Republicans tap incumbents for re-election to Riverhead Town offices

Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard and other incumbent Republican elected officials whose terms expire next year are running for re-election.

Hubbard is running for another two-year term, while council members Ken Rothwell and Bob Kern, Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski and Assessor Laverne Tennenberg will seek new four-year terms, Riverhead Republican Committee Vice Chairperson Victor Prusinowski said in an interview Friday. 

The Republicans held their convention on Wednesday, Prusinowski said. “We had a quick meeting, and we just re-nominated everybody, and everybody wanted to run for re-election,” he said. Republican candidates currently hold all but one of the elected positions in town government. Town Justice Sean Walter is a registered Conservative who was elected to the town bench with the Republican Party’s endorsement.

Hubbard, who won the supervisor seat in 2023 with 59% of the vote, was a two-term council member before becoming supervisor. He first ran for office in 2014, after retiring from his 32-year career in the Riverhead Police Department, where he attained the rank of detective first grade. 

The town supervisor is a voting member of the five-member Town Board and its chairperson, and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the town, among other responsibilities. It is a full-time position that lasts for two years and is paid an annual salary of $115,148. 

In a statement sent by text Friday, Hubbard said he was “honored to be nominated for a second term.”

“Myself and my Town Board have accomplished so many things in the past 13 months,” he wrote. “I look forward to the opportunity to lead this great town into the next couple of years.”

Rothwell, the owner and operator of several funeral homes and a volunteer firefighter, is seeking a second term. Rothwell was appointed as a council member in 2021 to finish the term of former Council Member Jodi Giglio, who was vacating her Town Board seat after winning election to the state assembly. Rothwell ran in 2021 and won a full four-year term as the top vote-getter in the pool of four candidates. 

He said in an interview that he is proud of his achievements since entering office, including getting homes in Manorville suffering from water pollution hooked up to public water and opening the ice rink at Veterans Memorial Park. 

Rothwell said he is excited about helping to complete the Riverhead town square project. “I hope that I’ll get the support of the residents in the Town of Riverhead and continue in office  four years to see that project to its fruition,” he said.

Bob Kern, the past president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce and the former manager of Martha Clara Vineyards, is also seeking a second term. He is closely connected to the town’s business community and sat on the board of the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency and multiple town advisory committees before his election to the Town Board.

Kern said in a text that he is “honored” to be nominated and “to continue serving all the residents in our great town.”

Town council members are voting members of the Town Board and work with the supervisor to adopt the town’s annual budget and change and create local laws, among other responsibilities. Town council member is a part-time position with a four-year term and pays an annual salary of $50,558.

Zaleski is running for his second four-year term. He was elected to the post in 2021 after being the deputy superintendent of longtime superintendent Gio Woodson. 

The highway superintendent is responsible for maintaining town roads, including paving, repairing, and snow-plowing, and running the day-to-day operations of the department. It is a full time position with a four-year term and pays an annual salary of $104,543.

Tennenberg, who is chairperson of the town’s board of assessors, is completing her ninth four-year term in the assessor position. The town assessors determine the valuation of all real property in the town, maintains property tax exemptions and performs other administrative functions. Assessor is a full-time position with a four-year term that is paid an annual salary of $93,038, the chairperson is paid $107,154.

The Riverhead Town Democratic Committee has yet to decide on its candidates, chairperson Laura Jens-Smith said. She said the committee was screening candidates but declined to share their names.

Editors note: This article has been amended to include statements sent by Hubbard and Kern after its initial publication. It has also been amended to correct the statement that all elective offices in town government are held by Republicans. One official is a registered Conservative elected with the endorsement of the Republican Party.