Coates running for Riverhead Town Board
Anthony Coates, a political adviser to Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter, is running for a seat on the Riverhead Town Board.
Mr. Coates has scheduled a dinner party at 6 p.m. in the Jedediah Hawkins Inn in Jamesport to announce his intention to run this year.
Mr. Coates, who switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican in July and formed a “Vote Coates ’13” political fundraising committee earlier in the year, had announced last month that he’d be unveiling his political intentions at the Nov. 15 gathering, but at the time, he wouldn’t confirm whether he’d be running for a Town Council seat or for the county Legislature seat that will soon be vacated by new Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine.
By running for the town seat, Mr. Coates will be challenging two incumbent Republican council members, Jodi Giglio and John Dunleavy, both of whom have indicated they intend to seek reelection.
Mr. Walter and Ms. Giglio have feuded on many occasions since both took office in 2010, including this past week, when the two publicly argued at length over a resolution to fire a town employee.
By running a primary, however, all three candidates must run and the top two vote getters win, so Mr. Coates could conceivably bump Mr. Dunleavy and end up running with Ms. Giglio in the general election.
Mr. Coates stated in a press release, “Riverhead voters need to shake up the system and vote differently.” He added, “”I think Riverhead deserves a government worthy of our people. We have been voting the same way for fifty years in this town. It is time for new leadership and a new day in Riverhead.”
Mr. Coates describes himself as a former investment banker, a former publisher of The Record newspapers, an aide to a former presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, a public affairs advisor to numerous elected officials and a current member of the town’s Business Improvement District Management Association.
