Incumbents re-elected in Westhampton Beach

Two incumbents were re-elected Friday to the Westhampton Beach Village board.

Patricia DiBenedetto and Hank Tucker edged challenger Toni-Jo Birk, a former trustee, village clerk Liz Lindtvit said.

The election capped a tumultuous 12 months in which local officials had to answer questions about village finances leading to an outside audit.

The audit found overpayments to village employees and expenditures approved by the mayor without other trustees' knowledge.

Tucker and DiBenedetto pushed for the audit and tighter spending controls, while Birk, backed by Mayor Conrad Teller, called the problems "an error in payroll."

"There's been a lot of negativity and dissension, unnecessarily so," Birk said during the campaign.