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Updated: November 3, 2009, 11:32 am	Share    Print    Email

East Hampton Republican nominee Bill Wilkinson is ready to make his second run at the top seat in town this coming November on a populist message of open government and fiscal conservatism. Photos by Aaron Boyd

East Hampton - After losing the 2007 election for East Hampton Town Supervisor, Bill Wilkinson says he was reluctant to run again. In the last campaign, however, Wilkinson warned "a lot of things would happen [if McGintee were re-elected] and unfortunately they did happen," he claims in reference to the town's general fund deficit, which began making headlines in early 2008, "Had the town been better off than it is, I wouldn't have run."

In light of East Hampton's current financial constraints, with a growing deficit pegged as high as $15 million and a property tax increase of 24 percent to balance the 2009 budget, Wilkinson maintains that only a well-managed local government would be able to lead the town back to solvency unscathed. "A good manager will find the answer," he asserted, "We have a town full of competent people who are never asked."

He is throwing his hat in the ring a second time to prove to the electorate he can be that manager.

A visitor to East Hampton every summer since his father bought property in Montauk in 1949, the same year Wilkinson was born, the local GOP candidate for Town Supervisor had few interactions with the town's government until he moved here full-time in 2005. Wilkinson attended a Town Board meeting that year and recounts he "saw a board that was treating its residents with total arrogance," during an interview on February 25, "It wasn't right." In 2007, he was chosen as the Republican nominee to challenge incumbent Supervisor William McGintee, losing by a margin of 104 votes (or .016 percent of ballots cast).

The most important quality to look for in a good manager is someone who is always asking 'Why?' according to Wilkinson. "I don't know the perfect solutions," he admitted, "but I know what I don't know I can ask about."

If elected to office, Wilkinson stated that he plans to "communicate constantly with the people" should he take the reins of the town. East Hampton is already structured to accept community input through the various advisory committees, however Wilkinson would like to see more members of the public offering their views directly to the town board at their meetings and through additional open forums. "If there's a dissenting opinion out there, you want to hear it because it's out there," he contended. "Don't ask unless you're going to respect the input," he counseled, referencing the manner in which the current administration addresses dissenting members of the public.

Wilkinson addressing the East Hampton Town Board concerning their controversial move to begin charging residents for beach parking stickers for the first time in town history.

"We need to engage the public. We need their input, their priorities," he maintained, explaining that he would schedule board meetings in the evening, rather than the daytime, to be "fluid around their schedules."

Conservative Perspective
Wilkinson assured that his acceptance of discrepant views will extend across party lines as well if elected. "If a party has a good idea, regardless of the name, all good ideas should be heard," he asserted, planning to encourage the populace to regularly attend board meetings. "Openness in town - that's how you manage," he claimed, "Works as well with a one-party board as it does on one with mixed affiliations."

Despite his calls for bipartisanship, Wilkinson is a member of the local Republican Party and is running on a conservative message. While he classified himself as "the most independent kind of Republican you'll find," he intoned the Conservative refrain, "Government should be less than greater."

The best way to ensure that government does not overstep its bounds, according to Wilkinson, is to begin with a zero-base budget, where revenues are projected and programs and services are only accepted within that allowance. "Look at every item under that construct and find out what you can do with what you have," he reasoned, "I wouldn't do anything without looking at the budget line by line."

The town's tight financial situation has permeated every aspect of East Hampton's government, he argued, "Everything is affected by 'we don't have the money to do it,'" as the board has had to deny or postpone several projects that have arisen over the past year due to lack of funding. Wilkinson also noted the toll that the "layoffs hanging over their heads every time a financial decision is made" would take on town employees as well.

While being handcuffed by low funds is a poor position to be in, Wilkinson considered fiscal restraint the only viable option. "We are making decisions right now based on the fact that we can't afford things, yet we keep spending," he asserted, stating that he would "freeze everything and work backwards."

The Republican candidate for supervisor speaking at one of two open public meetings organized by Trace Duryea last year, the kind of open forums he would like to see more of in town.

"All I'm asking people to do is spend within their limits," he explained. "I would love to reduce taxes, but you can only do that by eliminating expenses and selling assets," Wilkinson contended, challenging the board's decision to purchase a new boat for $16,000 and stalled deliberations over the sale of equipment and privatization of certain services. "It's about respecting the residents in your financial decision making," he clarified.

Wilkinson related the experience of a retiree that built a home in East Hampton in 2006. "She got her tax bill for this year and can no longer afford to live here," he recounted. "And now she can't sell her house in the down market, leaving her in a precarious position. We have to look at government and see how the cost of government affects the resident."

In that vein, Wilkinson also pledges to reverse the $25 charge for resident parking permits. "Beach stickers are going to go back to the way it was" Wilkinson promised, should he become supervisor. "We'll find the money somewhere else."

Getting Government Out Of The Way
The Republican nominee expressed his "strong belief that free enterprise and business is the horse that pulls the cart along." In that respect, he would like to see a restructuring of the town's review board process. "There isn't a construct that we can work within," he argued, "It confuses the builder as well as the owner as to what they can do." Wilkinson would prefer to "create a template and get out of the way," so that prospective buyers and builders would have full knowledge of what is allowed in town and can move quickly through the review boards toward approval.

"We can't be reactive" in zoning concerns, Wilkinson asserted, discussing the board's response to rumors of a new convenience store opening in downtown Montauk that has some members of the community calling for more site-plan triggers. "We should have a vision," he maintained, "Everything can't be knee-jerk."

In the same way that zoning needs a broader vision Wilkinson saw the same weakness in the town's current approach to land preservation. "I'm largely in favor of open space conservation," he asserted, however "do it smartly and do it openly," he advised. A Wilkinson administration would target bigger properties for acquisition, rather than smaller parcels, and would seek to get the "biggest bang for your buck" on purchases through multiple appraisals. The argument that land preservation takes "properties off the tax rolls doesn't apply in all situations," he reasoned, as the cost of added infrastructure necessary to support new development can outweigh the loss of tax revenues.

GOP candidate Wilkinson with East Hampton Republican Committee Chairman John Behan and co-chair Trace Duryea at the Tax Bill Revolt at The Lodge in East Hampton.

On the East End, the Community Preservation Fund (CPF), fueled by a two percent tax on all real estate transactions over $250,000, funds the purchase of land for open space and the preservation of historic landmarks, however, the receipts are collected monthly, leading municipalities to borrow the funds up-front in anticipation of future revenues. The debt service on the bonded funds is paid out of the CPF, though if the fund's coffers run dry the debt obligation is laid on the town's general fund. "We could get into a position where we could wind up with not enough money to pay the debt service," Wilkinson cautioned, as the 2009 budget is far too tight to take on the burden of additional debt payments.

The way to ensure that conservation does not have an adverse impact on the town's general operations, Wilkinson explained, is to "make sure what we do we do with open eyes and supervision," a push for transparency that he maintains is central to getting East Hampton back on the right path. "This is not a time when you can not be accountable," he asserted, "It's not a time when you can be lax."

Wilkinson described the kind of administration he would hope to establish as head of the Town Board: "You'd see total openness, you'd see a website that has a budget on it and financial reports issued at least quarterly, and a freeze in hiring while still protecting those employees that are here. A total freeze in discretionary spending and a level of questioning at board meetings that is unprecedented." During such proceedings, "We would treat the residents with a great amount of respect, regardless of what is said," he assured, "They are the taxpayers."

Claiming the root of East Hampton's municipal troubles stems from a lack of trust in the officials elected to manage the town, he added, "There is very little trust in government. That is one thing we can bring back through openness, through transparency, through bringing the community in. I want the residents to know that if Bill said it, it will happen," Wilkinson insisted. "If he said he can do it, he will; if he said he can't, he won't."