Voters in East Hampton Village will go to the polls to fill two open seats on the village board on June 21. There are three seeking the two spots: Arthur (Tiger) Graham, an incumbent trustee who is the Fish Hooks Party's sole candidate, Carrie Doyle, who currently serves on the village's zoning board of appeals, and Sarah Amaden, a newcomer to politics. Ms. Doyle and Ms. Amaden are both running on Mayor Jerry Larsen's NewTown Party line. Rose Brown, a trustee since 2018, chose not to seek re-election.
For the first time in at least 40 years, perhaps the first time since the village was incorporated in 1922, a candidate's nominating petitions were challenged. Mayor Larsen had called Mr. Graham's petitions fraudulent; however, a nonpartisan review team at the Suffolk County Board of Elections disagreed.
Mr. Graham, who was first elected to the village board in 2017 and re-elected the year after, retired from a career on Wall Street, where he spent 35 years as a bond salesman. A year-round resident of the village since 2003, he has often been the lone voice of dissent on the board, on which the NewTown party currently has a 3-to-2 majority.
"Incumbency has its advantages of having the experience of working on the board," Mr. Graham said at a recent debate hosted by the Express News Group.
He has repeatedly voiced concern at board meetings about the "lack of transparency" in Mayor Larsen's administration, and sees addressing this as his main priority as a trustee. "It is really important that we have independent voices in the village," he commented during the debate, suggesting that should he lose, leaving the board with five members of the same party, residents could expect little back-and-forth discussion of important issues.
Mr. Graham strongly believes that the board's work sessions, canceled by Mr. Larsen in September, should be reinstated and that the public should be invited to attend. He criticized the Monday-morning meetings between the mayor and deputy mayor, Chris Minardi, with the heads of village departments, who together, he said, set village policy without input from other board members. None of the department heads are elected officials, he pointed out. Mayor Larsen, he charged, decides what's to be done at those meetings and then "tries to ram it through at the next board meeting."
For example, Mr. Graham said, adding sewers to the downtown area is important, but the mayor's original plan to fund it fully from paid parking may not be feasible. Instead. he said, a "usage bond" would be a good idea. Taxpayers should kick in for the sewers, he said, since they will reap the benefits. As for work-force housing, he would have the village partner with the Town of East Hampton to create it, he said, because "it's unsustainable for us to import all of our workers from Manorville."
Mayor Larsen "would like anyone in the village other than me to serve," Mr. Graham concluded, but "I signed up for this, and I'm not a quitter."
Ms. Doyle has served on the village's Z.B.A. since last summer. A relative newcomer to village politics, she is the only candidate who splits time between the city and the village. She said that Mayor Larsen's NewTown party had inspired her to run, and that, as an empty nester, she has the flexibility and time to devote to the board.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ms. Doyle launched the Russian edition of Harper's Bazaar Magazine in Moscow, serving there as managing editor and later becoming the founding editor in chief of the Russian edition of Marie Claire. Moscow in the '90s was a "free-for-all," she said; working there, she "learned a lot."
She feels second-home owners, who, according to village administrator Marcos Baladron, made up 87 percent of the population of the village pre-Covid, need a voice on the board.
Her main priority, if elected, would be to help create a vibrant commercial center. In April, she said by email, she "went around and photographed every single empty storefront. There were 20." During the debate, she stressed that "people want a village with stores." High-end retailers, like Gucci, are often maligned, she noted, but they're open year round. She would like to work with landlords to chart a course for more shops to open here, and stay open.
The village needs a master plan, said Ms. Doyle, that would address its overall aesthetic, right on down to "small alleyways." She disagrees with Mr. Graham on the question of board transparence. "The board gets the agenda a week in advance," she noted at the debate, and pointed out that despite his criticism, Mr. Graham, with just four exceptions, has always voted with the mayor.
Mr. Graham responded, "You can't vote 'No' all the time," and said it was important to "choose what hill you want to die on."
Ms. Doyle also disagreed with Mr. Graham regarding the money for downtown sewers. She does not believe villagers should be taxed, though sewers, she said, were crucial to East Hampton. She did agree with Mr. Graham, however, that the public work sessions should be re-established.
Sarah Amaden is a newcomer to politics who has lived in the village for 20 years. Her three children all attended the public schools here; her husband, James Amaden, is a volunteer fireman. Her first priority, she said, is to bring the community together. "I've always felt we need a community welcoming center," she said by phone. "People want to be plugged into the community; they just don't know how." One goal, she said, is to help bridge the divide between summer and year-round residents.
Ms. Amaden cited the new events happening at Main Beach, the relocation of the farmers market to Herrick Park, the recent 5K run, and the centennial parade as proof that the community was indeed coming together. "So many people came out for the 5K race," she said. She intends, she added, to learn from village residents by speaking with them in person, on a sort of listening tour. "Zoom can be a veil," she said.
On transparence and the prospect of a five-person NewTown Party board, Ms. Amaden said that "Carrie and I are both strong women, and we're not just there to agree with what everyone says."
The trustees can help East Hampton "stay within the historical mind-set of the village," she said, but "allow progress in a way that people can thrive."
Like Ms. Doyle and Mr. Graham, Ms. Amaden supports the return of the village board's work sessions.
