The three Democrats vying to lead Riverhead into the next term — supervisor candidate Jerry Halpin and town board candidates Mark Woolley and Kevin Shea — offered voters contrasting styles and priorities in two recent candidate forums, while finding common ground on issues ranging from farmland preservation to reform of the town’s Industrial Development Agency.

Across two candidate forums — one last week sponsored by the Greater Jamesport Civic Association and another on Saturday sponsored by the Heart of Riverhead Civic Association — the challengers sketched their visions of how Riverhead should grow, how it should spend and how residents should be heard in town government.

None of the Democratic candidates have ever held elected office, and each brings an unconventional résumé to a campaign dominated by veteran incumbents. Halpin is a longtime pastor. Woolley is a former Republican congressional aide who spent years in constituent services — including a stint running George Santos’s district office after the disgraced congressman’s expulsion — before switching parties and making his first run for public office.

Shea, a retired New York City firefighter and paramedic, frames his candidacy around public safety, environmental resilience and personal humility, telling voters, “I don’t have the skill for lying … or being arrogant.”

Riverhead Republicans declined to participate in two of three civics forums planned for this campaign season, saying the Jamesport and Riverhead civics were headed by leaders in the Riverhead Democratic Party. Both the Republicans and the Democrats will participate in a 7 p.m. candidate forum on Oct. 16 at the Riley Ave. Elementary School, sponsored by the Greater Calverton and Wading River civic associations.

At times during the forums, the candidates’ rhetoric outpaced the record. Several claims, including vague suggestions of hidden waste and criminal malfeasance in the town’s budget, could not be substantiated by available public documents or meeting minutes.

Each positioned himself as a reformer battling insider politics, but at times their assertions seemed to blur fact with frustration. The lack of prior experience among the three candidates lent freshness to their tone, but also occasional overreach, as they sought to channel residents’ distrust of entrenched power into a case for new leadership.

Taxes

Taxes dominated both debates. Halpin attacked the town’s record under Republican leadership, citing a cumulative increase of nearly 40 percent over the past decade.

“Last year, our taxes were rolling up 7.9 percent,” Halpin said. “Over the last ten years that the current supervisor has been on the board, he’s raised our property tax nearly 40 percent. This year will take it over the 40 percent mark, and that is unacceptable.”

Republicans have held a majority of the five-member Town Board in Riverhead since 2010, including the 2018-2019 term, when Democrat Laura Jens-Smith was supervisor.

Halpin pledged to cut waste, aggressively pursue grants and overhaul the IDA so that homeowners more directly benefit from tax relief.

“I would have made sure that we were getting our tax breaks to the citizens and the residents, rather than just the big businesses,” he said.

Woolley said his first move would be to order a forensic audit.

“I don’t want my fingerprints on this budget,” he said flatly. “I might be pulled out of there and indicted. I want these guys to explain everything in there, because there’s money coming in we don’t know where it’s coming in, and there’s money going out and we don’t know how that’s happening. Magically, this stuff is just occurring year after year after year.”

Shea, a retired firefighter, struck a similar note.

“If there was more of a positive review of where the money goes and then make that known to the public, it allows them to be able to review how well we’re performing.” He warned that tax abatements for developers undermine the town’s revenue base.

“How are you going to get revenue if we’re going to have all these exemptions and tax abatements?” he asked.

Downtown development

On development downtown, the three men agreed that Riverhead has secured major grants in recent years, but they diverged sharply on scale and planning.

Halpin said the town ignored its own “pattern book” by green-lighting five-story projects that residents largely oppose. “While a five-story building was a choice, it was the last choice that people had actually chosen by percentage,” he said. “I would have actually listened to the residents.”

Woolley argued that the town has leaned too heavily on grants to paper over structural problems.

“Everything is grants, and grants are not something easily had,” he said. “What about actually creating an economy here?”

All three candidates warned that Riverhead’s infrastructure — from sewers to flood control — must keep pace with development.

Meeting rules

Halpin pledged to reverse restrictions that limit residents to three minutes of speaking time and ban signs in Town Board meetings.

“I would not have taken away the voice of being able to bring signs in or being able to speak for over three minutes,” he said.

Shea agreed the board should make itself more accessible, promising evening meetings on development projects.

Woolley mocked the Republican restrictions.

“You can’t have signs in the Town Board room,” he said with a grin. “That’ll be the first thing I do. No signs. None at all. You won’t even have a sign up there that says your nameplate.”

EPCAL

On the long-running saga at Enterprise Park at Calverton, all three supported a new planning effort but differed on scope.

Shea called for a broad commission or think-tank to include “all stakeholders” and balance jobs with environmental concerns.

Halpin recalled prior “inside the fence” committees whose work was ignored.

“When those people didn’t come back with the answers that they want, a lot of them were sidelined, dismissed or just ignored.”

He said any new effort must be respected and must ask unbiased questions.

Woolley dismissed past task forces as “window dressing” and urged the town to resolve litigation quickly and repurpose the site for emerging technologies.

 “It’s time to actually sit down as a board and figure out the use,” he said.

Riverfront and parking

The candidates agreed that the town’s riverfront is underused, but their fixes varied.

Shea initially called for a dedicated marine constable, before Halpin noted that the town, in fact, currently has one.

Halpin called for attendants, safety gear and dredging of the river. He said that Riverhead has just one full-time marine constable and said any police substation on the riverfront would require new staffing.

Woolley said the priority must be dredging the Peconic River. He warned that the proposed First Street parking garage is at risk from flooding.

On parking, Halpin warned against reducing ADA spaces.

“Accessible spots must be street-level, not only in garages,” he said. Shea said new apartments must contribute to parking districts.

Woolley argued that the First Street garage would mainly serve new condos and lead to meters for residents.

All three said farmland and open space is a priority of their campaigns.

“Every square inch of land that we can preserve is valuable,” Halpin said. He pledged to tie IDA benefits to preservation and to bring environmentalists and farmers back into the conversation.

Woolley, who grew up working summers on Riverhead farms, said the town must “fix” its broken transfer of development rights program.

“The only ones who can fix it are the farmers,” he said. “You have to go to their barns, eat with them where they’re most comfortable, let them tell you how it needs to be done, and then go ahead and make it happen.”

Shea echoed that theme, saying, “We have to basically listen to the farmers.”

On agritourism resorts, all three were critical of recent proposals.

“If this current board is allowed to be brought back, they’re going to bring back agritourism resorts,” Woolley said flatly. “Just know that.”

Shea said developers misrepresented preservation benefits.

“They were claiming they were actually going to be protecting some of the land that was already protected. That was a lie,” he said.

Halpin said he supports agritourism as part of Riverhead’s culture, but not developer-written codes.

“Will I be changing the code to match a developer? No,” he said.

Industrial Development Agency

All three said the town’s IDA must be reined in.

Halpin urged a model he described in upstate New York, where development projects deliver tangible community benefits like parks.

“No more long-term abatements that harm schools and fire districts,” he said.

Woolley called for a “top-to-bottom restructure” of the agency and tougher scrutiny of who benefits.

Shea stressed that because the town appoints IDA members, “we have leverage” to impose a checklist of benefits that flow back to residents.

Affordable housing

On housing, Shea emerged as the strongest proponent of accessory dwelling units.

“I’m supporting them,” he said. “I’m actually going to try to build one on my property for my mother.” He said market-rate apartments renting at $3,000–$4,000 are “not affordable” for working people.

Halpin backed ADUs as part of stabilizing the housing market and emphasized making permitting easier for both homeowners and businesses. He said seniors are being forced to choose between meals and staying near family.

Woolley called for binding affordable set-asides in all major developments.

“Any developer now coming in, carve out a bunch of affordable ones for people, based on the affordability of the people who are living here,” he said.

Diversity

The candidates also addressed outreach to Riverhead’s immigrant and minority communities.

Halpin said that, Riverhead, “like a lot of Long Island, is extremely, diversely segregated” and promised to build unity.

He criticized an executive order first issued by former town supervisor Yvette Aguilar in the spring of 2023 — when migrants were arriving in New York City at a rate of 4,000 a week — that prohibited facilities within the town from taking in migrants and other asylum-seekers.

“The biggest thing that that executive order will do is perpetuate fear,” he said. “And that is the last thing that I want to be of any type.”

Still, Halpin was fuzzy on whether he would continue the order if elected.

Woolley pointed to his time as an aide to Congressman Tom Suozzi, when he said he worked with the U.S. State Dept. on constituent immigration issues.  

“This is the type of work I do,” he said. “This is the type of work I’m used to. It’s called public service.”

Shea said that Riverhead has to “make sure that anyone, regardless of race or color, gets their fair per day work and their human rights.”

George Santos aide

At the first forum, Woolley addressed the shadow of disgraced former Congressman George Santos, who is currently serving an 87-month federal sentence for fraud.

“You’re going to hear as we go forward, ‘This guy worked for George Santos,’” Woolley told voters. He said he agreed to help run Santos’ district office because constituents were being denied services.

“I told him flat out, ‘I really don’t want to know what’s going on with you, but I know one thing: you need to have someone run this office and provide services,’” Woolley said.

When Santos was expelled, Woolley said, he addressed reporters to reassure residents that services would continue.

“You’ll see this photo of me standing there talking to the press… to reassure the residents of CD-3 not to worry — me and my staff will carry on until a new member comes in and is seated,” he said. When Suozzi returned to Congress after a special election last year, Woolley said, “his team came in and said, ‘stick around,’ and I stuck around.”