Burke Gonzalez, Leon I East Hampton Town Top Post

Regardless of who wins when the Suffolk County Board of Elections releases unofficial vote counts Tuesday night, the Town of Easthampton will have a new supervisor, and she’ll be a woman. Councilwoman Kathy Burke-Gonzalez, who serves as deputy superintendent, is running on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines to replace Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, who announced earlier this year that he would retire from town government. She will face Republican and Conservative candidate Gretta Leon, a political newcomer. During interviews last month, both candidates talked about their challenges, work, and their backgrounds.

Kathy Burke-Gonzalez (D-Westfield)

“I think I have the best job in the world,” Councilwoman Kathy Burke Gonzalez said of her 10 years on town council. “I love public service and giving back to the community.” She served on the Springs School Board nine times, the last two as president, and before that had a career in advertising. There is. “I have the skill set to move the town forward,” she said.

The Valley Stream native married and moved to Montauk in 1996. She and her husband, Joe Gonzalez, soon purchased a home in Springs “because she was attracted to Springs School.” We were going to start a family. ”

In discussing the issues facing the town, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez first cited climate change adaptation. Stabilizing Montauk’s downtown beach is a short-term solution to protect the easternmost hamlet’s commercial core ahead of the long-awaited Fire Island to Montauk Point redevelopment project, she said. . The project will begin here in the coming months and the beach will be visible. It is reinforced with 450,000 cubic yards of sand.

“Long term, we have to plan how we adapt to climate change,” she said, adding that the town is working with New York to “help hire consultants to have that conversation.” It has applied for a $600,000 state grant. The strategy is expected to include beach, dune and cliff restoration. Preventing infrastructure from flooding and elevating some roads. “We have to do a lot of research on managed retreat,” she said, noting the town board adopted the Coastal Assessment Resilience Plan (CARP). This is a document with an eye toward the next 20 to 30 years, and the time has come.

“I’m also really proud of our environmental record,” Burke-Gonzalez said. “We continue to utilize community conservation funds to purchase open space, recreational and agricultural properties for shoreline protection and historic preservation.” She added that they are actively using some of the available CPF funds for water quality projects to address the issue of water quality. Following the council’s declaration of a climate emergency, she said, “and we will continue to be guided by the removal of greenhouse gases.”

Although the pace of upgrades to the town’s emergency and personal wireless communications infrastructure has received much criticism, Burke-Gonzalez said Town Hall is taking a “very methodical approach” to upgrading existing infrastructure. He said he is hiring consultants to carry out inventory, mapping and evaluation. We created a coverage map to identify gaps and conducted a poll with over 1,600 respondents for Tower. “All of this information helped us rewrite the radio code, streamline the approval process, and bring it into line with federal regulations.” A second public hearing was held on October 19 to seek comments on the draft Wireless Communications Master Plan, which recommends solutions to the coverage gap.

Opponents on the board also criticized the pace of construction of the new senior center, which will replace the more than 100-year-old building on Springs Fireplace Road. The seniors “initially wanted to stay where they are,” she said. She “realized there wasn’t enough land out there,” and when the train trestle went up, “you could see the big cars going over there, and the redevelopment of the corridor took place.”

The town has acquired seven acres of land along Abrahams Pass in Amagansett where the new center will be built. “I think it’s important to point out that projects are most successful when there is active community involvement,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said. Community Her workshops were held in-person and via video conferencing, and “people really got their voices heard.”

Different segments of the community, mainly the elderly. ” The new center is scheduled to be completed in December 2025.

Some residents have criticized the pace of action to address the severe shortage of affordable housing. “If you look at our track record, since 2020, we have delivered and built over 100 new affordable apartments and homes,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said. She has 50 homes under construction on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, another 50 on Route 114, and 50 homes on Pantigo Road in a development known as Cantwell Court. It pointed to “ongoing projects” that include 16 residential units. The initiative, announced in early 2022, states: “The big change for us was that the superintendent declared housing all-hands, and we started sharing responsibilities and working on different projects. I think so.”

Easthampton voters last year passed a Community Housing Fund proposal that would allow a 0.5% tax on some real estate transfers, in addition to the Community Preservation Fund’s 2% transfer tax on real estate transactions. It is expected to raise between $4 million and $6 million in 2024. This “will help get the project off the ground,” she says, but “the price per apartment is estimated at about $500,000,” or $25 million for 50 units. “I think we’ll be working with other groups,” she said of discussions with the school district and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which is building an emergency department near City Hall. our community. ”

Ms. Burke-Gonzalez also noted efforts to provide mental health services to youth. When she ran for City Council in 2013, school officials “sounded the alarm that kids were in trouble.” The Southfork Behavioral Health Initiative was established, and the Family Services League and Phoenix House are providing support to students. “We were facing a mental health crisis before COVID-19, and it has only made it worse.

. . . We started a community-wide conversation about what our kids are experiencing: cyberbullying, dating challenges, whether they’re in healthy relationships, and what parents should be aware of when it comes to vaping. Ta. That’s something I’m really proud of. ” She also worked with town welfare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing about 88,000 meals “because we wanted to keep seniors safe in their homes.”

If she is elected supervisor, she says, “I look forward to working with the department heads and staff. They bring a lot of expertise and knowledge and care about our community. I am a collaborative and I aim to take an approach, that’s my leadership style.

“I’m a huge supporter of community involvement,” she added. “We will move forward together.”

Gretta Leon (Republican)

When asked why she wanted to become a supervisor, Gretta Leon said, “I grew up here.” “I love this place. It’s a dream, but it’s also hard to stay here. I’m participating to see the change. It’s been a long time…I want future generations to stay here. We really want people to enjoy living there and be part of the community. And we want generations of local families to stay here.”

Local residents have been forced to evacuate, she said, and some, including herself, are struggling to stay. “We have to try to keep up with everything. I don’t want to leave, I don’t want people to leave. I’m so tired of the turnover that’s happening in the city. I think it’s the economic I don’t think it’s good for people. It’s not good for people. If you want to live here, you should be able to live here.”

The current town council “doesn’t really listen to the residents,” she said. Residents have voiced their concerns at town hall meetings, and “I feel like she’s not listening to the needs of the community,” she said. She says, “We did the research,” but she doesn’t say, “We’ll look into it. We’ll take your opinion into account.” I think they forgot what their place was and let us down. People vote for them and give them the post. That’s where they’ve let us down, they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing: leading the community and really considering what everyone needs. ”

As supervisor, she “will improve the quality of life here,” she said. “It goes hand-in-hand with affordability, which is a big problem. We have an affordable housing problem and these huge houses are disproportionate to their lot. “That big I don’t think anyone needs a home.” She also addressed overdevelopment and water quality, saying, “Part of the CPF is directly impacting water quality and we’re not seeing any progress.” So it’s insane to me.” Many years have passed. ”

As a resident speaking at the board meeting, “I’ll say what I’ve always said: We need to help business owners thrive and focus on issues of affordability.”

— and because small business owners are also struggling. Our first responders need more support and more staff. We need more teachers. But it all comes back to the question of affordability. How can we make this town more affordable, stop pandering to one side, and actually become a community? It’s not a short-term solution, it’s not about putting a Band-Aid on something. It is a long-term solution for future generations. ”

“I know it sounds like I’m complaining,” Leon said. My generation doesn’t live here. ” She said she is able to live in this town because her parents allow her to do so, and she lives with her parents. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to afford a $1 million, $2 million, $3 million home.” Wages and salaries in town don’t match the cost of living, she says. “For people to stay here, we need to create a livable wage. That means opening our eyes to creating more jobs, perhaps not just trade jobs but white-collar jobs. “Improved transportation infrastructure will not only help create jobs, but also allow people to commute to Up Island, where there are more job opportunities,” she said.

Leon came to East Hampton when he was one month old. She is a Doctor of Dental Science and holds a Master’s degree in Project Management. “In dentistry, you have to deal with a lot of people,” she says, and she is both a researcher and a problem solver. “You have to look for different ways to solve a problem.” Dentists run small businesses, she noted. “You have employees.”

Her master’s degree “has a lot to do with scope work, timelines, and problem solving. Planning, researching, considering, and seeking long-term solutions. . . . Leadership is really about relying on other people’s opinions.” It’s about listening, taking into account, improving something and incorporating that train of thought into the thinking of others. We can’t do anything on our own, we always depend on each other. doing.”

Leung said people were tired of not being heard and explained the imbalance between the government and the people. “Things aren’t getting better, they’re only getting worse,” she asked her opponent. “Where have you been?” After all, you’ve been on the town board for 10 years. If you’re already in government and you have the power to lobby high-level officials and take some positive action yourself, why haven’t you done it yet? That’s what led me to this campaign. It is a guiding motive. ”

This year in East Hampton Town, people will also vote in races for two town board members, nine town councilors and one town judge. Candidates for town assessor and highway superintendent have mutual support from both parties. Early voting continues through Sunday. The Windmill Village apartment complex, located at 219 Akabonack Road in East Hampton, is the town’s early voting location.