Supervisor Will Seek Another Term in Office

East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson has confirmed he will seek re-election in November.

"I've got a lot more to do," Wilkinson said. Though he wasn't always sure he'd seek another term, having gotten half-way through a two year term he said he has realized he needs more time to meet his goals.

"We're still not financially as sound as we could be," he said, adding that he still wants to get the town's operations functioning at a higher level. While he spent much of the first year focusing on crafting a leaner budget, he and the town board has turned their efforts toward how the town functions.

Wilkinson was elected in 2009 in his second run for the top position. He had lost the campaign two years earlier to then supervisor Bill McGintee before news of the town's dire financial situation was revealed to the tune of nearly $30 million.

The two-year position is one of three seats on the town board that expire at the end of 2011. Scott King, Lisa R. Rana, s Jill Massa and Jeanne Nielsen, and all nine of the are up for re-election.

East Hampton Republican Party Chairwoman Trace Duryea said on Thursday that Wilkinson received a unanimous nomination after a screening on Tuesday night.With Deputy Supervisor Theresa Quigley and Councilman Dominic Stanzione, the Republicans have the majority. They have two years left on their terms.

"The fact that he's addressing the problems that have been lying dormant for years is great," Dureya said, referring to such topics as illegal and affordable housing. She added that it takes "stamina and intestinal fortitude" to stay committed as she said Wilkinson has in staying the course he laid out in campaign.

Wilkinson's is the only nomination to be announced. "His leadership is so miraculous, well it is miraculous, so incredibly wonderful, that we wanted people to know he'd be continuing forward."

Quigley said, "I'm completely behind Bill and think it's critical for him to win for another two years." She said, "We've done a lot of good," but that they had only started making changes that would make the town run more efficiently. "We're only really starting that process."

Quigley said Wilkinson's business expertise is essential to getting the town to function better. He is a former Senior Vice President of Human Resources for The Walt Disney Company from 1996 to 2004.

A policy memo that was issued from the supervisor's office to town employees on March 1 was a step toward that, Quigley said.

"Setting standards of workplace practices required to ensure a professional business tone and atmosphere in the offices of our town is a critical next step," Wilkinson wrote in the memo. "Management tools will be used in achieving our goals and one such tool is progressive discipline," he went on adding that insubordination would not be tolerated.

It's important that the town work together, Quigley said, using the analogy of a basketball team using their individual roles as guards, forward, and center to win. "If we don't act within the parameters it's complete chaos out there."

The Republican committee will continue screening for other seats up for grabs on Thursday night and April 13. "We've had a lot of good candidates show up," Duryea said.

One of the top priorities is filling the two town board seats, now held by Democrats Julia Prince and Pete Hammerle. Prince has said she won't seek re-election, while Hammerle said he has screened with the Democratic committee and is awaiting their decision.