5 candidates vie for 2 seats on the Town Board with only one incumbent in the pack
This week the Reporter presents the responses of the five candidates running for two Town Board seats to a questionnaire sent to them earlier this month. Biographical outlines appear below in alphabetical order according to the candidate’s name. The candidates’ answers to questions about specific concerns and issues appear, grouped under each question, in a separate section in the following pages.
The term for a Town Board council seat is four years, which voters will have a chance to change to two years through a proposition on the November 8 town ballot. Councilpersons under the 2011 budget receive a salary of $35,005. No raise is proposed in the 2012 budget plan.
The two seats that are open for a term beginning on January 1, 2012 are those now held by Glenn Waddington, who is running for supervisor against incumbent Jim Dougherty, and Peter Reich, who is seeking a third term.
WILL ANDERSON
Party: Republican
Age: 43
Where you grew up: Shelter Island
Education: I attended Shelter Island High School and college in Alabama.
Family: My wife Mary is a transplant from Wisconsin via Colorado and has fallen in love with Shelter Island. My three children Kristena (24), Austin (23) and Brittany (21) and my grandson Easton (14 months) all reside in Alabama. My family roots on Shelter Island date back to the 1700s with a long history of public service.
Work: In the plumbing and heating industry 28 years; seven years of this time was spent overseeing large commercial projects and budgets as well as serving as a project manager repairing the infrastructure of Baghdad, Iraq after the U.S. occupation. I now own and manage the family plumbing and heating business, Anderson Plumbing and Heating, on Shelter Island and I am the maintenance director for The Perlman Music Program, where I still manage a large commercial budget.
Hobbies and interests: Fishing, motorcycling, art and I like tinkering.
Awards: 2011 Shelter Island Fire Department Fireman of the Year.
Other elected offices: Elected 2nd assistant chief of the Shelter Island Fire Department, January 2011.
Community service: Volunteer firefighter for 18 years; Lions Club member; board member of Foundation Grow and member of the Shelter Island Chamber of Commerce. I also support many of the Island’s annual events.
DAN FOKINE
Party: Democratic-Independence
Age: 30
Where you grew up: Shelter Island.
Education: Attended Shelter Island School until 10th grade. I then went to Berkshire School in Massachusetts for their running program. I received my BA from Wheaton College summa cum laude.
Family: My wife Bri is an import from Maine. I have two families here: My dad Chris and stepmother Heidi and my two brothers Elias and Wyatt; then I have my mother Mary and stepfather Rob and my two sisters Lena and Inga. My grandfather John Fokine also lives here.
Work: I am a project manager at Fokine Construction Services. I manage all phases of the construction process
Hobbies and interests: I am a commercial artist/sculptor for On The Lamb Games. I go digging for antique bottles, bike ride, hike and hang out with my dachshunds
Other elected offices: I have never held any office nor sought any.
Community service: I am the founder and manager of the Shelter Island Farmers market. I volunteer at the Historical Society.
PETER REICH
Party: Republican-Conservative
Age: 54
Where you grew up: Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; summers on Shelter Island.
Education: SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, graduated 1979 with a BE in Naval Architecture and USCG 3rd Assistant Engineer’s license.
If you moved to Shelter Island, when you did so and why: Summers since 1964, full time since 1979.
Family: parents Olive and Dan Reich, summers on Shelter Island since 1964: brother Duke and his wife, Lisa, summer residents; daughter Melissa, who grew up on Island and graduated from high school here in 2004; wife Loren.
Work: Vice President, co-founder Reich/Eklund Construction, since 1984. Prior to that, managed Halsey’s Marina in East Hampton.
Hobbies and interests: Passionate about the water and avid boater, power and sail. I love to build things, too. Currently building a 17-foot rowboat and refurbishing a 17-foot sailboat.
Awards: None but the rewards I receive every day as councilman are just as important to me.
Elected offices: I am proud to have served two consecutive terms as councilman.
Community service: For the past eight years, I have served on various town committees, including Buildings and Grounds, MS-4, Grants, IT, Waterways, liaison to the Waterways Management Advisory Council; also Mashomack Preserve board member for 10 years and East End Seaport board member, treasurer, and “Keeper of Bug Light.”
PAUL SHEPHERD
Party: Conservative-Local Libert
Age: 56
Where you grew up: Shelter Island
Education: Shelter Island High School, Florida Southern College (horticulture).
If you moved to Shelter Island, when you did so and why: 1958, age 3, because my mother made me.
Family: Significant other for 33 years, Jean Lawless, ageless; her children (now 40s) Katherine and Jamie, who will soon both live on Shelter Island again with their children.
Work: landscaping in my early years, then carpentry since about 1980.
Hobbies and interests: Music, movies, politics and cigars.
Other elected offices: I ran for supervisor two years ago, and was narrowly defeated by only 600 votes or so … but didn’t come in last.
Community service: Zoning Board of Appeals for three years in the early 1990s; public participant in the Peconic County discussion some years back; for the last two and a half years, I have been going very regularly to Town Board meetings. I was the sole member of the public on the committee that revived our Recycling Center salvage privileges and am pleased to say that we got almost all of them back.
IAN WESLEK
Party: Democratic-Independence-Working Familie
Age: 39
Where you grew up: Shelter Island.
Education: Shelter Island School; United States Navy, Mine Warfare
Family: Wife Victoria, 32, is Alan and Maria Shields’ daughter and John and Jean Loconsolo’s granddaughter; three children: two sons: Harrison, 4, and Evan, 2; daughter Elizabeth, 5 months.
Work: Owner of Weslek Woodworking Inc, a general contracting company; served in the Navy for seven years, then worked in the building trades locally. Hired as clerk of the works for construction of town highway maintenance facility. I spent three years as a project manager for a Hamptons-based contracting company.
Hobbies and interests: My main hobby is my wife and children; I love spending as much time as I can with them and we love to travel as much as possible as a family. Second to them, I split my time between golf and the water. I spend time networking as much as possible with my colleagues, trying to make building practices better and more efficient for homeowners. I’m a founding member of the North Fork Contracting Alliance and a member of the United States Green Building Council.
Awards: U.S. Navy Achievement Medal for my work with the Japanese Mine Hunting Navy; various Letters of Commendation for my work ethic and mission readiness.
Community service: Sunday school teacher at the Presbyterian Church for many years; helped my wife lay out and coordinate the installation of Bridge Street Park.
