Government

With less than two weeks before the 2021 election was to be settled, the East Hampton Town Democrats had outspent their opponents by almost double and still had plenty left for a final push.

The East End was well represented when New York State Assembly committees considered testimony during a hearing on the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on the Open Meetings Law on Monday.

Two of the three candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor sparred anew at last Thursday's virtual debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and North Fork. The incumbent, Peter Van Scoyoc, and his opponent, Jeff Bragman, have sharply criticized each other throughout much of the latter's single, four-year term as a member of the town board.

There is little daylight between the three candidates for East Hampton Town Board who participated in last Thursday's debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork.

Legislation signed last week by Gov. Kathy Hochul promises to improve access to retirement plans for millions of New Yorkers at seemingly minimal impact to small businesses. The law, dubbed the New York State Secure Choice Savings Program Act, will require private sector employers with over 10 employees to automatically enroll their employees in a state-administered retirement savings plan.

County Legislator Bridget Fleming, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to represent New York's First Congressional District, has reported more than $468,000 raised and a raft of political and labor endorsements. 

The Republican and Conservative Party candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor and two council member posts held a forum for voters on Sunday at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett, where they made a case for their candidacies and leveled a broad critique of the present administration.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, who is seeking a third term in Tuesday's election, has won the endorsement of Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and County Legislator Bridget Fleming, as well as a pledge of support from Gov. Kathy Hochul and a complimentary statement from Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who also spoke highly of Mr. Van Scoyoc's challenger, Councilman Jeff Bragman.

A long-hoped-for project to remove the utility lines crisscrossing what may be one of the best views on Route 27 is finally within reach. State and local officials last week announced plans to remove poles and bury the lines at the western end of downtown Montauk, giving eastbound drivers an unobstructed ocean vista as they approach the heart of the hamlet.

A hearing on the town's proposed acquisition of three adjacent wooded lots on Green Hollow Road in East Hampton, using money from the community preservation fund — and $2.6 million from neighbors — drew almost as many opponents as supporters.

After a contentious debate and many months after the application was submitted, the East Hampton Town Trustees voted 5 to 3 on Monday to approve construction of an 80-foot floating dock on Three Mile Harbor, the first such approval in more than three decades.

Bridget Fleming, a Democratic incumbent Suffolk legislator and former Southampton Town councilwoman, is seeking a fourth term, challenged this year by Robert J. Carpenter, a Republican making his first bid for public office.

Retail cannabis dispensaries and lounges will not be popping up soon on Montauk Main Street, in Amagansett Square, or anywhere else in East Hampton Town if the town board follows through on plans to opt out of allowing adult-use retail sales and on-site cannabis consumption spots.

Medivolve, the company contracted by East Hampton Town to provide Covid-19 testing at sites in East Hampton and Montauk, will no longer operate those sites.

The East Hampton Town Board appears likely to temporarily close East Hampton Airport and reopen it as a publicly owned, private-use airport, with the understanding that conditions would have to be monitored for any unintended consequences of its goal to reduce noise and pollution. 

With the passage of new property maintenance rules on Friday, East Hampton Village landowners will now have to pay extra attention to litter, tree and shrub trimmings, stagnant water, and weeds that extend beyond their property lines.

Robert M. Cornicelli, a veteran and advocate for veterans and the developmentally disabled who is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination to represent New York’s First Congressional district, has announced that retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, a former national security adviser to President Trump, has endorsed his candidacy.

In an act of civil disobedience, commercial fishermen and their supporters once again drove onto the 4,000-foot stretch of Napeague sands known as Truck Beach on Sunday in defiance of a New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division decision barring them from doing so. Fourteen of them were cited for trespassing.

The nine-member East Hampton Town Trustees manage many of the town's beaches, waterways, and bottomlands on behalf of the public.

A Route 114 paving update, and a restocking of shellfish in Shinnecock Bay.

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn has announced that she raised more than $200,000 in the third quarter for her campaign for the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent New York’s First Congressional District.

Ms. Hahn’s fund-raising total “was overwhelmingly fueled by individual grassroots donors giving $100 or less,” according to a statement from her campaign, with a majority of contributions from donors living in the congressional district. She has now raised more than $450,000, according to the campaign.

East Hampton Village's chief lifeguard reported to the village board on Friday on the lifesaving efforts at beaches this summer. There were 179 rescues and no deaths.

In addition to the candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor, the town board, and the town trustees, there are four incumbents seeking re-election on the Nov. 2 ballot this year. All are running unopposed.

Five candidates, only one of them an incumbent, are competing for two seats on the East Hampton Town Board. Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, running on the Democratic and Working Families ticket with Cate Rogers, hopes to win a third term on the board. Also running are John Whelan on the Independence line, and Joe Karpinski and George Aman on the Republican and Conservative tickets.

The Nov. 2 election for East Hampton Town supervisor pits onetime allies, the incumbent, Peter Van Scoyoc, and Councilman Jeff Bragman, against each other, with the Republican and Conservative candidate Ken Walles also vying for the top job in town government.

Supervisor, Elect 1

Peter K. Van Scoyoc (D, W.F.)

Kenneth I. Walles (R, C)

Jeffrey Bragman (I)

Town Clerk

Carole A. Brennan (D, R, C)

Superintendent of Highways

Stephen K. Lynch (D, I)

Town Justice

Steven Tekulsky (D, R, C, W.F.)

Sarah Amaden has declared her intention to run on the NewTown Party ticket for one of the two East Hampton Village Board seats up for grabs in the June 2022 election.

East Hampton Town appears likely to ban the sale of balloons filled with helium or other lighter-than-air gas, following a public hearing last Thursday. The ban would take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

Baymen are planning a second act of civil disobedience on Sunday morning at a stretch on Napeague known as Truck Beach, protesting a State Supreme Court Appellate Division decision that it is privately owned and that residents have no inherent right to drive on it.

By a margin of 80 percent to 5 percent, commenters said the status quo at East Hampton Airport is unacceptable.