Dems Want To Bring Civility, Open Mindedness Back To Town Hall

Sylvia Overby and Peter Van Scoyoc both bring to the table a vast knowledge of the town's code and inner-workings of town government. But a big part of what they want to accomplish, if elected, is to foster a better working relationship with the town employees and the community, which they think is now lacking.

BACKGROUND

Overby was the chair of the town planning board from 2005 to 2009 and the vice-chair from 2003 to 2004. She also served as the chair of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee form 1997 to 2002. She has also served as the chair of the Villages and Hamlets subcommittee for the East Hampton Town Comprehensive Plan Committee.

Van Scoyoc was appointed for a five-year term on the zoning board in 1995, the last year of which he spent as the chairman. In 2006, he accepted an appointment to the planning board.

The Van Scoyoc name rings loud in East Hampton. The family has roots in New York that go back to 1636 in Manhattan. A fifth generation member Issac Van Scoyoc moved was one of the first European settlers to live in Northwest Woods.

But, Van Socyoc, like Overby, was not raised locally. He was born and raised in Virginia. During his college years, he worked on a charter boat further south, met his wife, and moved to Rhode Island with her, where he started a construction company and worked as a licensed charter captain. In 1987, a change in his wife's job brought them to East Hampton, where there was an opening. She is now the music director at the high school.

Overby was born in California and raised in Florida. After attending Emory University, she settled in Atlanta, where she met her husband while they both worked for Macy's. Her husband, a native of Huntington, convinced her if she wanted to live by the beach, Long Island was the place. They moved to Amagansett 27 years ago, raising two sons there.

Van Scoyoc is still in construction and runs a charter boat, two that compliment each other during off-seasons.

ON THE ISSUES

Both candidates promise to restore the leaf pick-up program and defend beach access rights. Overby said there leaf pick-up would be more efficient -- perhaps giving every street one pass.

Van Scoyoc said while it's important to bring a business-like fashion in how government finances are run, it's important to remember: "Businesses are out to make a profit. Government is to provide needed services." He said cutting services that residents need only creates further problems. He wants to broaden the discussion to hear from residents, while keeping an open mind.

Overall, the pair would bring a different management style.

"Does the corporate model transfer well to open government? I don't think so," Van Scoyoc said.

Overby also wants to restore civility to Town Hall. "There's an underlying tone," she said, "of the type of leadership that pushes people down. My style of leadership is pushing people up," she said.

She also wants to stop what she calls "political manipulation of the ZBA, planning board and planning department." She said the town board is not using the planning department or taking its professional recommendations. "The reason we are here is become of good planning that has gone before us."

The question of "spot zoning" came up earlier this year when the town board entertained rezoning two properties. "Should it have even come up? They didn't take the planning board recommendation," she said. "It turned out okay this time," she said of the decision not to rezone the properties. "But, it doesn't mean it won't come back."