Southold Town Democrats unveiled candidates for all 11 town positions up for election this fall at their nominating convention Friday evening, including a candidate for the Fishers Island town board seat long held by Louisa Evans and a town justice who is switching party affiliations.
Excited party members packed into Touch of Venice restaurant in Cutchogue Friday evening to hear from the candidates at an event that party chair Kathryn Casey Quigley said “reached its maximum capacity within days” of being announced, and a wait list had to be closed as well.
Pictured Above: Southold Democratic Town Board Candidates (l-r) Kate Stephens, Brian Mealy and Alexa Suess.
“It is the first time we’re running someone for every open seat,” said Ms. Quigley, adding that the party is also proud to be backing seven women this cycle. “Democrats have lately been accused of not having a vision, but we do not have that problem here in Southold Town… We can make government work for each other. Government can be the infrastructure of care for each other. This is going to be a hopeful time for Southold.”
Democratic Town Board member Brian Mealy, Town Trustees Liz Gillooly and Eric Sepenoski and Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin are the four Democratic incumbents seeking re-election, while Town Justice Eileen Powers, who is finishing her second four-year terms as a Republican, has switched party affiliation to run as a Democrat.
The four Democratic incumbents were all swept to power in a 2021 Democratic wave that tilted the balance of power in a town that had long been a Republican stronghold. Councilman Greg Doroski was part of that wave, but declined to seek re-election this year and announced earlier this week he is seeking the Suffolk County Legislature seat held by Catherine Stark.
Mr. Mealy, the head of circulation at Greenport’s Floyd Memorial Library, a Mattituck High School graduate and former Mattituck-Cutchogue School Board member, made history four years ago as the first African American elected to the Southold Town Board.
He gave the capstone remarks at Friday’s nominating convention, beginning by singing a snippet from the Jesus Jones song “Right here, right now… watching the world wake up from history.”
“This is our historic moment, where we are literally making history in town by breaking barriers,” he said. “That’s what the Democratic party is about. A rising tide lifts all boats. I’m not really a political person, but I said yes the first time because the Democratic Party really encapsulates my personal values — we live in dignity. We love one another. We respect one another. That it’s ok if you disagree, but don’t destroy somebody because they disagree with you. You don’t harass them, harangue them and bully them. You try to show appreciation and love. That’s what we really live.”
“I’m proud to be a little cog in that process,” he said. “This is not transactional for me. You’re my family.”
Democrats have chosen Alexa Suess, a lifelong Greenport resident and owner of a small business, Common Ground Fine Jewelry + Studio, to run for Mr. Doroski’s seat, and Kate Stevens, an architect and educator who serves as chair of the Fishers Island Waste Management District, to serve for the Fishers Island seat, which also includes service as the Town Justice for Fishers Island.
Incumbent Republican Lousia Evans has held that seat since 1994, and her retirement this year could shape the partisan balance on the board. The Southold Town Board is unique for having six members instead of the customary five, which can lead to a deadlock without a tie-breaking vote.
Southold Republican Party Chairman Peter Ganley confirmed this week that town Republican are also fielding a Fishers Island candidate, who will be announced along with other candidates ahead of the party’s March 27 campaign kick-off, also to be held at Touch of Venice restaurant.
Southold Republican also announced earlier this week that they have chosen Christopher Talbot, a former Town Board member and current Southampton Village Building Inspector, and real estate agent and Southold Zoning Board of Appeals member Nicholas Planamento to run for the two town board seats currently held by Mr. Mealy and Mr. Doroski.
At the Democratic nominating convention, Ms. Suess said she has been a small business owner since 2012, and has been involved with CAST, the Greenport Business Improvement District, the Hold Fast Fund and an event, Miles for Medical Debt, which helped erase $700,000 of outstanding medical debt for local people. She pledged first and foremost to tackle affordable housing.
“As of last year, I was working four jobs to afford my second floor apartment,” she said. “But the housing elephant in the room is not the only thing — technological improvements, let’s drag Southold Town into the 21st Century, please — and let’s protect our waterways, of course, and foster entrepreneurship and small businesses.”
“I’m an advocate for data-driven decisions, knowing when to shut up and listen, and for working together across party lines to ensure this town is as resilient and prosperous and united as it can be,” she said.
Ms. Stevens, from Fishers Island, said she had visited family on Fishers Island since the 1970s, but moved there full time in 2020.
“Living there full time is an utterly different experience,” she said. “There’s a surprisingly enormous amount to do on this little island, and no one else around to do it, so everyone wears a million hats.”
She said she’s proud to have worked on the circular economy as chair of the waste management district, including a food scrap composting program and a lease to top the capped landfill with a solar farm, and has worked on projects for the local museum and land trust, and on a coastal walking path that will connect the ferry terminal area to Race Point on the west end of the island.
“A lot of that translates out here [to the rest of Southold],” she said. “Issues of housing, water infrastructure and coastal resiliency are the same. This is an exciting time — we can make a difference working on projects.”
Democratic Town Trustee Elizabeth Peeples, an oyster farmer, is stepping down from the Trustees, and she will be replaced on the ticket by Shelter Island Town Engineer Joe Finora, a lifelong North Fork resident who currently lives in Southold. Mr. Finora is also the founder of an oyster farm, Hampton Oyster Company.
Mr. Finora, who has a master’s degree in marine engineering, spent the first 10 years of his career “as an engineer diver inspecting waterfront structures in New York and around the world and am well-versed in the technical issues facing the trustees,” he said.
“What you’re going to get is someone in this office who is pragmatic, logical and going to make science-based decisions that are best for our community and our shorelines,” he added.
Mr. Sepenoski, an incumbent trustee, said that, over the past four years, “thousands of residents have joined the trustees to have difficult, important and necessary conversations that shape our shorelines and our shared future. I am proud to serve on a board with talented, dedicated, thoughtful people every month to have those conversations to ensure our simple pleasures — our ability to move freely along the waterfront, to watch our children chase killifish and crabs in the shallows and the simple pease of gathering with family at town beaches. That’s worth protecting.”
Ms. Gillooly was giving birth the night of the convention and was not able to be present.
This year, Town Democrats are backing Abigail Field, a Cutchogue attorney who has long been involved in local Democratic campaigns and activist work, for the Town Clerk seat, facing incumbent Republican Town Clerk Denis Noncarrow, who is a former Southold GOP chairman and is well-known for his community engagement and work to provide a safety net for North Forkers as a board member at CAST.
“I believe government should be efficient and effective, and it should be transparent so it can be accountable to local citizens,” said Ms. Field. “The town clerk has a really important, public-facing role to play to make government accessible and transparent, so voters know what the government is doing and can hold them accountable at the ballot box.”
The Democrats have also chosen two tax assessor candidates — Mattituck-based insurance agent Dana Forlenza, who touted her experience in valuing property while calculating replacement costs for homes, and Leah Tillman Sullivan, daughter of former Southold Democratic Party Chairman Art Tillman and the marketing director of the Village Cheese Shop, who also served as a Senior Congressional Aide for former Congressman Timothy Bishop for 12 years.
“We have something to be hopeful and excited about. We have something to work for that really, really matters,” said Ms. Quigley. “I know people are feeling a lot of feelings. There is so much to consider and think about, but tonight, and for the next many months until November, we have some place to focus our energy and our power and our mission and we can do it with love and we can do it with joy. That’s what we’re going to do.”
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