Board members, staff and residents bid farewell to three elected officials at final Town Board meeting of 2023

It was a time for reflection, accolades, farewells and expressions of gratitude, as the last Riverhead Town Board meeting of 2023 Tuesday marked the last official meeting for three public servants in town government.

Town Clerk Diane Wilhelm is closing out a 25-year career in town government, the last 15 of which as town clerk. Wilhelm started in Town Hall in the assessor’s office in July 1998 and after a year, transferred to the clerk’s office, then led by Town Clerk Barbara Grattan. She was appointed to succeed Grattan in 2008, when illness forced Grattan to retire, and has been elected to the position ever since.

“Diane was instrumental in the growth and modernization of the town clerk’s office, having overseen the digitizing of many of the town records, including Town Board minutes going back as far as 1792 when the town was founded,” Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar read from a proclamation honoring Wilhelm. 

“Diane’s willingness to help and go that extra mile was evident in every interaction she had with every resident over her tenure,” the proclamation said.

Supervisor-elect Tim Hubbard, currently the longest serving member of the Town Board, extended his personal thanks to Wilhelm, who he said is “caring, kind and considerate,” a public servant who has always gone “so far above and beyond the normal scope and course of her duties” to assist residents.

“You are going to be missed,” Hubbard told Wilhelm. “Your shoes will be extremely hard to fill.”

Council Member Ken Rothwell added personal thanks of his own, recalling his interactions with the town clerk in his capacity as the owner of a funeral home business.

“What a lot of people don’t know is that death doesn’t take a holiday and there were times during winter storms I was at your home, on Saturdays and Sundays when we had funerals there was no time to wait and we needed a permit and Diane met us at every hour of the night to take care of us to make sure we had a permit,” Rothwell said, praising Wilhelm for her dedication, as well as for the assistance she provided to him as a new council member.

“I’m grateful and I thank you for everything from my businesses to welcoming here to show me the road inside Town Hall. I appreciate everything you’ve done. Thank you very, very much,” he said.

Hubbard took the lead in saluting his two departing colleagues on the Town Board.

“Frank, we’re going to miss you up here,” Hubbard told Council Member Frank Beyrodt, who chose not to seek reelection after serving one four-year term. “The board is going to miss you. Your institutional knowledge of the farming community has been second to none. It’s important that the farmers have a voice on this Town Board,” Hubbard said. He acknowledged Beyrodt’s offer to provide advice and assistance after he leaves the board, “and I’m certainly going to take that up with you,” he said.

“You’re a great member of the community. You know this town, you care about this town, you dedicated years to this town — not only on the Town Board, but you were active on committees prior to this. And it’s people like you that make this town the great place it is,” Hubbard said.

Aguiar said working with Beyrodt was the opportunity to work with “a gentle giant. And that touches you sometimes when you get that quality person. They’re not political. They’re not out for themselves. They’re not seeking attention. They’re not wanting to be out here in the limelight and say things and do things for their own personal and ethical ability, likings, the kind of person that he is,”  Aguiar said. 

She said the proclamation prepared for Beyrodt would be “a little hard for me to read” and asked  Rothwell or Hubbard to do it. Hubbard did the honors.

Beyrodt said he “was never going to be the 12-year politician.”  His grew emotional as he told his colleagues, “I am dedicated to the town. But the people that you have here, these are the people that are dedicated to the town,” he said pointing to the people seated in the audience in the meeting room.  “And they’re gonna keep this town moving forward. The employees here are second to none. And I do consider each and every one of you up here a friend. And I thank God for my time here. And I thank you for voting me in and letting me do what I do,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “And I’m sorry if I offended anybody.”

Hubbard, turning to the supervisor, who he said occupies “the hot seat in the middle of the boardroom…and you know it better than any one of us up here, the supervisor is a tough position to sit in,” Hubbard said.

He recalled how the COVID crisis struck two months after Aguiar took office. “COVID changed the scope of the world that we live in, now and forever, and to come in as a new supervisor, and then get hit with the COVID crisis was a double, triple whammy,” Hubbard said. 

“You guided us through those times, the town is better because of the work that you did. The work that you did for the seniors. During that time you were in here making phone calls overnight. You were here 14,15, 16, 18 hours a day, making phone calls, you were setting up vaccinations, you were making sure that our senior population had the opportunity to get to the vaccinations if they couldn’t. And this was untried times for us. And we will be forever thankful for your leadership during those dark times,” Hubbard said. 

He praised the supervisor for getting the town through the crisis without having to lay off any town workers, which he said was “huge,” because people were at home, money wasn’t coming in and “everything kind of shut down. But you maintained the town’s order. And I give you great accolades for that.” 

“The foundation that you’ve laid through the Town of Riverhead in the past four years will make my job easier in the next two years. And the foundation that you laid is the beginning of Riverhead coming to crossroads, we’re at those crossroads, and we’re moving forward. And you did a great job laying that foundation and I thank you for your time and your effort. And I wish nothing but the best of luck to you in the future,” Hubbard said.

Aguiar thanked everyone “for affording me the opportunity to be the 63rd supervisor of the Town of Riverhead.” 

“Many of you believed in me as I walked the streets — not as a profession but as a politician,” she said. “You opened up to me, you shared your concerns. It didn’t matter who you are, where you came from, what color you are, what race you are, how you lived, what you stood for. We always talked and you believed in me.” 

Aguiar said many people thought she’d “never make it,” but we did.

“And I just want to thank everyone for having faith in me. And when I decided one more time, when I knew things were happening and grants were coming,, and they were coming in January, I was like, I need to get it one more time. Again, I wasn’t going to be a career politician. This is my third career — 20 years with NYPD, real estate agent and a professor for the last 13 years is enough,” Aguiar said.  “So I’m bowing out now. You’re left in good terms. You’re financially stable. We were able to use COVID to our advantage. And so you’re financially stable for many years,” she said. 

Aguair extended “a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported me.”

She assured fellow board members and residents she would not be a stranger. “I’ll always be around,” she said. There’s always Zoom. There’s always walking in here. There’s always writing a letter,” she said. 

“Some of you now know that I do write,” Aguiar said. “And there may be a memoir coming around. And in fact, I’m pretty sure that there is and those key players will be in there, whether it was good or bad. You’ll be identified. I could promise you that,” Aguiar said. 

Town employees and residents came forward to  express their appreciation for the departing officials. 

Among them was former Council Member Catherine Kent, who thanked them all for their service to the town. She had special words for Wilhelm, who she said she’s known since their days at Riverhead High School and who, she said, “really set the bar high as an elected official.” Wilhelm always worked in a nonpartisan way, she understood that she represented all the people, Kent said. She wished the new elected officials taking office Jan. 1 the best of luck.