Election 2015

Election 2015: Meet Your Riverhead Town Candidates

Town Board, four-year term, two open seats

Candidates:

Laura Jens-SmithLaura Jens-Smith

Hamlet: Laurel

Occupation: Project coordinator

Party lines: Democrat, Independence, Working Families, Women’s Equality

About her: Ms. Jens-Smith, 52, is a project coordinator with the North Fork Alliance, a nonprofit that focuses on reducing drug use among youth. She received an associate degree in nursing before becoming a staff nurse in the cardiac care unit at Beth Israel Medical Center, and later earned her bachelor’s degree. A native of Port Jefferson Station, she serves as the president of the Mattituck-Cutchogue Board of Education and lives with her husband and two children.

Her pitch: In her first campaign for town office, the Democratic challenger has focused largely on overdevelopment in town — on Route 58 and, potentially, downtown — as well as Riverhead’s lackluster finances. She is calling for a review of the town’s Master Plan “so that the Riverhead we love isn’t lost to suburban sprawl.”

In her words: “My opponents would like you to believe only someone who has been here for generations can be a true hometown leader. But I believe all members of this community who choose to call Riverhead home are equally important and are entitled to have a voice in this community and its government.”

Jim WootenJames Wooten

Hamlet: Riverhead

Occupation: Retired police officer, Town Board member

Party lines: Republican

About him: Mr. Wooten, 56, is a Riverhead High School graduate who joined the town police force in 1982 and became a councilman in 2008, winning re-election in 2011. In the Riverhead Police Department, he worked as a patrolman, was a president of the police union and received a crime prevention award in 1999. He is active with First Congregational Church, where he’s been a member for over 45 years, and lives with his wife and daughter.

His pitch: Mr. Wooten, a former Main Street patrolman, says “public office is all about integrity, honesty and approachability.” He takes pride in his involvement in privatizing the town’s animal shelter, which is now run by a nonprofit. After the Republican Party backed another retired officer in May to run for Town Board, Mr. Wooten successfully won a primary race to earn a spot on the Republican line.

In his words: ‘This town is moving forward and has been moving forward. We’re on a good path.”

R1029_board_Krupnick_C.jpgNeil Krupnick

Hamlet: Northville

Occupation: Television writer/producer/editor

Party lines: Democrat, Working Families, Women’s Equality

About him: Mr. Krupnick, president of the Northville Beach Civic Association and a member of the North Fork Preserve County Park advisory committee, worked for ABC, A&E and Nickelodeon before starting his own production company in the mid-1990s. Clients have included Fox, Showtime, MSG and SyFy. He lives in Northville with his wife.

His pitch: Mr. Krupnick, 55, successfully led a recent drive to stop an expansion at United Riverhead Terminal, and its CEO has pulled his plans in Town Hall. He is also an outspoken proponent of weight restrictions on large trucks traveling in town. He points to his background as a small-business owner managing company budgets to ensure the town gets on a strong fiscal track, and supports an “accountability audit” in Town Hall to try and make operations run more smoothly and efficiently.

In his words: “The issues in this town are neither Democratic nor Republican; they’re Riverhead issues. And yet for six years, five people in the same party couldn’t even agree with each other to get things done.”

R1029_Board_Hubbard_C.jpgTimothy Hubbard

Hamlet: Riverhead

Occupation: Retired police officer

Party lines: Republican, Conservative, Independence, Reform

About him: Mr. Hubbard, 55, retired last year after 32 years with the Riverhead Police Department. During his time on the force, he also ran the town’s Police Athletic League program and was named member of the year by the police union in 1999. The Riverhead native also served on the Riverhead Board of Education and was a member of the Eastern Suffolk BOCES Advisory Board. He is married and has five children.

His pitch: Mr. Hubbard points to his work with the police department as solid experience for gaining insight into needs and wants in Riverhead. He supports merging code enforcement with the police department “for more effective enforcement and promotion of a better quality of life.” He came in first in a three-way primary in September for two open spots on the Republican ballot.

In his words: “I will tell you that although I was a police officer, I am not to be confused with current or prior members that shared the same career path. I am Tim Hubbard, and I have my own unique approach to serve this community as its next Town Board member.”