers.
“If Petit Blue wants to have a golden retriever with a welcome sign on their property, you know what, I’m fine with that,” said Mr. Graham. “But I don’t want to see her put up neon lights with big arrows with, you know: 'Shop Here.'”
The village has developed a reputation for being unfriendly to businesses, but Mr. Driscoll said it’s unfounded. “Most residents in this village like a downtown that has interesting stores, and choices of places to eat,” he said.
“There’s a balance to be struck with everything,” said Mr. Graham. "Many shop owners in the village are not voters in the village, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice. I’m open to what is in the best interest of the village.”
That includes helping out the historic inns, which have been clamoring for permission to hold outdoor gatherings and to provide expanded services.
“I’m not in favor of turning the inns into Montauk,” Mr. Graham said. “I am in favor of allowing the inns to leverage their positions to make some money, but you can’t destroy the neighborhood.”
During Paul F. Rickenbach Jr.’s tenure as mayor, Mr. Graham said, “if he didn’t want something to happen it probably didn’t happen. When I’m mayor, just because I don’t want something doesn’t mean I’ll stop it if the public wants it and the rest of board wants it. I will allow any board member to place any item on the agenda at any meeting, because if somebody thinks we need to talk about it, then, guess what, we need to talk about it."
“I like to say, reasonable people can come up with reasonable solutions to any problem. I’ve been doing that my whole life, and I’m willing to keep on doing that.”
