Citing major accomplishments, Yvette Aguiar will not run for reelection in the fall
Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar will not seek re-election to a third, two-year term this fall, saying she would spend her remaining 11 months in office focused on strengthening qualify of life issues, revitalization of the downtown and other goals.
“Look around us,” she told friends, staffers, colleagues and journalists on an early evening video conference call. “In three short years, we have moved our town forward in a quantum leap.”
Ms. Aguiar cited a number of projects — including the creation of a town square across from The Suffolk, funding to revitalize Riverhead’s Long Island Railroad train station, the demolition of two blighted Main Street properties, and the purchase of a complex on East 2nd Street that will serve as the new Town Hall – as her major achievements.
Ms. Aguiar was elected in November 2019 and took office in January 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. She was reelected to a second two-year term in 2021, giving the Republicans control of all five seats on the Town Board.
“It has been an incredible journey for me, and I thank all my supporters who re-elected me with a record-breaking win in the November 2021 election,” she said during the call.
Citing Riverhead’s inclusion in this year’s Forbes Advisor’s 50 best destinations,” Ms. Aguilar declared that “Riverhead is unequivocally on the map.”
She promised to leave Riverhead “with a deep-rooted foundation for progress.”
Ms. Aguilar also thanked her staff and her colleagues for their support throughout her tenure.
“If it wasn’t because of you guys, I couldn’t have done it,” she said.
Without specifying her plans for the future, she assured Riverhead residents that “I’m still going to be around.”
She said she looked forward to enjoying life without some of the challenges that can come with holding public office — citing incidents in which she said she was “hounded” out of restaurants by unhappy constituents and pursued unfairly by the media.
