Election 2023: Meet the candidates for Town Council

Election Day is Nov. 7. All this week, meet the candidates.

Town Council Member  |  4 YEARS, 3-Term Limit |  SALARY: $48,955

Responsibilities: Town Council members enact ordinances, adopt budgets, manage personnel matters, oversee town-wide planning and zoning, establish recreation areas and lead and participate in town meetings, which are open to the public.

Andrew Leven

Party: Republican, running as a fusion candidate on the Democratic line

Hamlet: Riverhead

Occupation: Attorney

Andrew Leven grew up in West Islip, spent most of his legal career in New Jersey and recently moved to Riverhead because he believes it is a beautiful place to live. He previously served as a career federal prosecutor, a two-term Planning Board member and healthcare compliance director for a Fortune 100 company. 

Platform: If elected as council member, Mr. Leven said his priority is to stop the Enterprise Park at Calverton project. He will also make sure the town code is enforced consistently, based on what people do and not who they know, he said. He plans to work closely with police and seek out their suggestions on how to reduce crime. Mr. Leven wants to control development in Riverhead, revamp the Transfer of Development Rights and prioritize the comprehensive plan. The candidate also feels it is important to change the current “tone at the top,” in which public officials are routinely aggressive and dismissive of members of the public with whom they disagree.

“I know how to fight, but I wasn’t looking for one — then I learned about EPCAL, which may be the most absurd project ever proposed. I began speaking out and was unexpectedly invited by the Democrats to run as Republican for Town Board on their line this November. I don’t want your money. I don’t seek power. I don’t need to win the election for my ego. I am running, reluctantly, to stop the squandering of what Riverhead now is and because our tribal politics — us versus them, with nothing in between — is not working for any of us.” 

Rene N. Suprina

Party: Democrat

Hamlet: Riverhead

Occupation: Retired music teacher

Born and raised on the North Fork, Rene Suprina lives in Riverhead and her three children graduated from Riverhead High School. She received her bachelor’s degree in music from SUNY/Potsdam’s Crane School of Music and two master’s degrees from SUNY/Stony Brook, one in liberal studies and the other in school district leadership. 

Ms. Suprina is an active community member and has held several leadership positions in professional organizations at the local, county and state levels. She is the president of the “No Doubt World Famous Monday Night Band” and an arts advocate for the past 35 years. She has traveled to Albany annually to meet with state legislators to secure funding and support for the arts in public schools. 

Platform: Ms. Suprina is in support of breaking the EPCAL deal and says no to warehouses or cargo jetports. She wants to create an arts hub in Riverhead to revitalize the downtown area. She wants to improve community safety by providing the police department with the proper resources to do its job. This includes adding a police substation downtown. 

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Denise M. Merrifield 

Party: Republican/Conservative

Hamlet: Wading River

Occupation: Attorney and adjunct professor at Touro Law School

Denise Merrifield and her family have lived in Wading River for 26 years. Ms. Merrifield’s husband, Peter, and her daughter are attorneys; her son is a middle school teacher. 

In 1988, Ms. Merrifield became an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and retired in 2018 after 30 years of service. For almost all of those 30 years, she worked in the criminal court building in Riverhead. There she was assigned to the Homicide Bureau for 11 years, where she personally tried to verdict 29 homicide trials. Ms. Merrifield was the first assistant district attorney in New York State to obtain guilty verdicts against two defendants for murder in the first degree, murder for hire, simultaneously, with two separate juries. She has personally tried 49 felony jury trials.

Ms. Merrifield served as deputy bureau chief of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, where she supervised 15 assistant district attorneys. She also served as deputy bureau chief of the Major Crime Bureau.

After retiring from the District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Merrifield became an adjunct professor at Touro Law School. She also volunteers her time coaching law students in national mock trial competitions. 

Ms. Merrifield said all her life she has been helping to protect and serve Suffolk County residents and when elected to the Town Council, she will bring the same level of dedication to the residents of Riverhead. She will protect and promote the economic advancements, the environment and the lifestyle everyone loves about the beautiful town.

 Platform: No airport at EPCAL; No massive logistic warehouses; she supports following the town’s Comprehensive Plan proposals regarding industrial development; she supports local control over unvetted migrants and says that other jurisdictions should not impose health, safety and financial burdens on Riverhead residents; Continue the economic revitalization of downtown Riverhead; Smart economic growth while maintaining agricultural preservation; and she supports law enforcement efforts to keep residents and streets safe.

“Riverhead is a great town to live, work, and raise a family in. I will fight to keep it that way.”

Joann Waski

Party: Republican/Conservative

Hamlet: Jamesport

Occupation: President, Peconic Abstract, Inc.

Born and raised in Aquebogue Joann Waski’s family has very deep roots within in the community. She and her husband, Patrick, have lived in Jamesport for almost 30 years and have three adult children. Her husband is a retired Riverhead Police detective. Her son is a Riverhead police officer as well as a volunteer Jamesport firefighter.

Ms. Waski is president of Peconic Abstract, Inc., a title insurance company established in Riverhead 40 years ago specializing in deed and mortgage insurance. She is licensed to serve New York State. 

Currently, she serves on the Planning Board, the Board of Assessment Review and the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. In addition, she is on the executive board of North Fork Animal Welfare League and Heidi’s Helping Angels. Last year, as chair of the Planning Board, she signed the letter addressed to the Town Board recommending a moratorium for Calverton. 

Ms. Waski said she has always been present and engaged with the community; that she is a candidate with real experience. As a business owner she said she understand the challenges of running a business while supporting and appreciating the people that work with her, together as a team.

As a native of Riverhead, she said she has seen where the town has been and has a vision for where it can go. She said she’s not afraid to make tough decisions. She said she is endorsed by the Riverhead and Suffolk County police benevolent associations and the Police Association of Suffolk County.

Platform: No to cargo/jetport at EPCAL; Against mega warehouses; Supports law enforcement; Promote farmers using sustainable practices; Protect farmland, woodland and wetland; Long Island Railroad must fix Riverhead’s railroad crossings; Advocate for children and seniors; Complete the vision for the town square; and continue the emergency order on housing undocumented migrants.

“Experience that equals results, not promises.”