Supervisor Tim Hubbard runs on public safety, downtown revival in reelection bid

When asked why he is running for another term as Riverhead Town Supervisor, Tim Hubbard answered simply: He loves his town, and he loves the job.

Mr. Hubbard served eight years on the Town Board as a councilman and was deputy town supervisor in 2018. When he took his oath as Riverhead Town Supervisor in 2023, he pledged transparency in government, civility in town board meetings and action.

When reviewing resolutions, the supervisor said he likes to look at the big picture before making a decision. The question he always asks himself before settling on his yes or no vote is: “Is it good for the town of Riverhead?”

“I fully and wholeheartedly believe that if it’s going to be a good venture, good investment or good development for the town, that’s when I will get behind it,” Mr. Hubbard said. 

Downtown revitalization is one of Mr. Hubbard’s priorities and working to get the entire Town Square project activated has been paramount.

Another goal when he was first elected was to improve public safety. In the past decade, up to 100 new police officers, as well as a new chief and captain, have been sworn into the Riverhead Police Department. He credits lowered town crime rates to the town’s investment in law enforcement.

“The difference down on Main Street right now is incredible,” Mr. Hubbard said. “We’ve doubled foot patrols, we have the [police chief] himself coming out and walking down Main Street, stopping into businesses and talking to the business owners … It’s boots on the ground.” 

Mr. Hubbard described balancing preservation and development as a “double-edged sword.” The more land taken off the tax rolls through preservation, he said, the less money is coming into the tax base.

“I would love to see Jamesport and Aquebogue stay as rural as they could be. Wading River, Calverton and Baiting Hollow, stay as rural as they can be,” Mr. Hubbard said. “The main focus should be downtown Riverhead and Route 58 and also EPCAL — that’s where we should be developing the tax base.” 

When discussing the Riverhead IDA, he said the agency should attract businesses the town doesn’t already have on vacant land.

“At the end of the day, if it’s going to provide well-paying jobs, you have to weigh that against some other developments that come in and want IDA benefits just because they want a tax break,” Mr. Hubbard said. “I don’t necessarily agree with those types of developments. If it’s something new and something that the town is going to benefit from in the long run, I’m all for it.”

Although there is not much movement on the EPCAL development front due to the pending litigation with Triple Five Group, achieving the vision of the property transforming into an economic driver for Riverhead is still on the table for Mr. Hubbard. When he was on the town board as a councilman in 2018, he voted yes to the developer being qualified and eligible, but against the CAT contract deal in 2023. Today, he still stands behind that decision. 

Amid the 2024 lawsuit between Southampton and Riverhead over the proposed high-density Riverside development and sewer district, recently dismissed by a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge, Mr. Hubbard cleared up some misconceptions about the relationship between the two municipalities, stating he and Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore are in frequent communication.

On immigration, Mr. Hubbard said if U.S. borders become more secure, he would consider removing the emergency executive order issued by his predecessor in 2023.

“If you’re here illegally, you should probably be looking over your shoulder,” Mr. Hubbard said. “And that’s a matter of fact … We have a high Hispanic population in the town of Riverhead, and many, many excellent Hispanic people have come to the town, made a life for themselves, and those are the people we want to take care of. I ride by and I’ll see [food lines] at the First Baptist Church and the line of cars down the road waiting to get food is incredible. We can’t take care of our own, so I don’t think our doors should be open to taking more people in.”