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Politics & Government

Independence Party Names Southampton Town Slate

Town Board nominations reflect the Democratic picks, but other races are a mixed bag.

Southampton Town Independence Party Chairman Fred Thiele Jr. on Friday introduced his party's selected candidates — a mix of its own registered members with both Democrats and Republicans — and he promised that the third party would be a formidable force in the 2013 campaign.

"In the 12 slots, we've actually endorsed 11 candidates," Thiele said. "There are four members of the Independence Party, there are four Democrats and there are three Republicans."

The party only named four candidates for town trustee, while five seats are being contested. In addition to 12 town positions that will be on the ballot, at the county level the Suffolk Independence Party has endorsed incumbent Legislator Jay Schneiderman.

The Independence slate for Town Board is the same as the Democrats' choices: Brad Bender and Francis Zappone for two Town Council seats and Anna Throne-Holst, a two-term incumbent, for supervisor.

Throne-Holst, of Noyac, is a member of the Independence Party, as is Brad Bender, of Northampton, who also ran two years ago, but came in third in a race for two seats. Francis Zappone, of Shinnecock Hills, is the deputy town supervisor and a Democrat.

Bender noted Friday, during the endorsement announcements at Oakland's in Hampton Bays, that he was 45 votes short on Election Night in 2011 and 95 votes shy when the final tally was taken — a deficit he hopes to overcome in 2013. Throne-Holst was the only name on the ballot for supervisor two years ago, though she faced a write-in challenge from Linda Kabot, a Quogue Republican and former town supervisor.  Zappone, who is a past chairman of the Southampton, Tuckahoe, Shinnecock Hills Citizens Advisory Committee and retired from serving as a school principal in Westchester, is making his first run for public office.

Throne-Holst is facing Kabot at the polls for the third time. Zappone and Bender face Republican candidates Stan Glinka, of Hampton Bays, and Jeff Mansfield, of Bridgehampton.  Incumbent Councilman Chris Nuzzi hit his term limit and Councilman Jim Malone decided not to seek a second term.

Speaking of the Town Board ticket and the Independence Party's entire slate, Throne-Holst said, "This is a really good lineup and I look forward to running right beside all of you, and putting forward what I think we represent, which is an independent, non-political, public service approach to our jobs."

In what Thiele predicted will be "the most competitive of all the races," the Independence Party has  endorsed four candidates for five trustee seats. The Southampton Town Trustees regulate water access and issues under the authority of a document called that Dongan Patent that pre-dates the Constitution.

Of the four candidates picked, there are two incumbents: Bill Pell, who is an Independence Party member, and Eric Shultz, who is a new Democrat, having switched his party affiliation following a falling out with the Republicans during the 2011 campaign.

Shultz, who is seeking a 10th two-year term, said, "I'm looking forward to continuing to do the job as trustee — to keep our waters pure." He resides in East Quogue.

Pell, a Tuckahoe resident who wants a third term, said the trustees share the goal of saving beach access, saving the water and saving "the last clam."

Also receiving the Independence backing are Scott Horowitz, an East Quogue Republican, who is making his second consecutive run for trustee, and Howard Pickerell, of North Sea, a Democrat who last ran for office 22 years ago as a Town Council candidate while Thiele was running for town supervisor on the Southampton Party line.

"I've been working hard as a town Conservation Board member for the last few years, protecting wetlands and water quality, and I'm looking forward to being able to move over to the trustee board to expand that work," Horowitz said.

Pickerell said, "I've been on the water all my life, and I'm going to do my darnedest to help our community and our water systems."

The Democrats have given their trustee endorsements to Shultz, Pell, Pickerell, John Bouvier, of Westhampton, and incumbent Trustee Fred Havemeyer, who, like Shultz, is a Democrat but formerly a Republican. The GOP endorsed Horowitz, incumbent Trustee Ed Warner, and Ray Overton and Cornelius Kelly. Kelly, of East Quogue, had an unsuccessful campaign for county legislator in 2011.

Incumbent Legislator Jay Schneiderman, of Montauk, received his party's nomination for a sixth term in the County Legislature, which would be his last if elected, due to term limits. Schneiderman was a Republican when he was first elected to his seat nearly 10 years ago, but in 2008 he switched his registration to the Independence Party. Since he left the GOP, the Montauk resident gained the backing of the Suffolk Democrats.

 "When I started out, switching to an 'I' was a little lonely," Schneiderman said. I'm in great company now; it's really grown."

Nuzzi, a Westhampton Beach Republican, is challenging Schneiderman.

The Independence Party also renewed its support for party member Alex Gregor, of Hampton Bays, the town's incumbent highway superintendent.

"I really appreciate the chance the public gave me four years ago to be their highway superintendent," Gregor said. "I've done the best that I can and I want to continue.  I have a vision, trying to fix as much as I can while I'm here with the support that I have, so I look forward to the road ahead."

Gregor faces Republican nominee David Betts, of North Sea, who is the chief town investigator for Southampton's code enforcement department.

The Independence Party joins both major parties in crossendorsing incumbent Town Justices Barbara Wilson and Deborah Kooperstein and incumbent Town Clerk Sundy Schermeyer.

"We've endorsed this, kind of, rainbow coalition of candidates," Thiele said. "We don't perceive our work as ending here, simply because we've endorsed them, then leaving the campaign to the two major parties. The Independence Party is going to be an active participant as an entity in this campaign.  We're going to raise money, we're going to work for our candidates, and work hard.  It is our goal to get every single one of these people elected becaue that's what is best for the town of Southampton."

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