Scott Russell for Southold supervisor

Dominating the North Fork, Southold Town is home to all the competing interests of recreation, wine-making, residents and vacationers. The best town supervisor is one who can balance those conflicts.

As supervisor, Republican Scott Russell, 47, of Cutchogue, seems to have many issues well in hand. His $38.8-million budget stays within the 2 percent property tax cap; he negotiated more modest contracts with town workers and police; he has an economic development commission examining ways to attract tenants to abandoned commercial spaces; and he is grappling with the perennial North Fork problems of loud parties and post-wine-tasting drunken driving.

The Democratic challenger is Robert Meguin, 63, a Southold lawyer who has been a top legal aide to three judges and now runs his own general practice. Meguin is critical of the town budget, noting four consecutive tax increases, and a tax base that has eroded by more than 13 percent since 2008.

Both candidates are rightly concerned about the growing traffic congestion, and would support a separate transportation authority for the East End. Russell is correct to be pessimistic about wresting funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He paints a vision of light rail cars running on existing tracks, and commissioning bus and shuttle services.

Meguin called the Southold Town Board "anti-business" and said he would take a lighter hand with the North Fork vineyards and their expansion ideas. However, it's a fine line when there's a growing drunken-driving problem. For striking a reasonable balance as well as his other accomplishments, Newsday endorses Russell.