Riverhead Dems pick ’25 slate, led by local pastor Jerry Halpin for supervisor

The Riverhead Democratic Committee has nominated local pastor Jerry Halpin of Riverhead to run for supervisor and lead its slate in this year’s town elections. 

Democrats also tapped Mark Woolley of Riverhead and Kevin Shea of Baiting Hollow for town council. The ticket will challenge Supervisor Tim Hubbard, Council Member Bob Kern and Council Member Ken Rothwell for their seats in a town that has traditionally elected candidates on the Republican ticket. 

Shea is the only registered Democrat in the group. Halpin and Woolley are not registered with any political party. All three were nominated during the Riverhead Democratic Committee convention held via Zoom Tuesday night, chairperson Laura Jens-Smith said. 

“This dedicated team of leaders is committed to strengthening our community through responsible governance, forward-thinking policies, and a deep commitment to the values that matter most to our residents,” Jens-Smith said in a statement.

Halpin, 52, is currently the lead minister at the nondenominational North Shore Christian Church in Riverhead, which he founded and runs with his wife. He holds a bachelor of arts in communication and religious studies from Excelsior College and has served on the board of East End Disability Associates and other nonprofit organizations, according to his resume.

“I love Riverhead. I love our people, our businesses, fire department, police department, farms, schools, diversity, beaches — everything that makes our town awesome,” Halpin said in a phone interview. “There are a million reasons I could speak about that I’ve chosen to run for supervisor, but the thrust of my platform is keeping money in the residents’ pockets.”

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 with a term of two years and an annual salary of $115,148.

Halpin cited this year’s budget and the tax levy increase of 7.89% as his motivation for running. Halpin said the current administration is increasing the burden on the taxpayers, while “big businesses are receiving” Riverhead Industrial Development Agency tax breaks.

The town supervisor is responsible for creating a budget proposal to present to the whole Town Board for amendment and adoption. Hubbard, in drafting this year’s budget proposal, did not make substantial cuts to the budget, and said the tax increase was necessary to keep up with rising costs and for necessary services. 

Halpin also cited the slow progress of downtown Riverhead’s revitalization as motivation for running. “It’s been 20 years, and I’ve seen how businesses have come and gone in that area with empty promises and empty handshakes,” he said. “And it’s time that we demand fiscal accountability and transparency, which is what my professional life has demanded from me every day.”

Woolley, 68, is a former journalist and retired aide to state and federal elected officials. He has worked for six Long Island congressmen, most prominently Republican Lee Zeldin, for whom he worked as district director from 2013-2023, while Zeldin served both as a state senator and congressman. 

He also worked for former Republican Rep. George Santos, who reportedly lied about his past and was expelled from the House in 2023 after being embattled with a slew of criminal charges. Woolley stayed on after Santos was expelled to work for his replacement, Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi; Woolley retired from that position in January. 

Woolley said in a statement that he isn’t running “to oppose any one man but instead to oppose the policies and the procedures under which they are carried out by the current town board.” He said his experience offers “a more sensible approach to public service.”

“I run to ensure that policies – both State and Federal – that have already been sanctioned, are policies that apply to everyone who wishes to live, work and do business in the Town of Riverhead,” he said in a statement. “That no special treatment is applied to those who believe they can, and therefore will, skirt processes that apply to all, just because of their connection to those in town government.”

Woolley said the town “is threatened by overdevelopment, poor planning, and a zeal to grab onto whatever is presented without research, without considerable discussion, without public input that is not first ridiculed, chastised, bullied and quashed. There is no ‘win-win’ in such an approach by elected officials, only mistrust by the public they are elected to serve,” he said.

Woolley is also Supervisor Tim Hubbard’s brother-in-law. 

“I’m not running against him,” Woolley said of Hubbard in an interview. “When I’m looking at things in this race, I’m looking at issues, I’m running with an issues perspective.” 

Shea, 57, is a former New York City firefighter who responded to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. He splits his time between Baiting Hollow — where he lives in a geodesic dome — and El Ostional, Nicaragua, where he is reforesting a 46-acre property he purchased 17 years ago. 

Shea said he wants to prioritize public safety, prioritize the efficient use of public funds and promote accountability and transparency. 

“We got issues that are coming up in the Town Hall meetings that don’t seem to be addressed, like, for example, I don’t feel that the participants are getting the attention that they deserve. I don’t think they’re necessarily listening to them,” Shea said. “ I don’t necessarily see transparency in certain cases, like the ice rink.”

He said he is nervous that national changes brought on by the Trump administration might “trickle down” to the local level. “I was motivated by the idea that I felt that a lot of change is going to happen that I would never want to see happen to a neighbor,” he said. 

He was asked by his fellow Democrats to run, he said. Shea said there is a good chance he won’t get elected — there are far more registered Republicans than Democrats in the town, he noted — but felt like it was his obligation to run because no one else in his party came forward. 

“I feel like I will be qualified if I get someone who helps mentor me, and if I get the data, if I can get to know the people a lot better. I could do a good job,” he said. 

Shea is a member of local civic groups, the Riverhead Democratic Committee and the Long Island chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, he said. He has a master of science degree in technological survey in society from Stony Brook University and a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education from St. Joseph’s College, according to his resume.

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 an annual salary of $50,558.

Earlier this month the Riverhead Republican Committee nominated Hubbard, Rothwell and Kern for re-election to their seats. The committee also nominated Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski and Assessor Chair Laverne Tennenberg for re-election; those positions have four-year terms. 

Jens-Smith said the committee did not nominate candidates for the highway superintendent and assessor seats because it wanted to “concentrate our energies on the Town board candidates.”