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Early voting starts Saturday in Nassau, Suffolk primaries

By Newsday StaffJune 11, 2023

This story was reported by Vera Chinese, Brinley Hineman and Joe Werkmeister and written by Chinese.

Two candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the First Legislative District in Suffolk County will face off in a primary on June 27, as will Democratic candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for Shelter Island Town supervisor and Long Beach City Council.

Early voting will take place from June 17 through June 25 with poll locations in Riverhead, Southampton, Peconic, Shelter Island, Yaphank, Long Beach and Mineola.

On Election Day, polls will be open 6 a.m.-9 p.m. That also is the last day for absentee ballots to be postmarked and mailed to county boards of election.

In Suffolk’s 1st Legislative District, which includes the North Fork, Shelter Island, Flanders and a portion of Brookhaven Town, Catherine Stark and GregoryWilliams are seeking the Republican nomination in the race to replace Legis. Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue). Krupski, who is not seeking reelection, is running for Southold Town supervisor.

Stark, 60, of Riverhead, has worked in Suffolk County government since 1996, including in the administration of former GOP County Executive Robert Gaffney, and has served as Krupski’s chief of staff for the past 10 years. She has the backing of the county Republican Party, which is trying to hold onto its 11-7 majority in the county legislature.

Williams, 50, of Cutchogue, is a former Southold Town trustee who has owned the bicycle shop Country Time Cycle in Mattituck since 1997.

The winner of the primary will face former Riverhead Town Council Member Catherine Kent, a Democrat, in the Nov. 7 election. County legislators, who serve part-time, earn $107,051 a year and are elected for two-year terms. Under county law, they are limited to six terms.

Stark says if elected she would focus on environmental protection, public safety funding, maintaining local control over zoning and other issues.

Stark also said she would push for to change state law to codify how county sales tax revenue is distributed among county, town and village police departments. The Suffolk County executive determines how the money is split. Each of the five East End towns has its own police department.

“From when I worked for the county executive, we have always fought for the fair share [of funding] for public safety on the East End,” Stark said of her time working in the community services and intergovernmental relations division in Gaffney's administration.

Williams said he was focused on improving traffic flow, continuing land preservation efforts and streamlining the county permitting process.

Williams he hoped to encourage town, county and state officials to work together on solutions to the North Fork’s heavy summer and fall traffic. He also wants a shortened timeline for business owners to get permits from agencies such as the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

“All my issues are based on quality-of-life concerns for the residents,” Williams said.

Four Democrats are competing in a primary for Long Beach City Council.

The primary and the November election, when three council seats will be up for election, come as the city searches for a new city manager and grapples with a nearly 10% property tax hike, the largest in years.

Incumbents Elizabeth M. Treston, Karen A. McInnis and Tina M. Posterli, and challenger James E. Hodge, are running in the June 27 Democratic primary for three spots on the general election ballot.

The winners will face off against Republicans Brendan P. Finn, Christopher Fiumara and Michael Reinhart in the November election.

The top two vote-getters in November will be elected to four-year terms, while the third-place candidate will win a two-year term. City Council members are paid $21,500 a year.

Treston, 63, joined the council in 2020 and serves as vice president. After a diving accident at age 19 left her quadriplegic, she studied speech pathology at Hofstra University and worked at United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau Inc.

Treston said her goal is to focus on bringing workforce and affordable housing to Long Beach. She is seeking reelection to, “fulfill the goal of culture change in the city that it is not for the select few but for all.”

McInnis, 52, also joined the council in 2020. She studied government and politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and obtained a master’s degree in government and politics from St. John’s University in Queens. She is chief financial officer for the Association of American Publishers.

McInnis said she wants to continue to “secure Long Beach's financial stability by improving city operations so that we can diversify our tax base with new revenue streams.”

Posterli, 57, has been a council member since 2022. She studied allied health professions at Ohio State University and has worked for environmental and health care organizations, including Riverkeeper and a Planned Parenthood affiliate.

Posterli said she would focus on strengthening the city’s finances and advancing a comprehensive plan to guide the city’s future.

She said she is focused on “enacting policies that bolster our local economy and environment and strengthen all our neighborhoods.”

Hodge, 46, worked for the city for more than 20 years and also has served as board director for the Martin Luther King Center, where he said he worked “tirelessly as an advocate serving the people of Long Beach.” Hodge, a Long Beach native, works for the Nassau County Board of Elections. He is a graduate of Central Biblical School of Broadcasting in Freeport.

Hodge said he is focusing on community investment during his campaign, including affordable housing, along with government transparency and economic development.

Gerard Siller, 69, is seeking reelection as Shelter Island Town supervisor. He faces challenger Arnott G. Gooding, 77, in the Democratic primary on June 27.

The winner will face Republican Amber Brach-Williams, a Town Council member, in November.

The supervisor serves a two-year term with an annual salary of $97,730.

Siller served previously as supervisor for two terms, from 1998-2001. He was elected again in 2019, and said he returned to office to focus on housing and water quality.

“I’ve worked with the town board very hard to address housing and water,” Siller said during a recent debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork.

Siller noted an agreement signed last year with the Suffolk County Water Authority for the utility to manage the Shelter Island’s West Neck Water District. The SCWA committed $1.7 million toward improvements and began the first phase of an infrastructure project in April.

Siller owns a garden center on the island.

Gooding is chairman of the town’s Community Preservation Advisory Board. He’s lived on the Island full time since 2005, he said. In 2015, he sold his business, Gooding & Associates Inc., which focused on distribution and sales of building material products and systems.

Gooding said his goal is to make local government on Shelter Island more inclusive and encourage younger people to participate. He said he aims to bring more “professionalism” to government.

“We have a very talented community,” Gooding said. “They can help us accomplish some of the serious goals, [on] serious issues we have on Shelter Island.”

Gooding also highlighted water quality and community housing as two pressing issues.