Democrats unveil platform, criticize Republican incumbents

The Democratic candidates for town supervisor and council today outlined their platform for “a fresh start” for “a better Riverhead.”

Promising a town government that will live within its means, supervisor candidate Anthony Coates said his slate is committed to reducing the town’s debt and rebuilding its cash reserves, to regain the trust of the financial community and improve the town’s recently degraded bond rating.

The town should sell off “underperforming assets,” citing the municipal garage and the East Creek marina as examples. Divestments would net the town between $10 million and $30 million, Coates said.

“How does it make any sense to repair town vehicles on the Park Avenue of our commercial property?” Coates asked, referring to the municipal garage located on Route 58. He said a recent audit of the town marina’s books showed that the people renting slips there are not paying their dockage fees.

He repeatedly slapped the incumbent supervisor and council members for not following through on anything— including, even, things they agree on, such as changing the zoning code to once again allow movie theaters on Route 58.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, who, with the blessing of the Republican party committee, is challenging Supervisor Sean Walter for the supervisor post, “acts like she hasn’t been sitting there for the past six years,” Coates said.

Walter says he’s going to run on his record, Coates said. “Well, I’m going to make sure you do.”

He painted a picture of the current board as ineffective and lackluster, unable to or unconcerned about getting anything done.

“We pledge that as elected officials, we will be accessible, diligent and show up for work,” he said.

The Democrats say they will implement an “accountability audit” to measure the efficiency and staff levels of town government.

“We believe that part of the answer to solving our budget woes lies in not wasting money, therefore, we will create a daily reconciliation system of budgeting so that budget numbers will be readily available and transparent. This will prevent rampant cost overruns and provide better accountability,” Coates said.

The Democrats also called for a “performance audit” of the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, which they criticized for giving tax breaks to businesses without ascertaining afterward that the benefits resulted in the creation of quality jobs. IDA beneficiaries that don’t meet their job creation goals should have to pay back the property taxes they avoided as an IDA-approved project.

EPCAL should be aggressively and intelligently marketed with the help of a “broad-shouldered” equity partner.

“The supervisor said EPCAL was his number one priority,” Coates said. “So how is it that six years later, we don’t even have application filed with the DEC?” he asked.

The town should pursue a solar farm at EPCAL, which would bring in as much as $9 million a year in rent, according to the Democrats — and the town should also look into creating a local power authority to provide less expensive electricity to town residents, ending Riverhead’s dependence on LIPA.

Other ideas floated by the Democrats today included: establishing a public market downtown; adopting term limits for the town board so no member will serve longer than eight years; changing zoning to allow movie theaters on Route 58; review and retouch the master plan; reconsidering downtown zoning that calls for the construction of up to 500 apartments; exploring the possibility of siting a motorsports complex at EPCAL; building a parking garage for Peconic Bay Medical Center, the town’s largest employer and economic engine; building more parking capacity downtown.

“In our administration, the ‘FP’ in RFP, won’t stand for ‘for pretense,’” Coates said.

They called for more transparency in town government “that is accountable to all its residents.”

Pledging to change the “tone of Town Hall” and put an end to the bickering that’s marked the current administration’s six-year tenure, the Democrats promised to treat people — including each other as well as the two Republican incumbents with whom they will serve if they sweep into office, Giglio and Councilman John Dunleavy — with respect and dignity,” Coates said.

“There are very few differences from what they are saying than what I’m doing,” Walter said, citing his prior call for term limits and the sale of underperforming town assets as examples.

Walter said residents recognize progress made during his administration and
pointed to Main Street revitalization, holding the line on property taxes and tax base growth during his time in office. The town’s assessed value grew 5.5 percent last year, he said, making Riverhead the fastest-growing town on Long Island.

On the campaign trail, he said, residents express appreciation that there hasn’t been any large spikes in town taxes.

Walter said the EPCAL subdivision is “largely done,” with the town attorney’s office and special counsel “fine tuning” the final environmental impact statement and the findings statement — the last two items in the State Environmental Quality Review process.

“From housing at EPCAL to behemoth apartment buildings on Main Street, our points of view are extremely different,” Coates countered. “Where is the daily reconciliation of the town’s finances? If that is something he believes in, why isn’t it happening?” There are two thresholds, Coates said. “First, is what do you stand for? Second is actually getting it done. ”

Giglio did not return a call for comment.

The Democrats’ platform, in its entirety:

A Better Plan. A Better Future.
A Better Riverhead.

Our Philosophy
We will change the tone of Town Hall. We believe in the nobility of public service, we will not bicker and argue with the people we serve with, regardless of their political party. We are running to do the people’s business, we will treat people with respect and dignity; that goes for the public, Town workers and each other as colleagues.

We believe it is time for Riverhead Town government to live within its means. We are committed to reducing our town’s debt.

We will create a more efficient, transparent government that is accountable to all its residents.

We pledge that as elected officials, we will be accessible, diligent and show up for work.

We will rethink and rebuild Riverhead’s Town government from the top down.

Enhancing our Quality of Life
We are committed to preserving the unique rural character of Riverhead.

We will vigorously enforce Town code; the lack of enforcement has resulted in blight, decreased property values and crime.

We will proactively address the Town’s sewage and water infrastructure challenges.

We will fight to keep massive tractor-trailers off our rural roadways and will oppose efforts to further commercialize Sound Avenue and the Main Road.

We will address the small issues like violations of our sign ordinances, graffiti and litter that detract from the beauty of our Town.

We will revisit and update the Town’s Master Plan, which hasn’t been touched in more than a decade.
Rebuilding our Downtown
We believe Town Hall should re-examine its call for five story buildings and 700 apartments downtown. We believe that before we rush to build, we should assess the impact multiple new apartment buildings will have on: traffic, sewers, crime, parking, the character of downtown and the Master Plan.

We would finally install Security Cameras downtown. It’s been six long years and Town Hall hasn’t gotten this basic security measure done. We would.

We would station an officer at the intersection of Main and Peconic during peek hours to add order to downtown.

We would diligently enforce code and “small crimes” violations and deploy our police accordingly.

We will not permit the Town’s infrastructure to crumble on our watch. We will fix parking lots, and clean up blight. We will particularly target the area around the Train station and Second Street.

We will seek new ideas from the private sector to develop the area near our train station. This Town Board has wasted all of the last decade chasing an illusory transaction with “The Vintage Group”. We would move in a different direction.

We will seek grants and revenue for refacing and re-signing downtown businesses.

We will reach out to our Town’s minority community and we urge our police force to include more members of the minority community among their ranks. We will work closely with and embrace the work of the Town’s Anti-Bias Task Force to bring about a more harmonious Riverhead.

We will craft an intelligent plan that will get our court system into this century. We are concerned for the safety of our Judges, court staff and the public at large. Our Town Board has talked about this problem for six years but taken no action. We will.

We will stand up for women: Women who are forced to use a small court house, crossing paths, in close quarters with those they seek orders of protection from, as well as women who we feel are underrepresented on our police force.

We believe Riverhead should stay Riverhead…we believe we shouldn’t seek to be another “Hampton” or Patchogue or any other place…we are committed to returning Main Street to the great place it once was.

Getting our Financial House in Order
We will not offer budgets based on fictitious revenue from EPCAL or any other source. For too long Town Hall has swept our economic problems under the rug. We will stop that practice.

We recognize the Town needs new revenue sources but we will only “green light” projects that benefit our community.

We believe that part of the answer to solving our budget woes lies in not wasting money, therefore, we will create a daily reconciliation system of budgeting so that budget numbers will be readily available and transparent. This will prevent rampant cost overruns and provide better accountability.

We will execute an “accountability audit” that will measure the efficiency and staffing levels of Town government, so that we can make prudent budget decisions that will save taxpayers money.

We will performance audit the Riverhead IDA; We believe tax abatements must pay for themselves. We believe tax breaks should be targeted, create quality jobs, benefit the town, and handed out sparingly. We believe tax breaks should be audited and include “claw back” features if they do not create the jobs promised at the time of application.

We believe Riverhead needs to be more friendly to those coming here to start a new business, we will join the Riverhead Business Improvement District [BID], Community Development Agency [CDA] and Riverhead Industrial Development Agency [IDA] under one roof so they can work efficiently for the people of Riverhead. We will invite the Chamber of Commerce to be part of this united economic effort. We believe there should be just one desk to stop at when you wish to bring business to Riverhead.

We will work to regain the trust of the financial community so they will once again feel confident enough in us to increase our bond rating.

Ever mindful that our Community Preservation Fund [CPF] shortfall can double our debt, we will work to pass legislation in Albany that would refinance that debt at favorable rates. This administration has talked about it but has neglected to get it done.

Making Sense of EPCAL
We will intelligently plan EPCAL’s development…we are troubled by the amount of money the Town Board has already spent on bad ideas. We will re-tool the Town’s plans for EPCAL to make them more realistic and marketable.

We would successfully create and adopt an EPCAL subdivision; Town Hall has talked about this issue for six long years, we’d get it done.

We believe housing should not be a part of EPCAL development plans. We see housing as a net-negative at EPCAL.

We are troubled by this administration’s desire to give away jobs that could go to Riverhead residents. We stand for creating local jobs. We will not approve businesses that will import the majority of their workers to EPCAL.

We will intelligently and aggressively market the EPCAL property and reach out to the financial community to find “broad shouldered” equity partners to assist us in that site’s development.

We believe our prudent management of the overall Town budget would reduce the current pressure to score a “touchdown” at EPCAL and prevent the Town from entertaining poorly conceived projects.

A dose of “New Ideas”

Public Market.
We will spearhead the creation of a downtown Public Market. We see a Public Market as a touchstone property and destination gathering place that would bring visitors to Main Street.

We will foster a public/private partnership that will build a home for specialty food and small retail kiosks. This project would be patterned after successful markets in places like Boston and New York’s Arthur Avenue. We believe that Town Hall can act as a “pump primer” and creative force in establishing such a market by utilizing a combination of grants and private sector investment. We believe the Business Improvement District [BID] can play a vital role in the creation of such a market.

Riverhead Power Authority.
With our town’s EPCAL property as a resource, we will create an “RFP” [Request for Proposal] seeking to establish a true Riverhead Energy Park that could offer our residents cost efficient electricity. This power would come from non-polluting renewables. This “utility” would be paid for by private sector investment.

We believe we can end Riverhead’s dependence on the LIPA grid and bring inexpensive power and clean jobs to our residents, as municipalities like Freeport and Greenport, New York already do. We will explore this exciting option.

Term Limits.
On Day One, we will introduce legislation to enact term limits. We believe eight years is long enough for an elected official to serve in Town Hall. We propose two four-year terms for Council members and four two-year terms for the Town Supervisor.

Movie Theater.
We will change zoning on Route 58 to allow for the construction of a movie theater. A majority of the current Town Board favors this plan but they have done nothing to advance a change of zoning; we will make it happen.

Motorsports.
We will explore the sighting of a motorsports facility at EPCAL.

We believe Riverhead’s rich tradition of auto racing could provide a good fit at the former Grumman property. We will encourage such use at EPCAL.

Parking.
For years now, Peconic Bay Medical Center [PBMC] has been trying to create adequate parking at their facility. PBMC has been frustrated in those attempts. Peconic Bay is Riverhead’s largest employer. We know that the lack of parking will negatively effect Peconic Bay’s growth. We will solve PBMC’s parking woes.

Our growth Downtown will soon be compromised by a lack of parking. We will issue an RFP seeking ideas to solve our downtown parking problems.

Marketing Town Assets.
We believe that the Town can reduce debt by selling non or under producing assets. How wise is it to repair the town’s auto fleet on valuable Route 58 property? Does East Creek Marina belong in private hands? We believe there is more than $10-30 million dollars in Town assets that could be sold and those savings be put towards liquidating debt and developing “smart projects”.

We will send these projects out for RFP [Request for Proposal] and consider all options as a Town Board.