7 Candidates Left Off Ballot For Upcoming Greenport Village Election

GREENPORT, NY — The Greenport Village election is slated for March 21 — and this week, seven contenders for both mayoral and trustee seats found themselves off the ballot.

The only two names remaining on the ballot are those of incumbent longtime Greenport Village Mayor George Hubbard and incumbent Trustee Jack Martilotta.

The seven candidates — two for the mayor's seat and five for trustee seats — were sent a letter by Greenport Village Attorney Joseph Prokop, stating that although they had filed independent nominating petitions, they did not subsequently file a "proper certificate of acceptance" with the village clerk by Feb. 17, and their names "cannot appear on the ballot as a candidate for office in the 2023 election because a proper certificate of acceptance was not filed as required."

Prokop told Patch he had no comment. Hubbard told Patch the reason the potential candidates do not appear on the ballot is they "did not complete all the paperwork."

Candidates left off the ballot include Richard Vandenburgh and Kevin Stuessi for mayor and Ali Tuthill, Lily Dougherty-Johnson, Nikki Gohorel, Patrick Brennan, and William Swiskey for trustee.

There are two open trustee seats — Martilotta is running to retain his seat and incumbent Peter Clarke will not be running again.

The news sparked outrage across the village.

Rena Wilhelm, who is moderating upcoming debates, said the candidates didn't realize they had to fill out the acceptance form and Sylvia Lazzari Pirillo, the village clerk, did not inform them.

A letter to the candidates from Pirillo, obtained by Patch and dated Feb. 10, said the candidates' nominating petitions were received and that they would appear on the ballot. The date to file a notice of declination was listed as Feb. 17. The letter made no mention of a letter of acceptance that needed to be filed.

Pirillo did not return a request for comment.

"This mishandling of paperwork was egregious and seemed intentional," said Wilhelm. "And the responsible person(s) need to be held accountable. Whomever is responsible has now lost the trust of every village resident. Not only that, but the backlash is absolutely unfair to those two incumbent candidates."

Resident Ian Wile sent a letter to Pirillo: "While I am certain this must be in error, I am looking to see what your plan is to rectify what looks quite terrible for Greenport, its citizens and community involvement," he wrote. "I hope to see all of the candidates restored to the ballot immediately."

Wile added, after a request for comment from Patch: "I have seen the letters advising the candidates that they have met the threshold to appear on the ballot 'and will appear as such' and gives them a date 'for declination. There is no mention of acceptance. Our clerk has either made a grievous error or has acted with ill intent. There must be action taken to walk back this issue immediately for the good of the village. Wherever you stand on the candidates, a mock election cannot be allowed to stand. . . It is my belief that there is a systematic disenfranchisement at work between Village Hall and Greenport's citizens. We have all been at meetings where we hear from the board, 'we just want people to participate'. Now is the time to show that they mean it."

Village resident Lisa Gillooly also spoke out: "All seven candidates running for Greenport Village mayor and trustee have been disqualified from the election slated to take place on March 21. The only one's left are the incumbents. This is a violation of our rights as citizens of the village to a free and fair election," she said.

Gillooly said: " If all 7 got it wrong — then it appears that there was something deliberately wrong with the messaging. This needs to be investigated and needs to be resolved."

A "large group of concerned citizens" will protest at the village board meeting scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Greenport Fire House located on Third Street in Greenport, she said.

Candidates can still run for their seats as write-in options.

Some spoke to Patch on Thursday about their feelings regarding the omission from the ballot.

"This is a disheartening and very disconcerting development," Brennan said. He added that now, "I am doubly committed to running for office. If anyone had any doubts before. . . .We need new leadership now! The blatant disregard for residents' rights is egregious. The lack of any sense of common courtesy or respect for our neighbors, volunteers, and community leaders is outrageous. Until yesterday, candidates have campaigned around very positive issues, like; planning Greenport's future, addressing housing, confronting environmental resiliency, etc. Now the campaigns have been forced to confront less than positive matters, like; integrity, honesty, competence, and good governance."

Added Stuessi: "All seven of us are working together expeditiously to get this resolved. We belong on the ballot as we met all conditions, according to her letter. The only two now on the ballot are the incumbent mayor and deputy mayor."

The seven plan to meet Thursday morning to work to resolve the issue as a group and to gather with the community at 6:30 p.m. in advance of the village board meeting.

"Honestly, it’s frustrating, maddening, sad, and hilarious all at the same time," said Dougherty-Johnson. "I still plan to run, either as a write in, or if this mess gets fixed, on the ballot."

The candidates are galvanizing to remedy what's taken place.

"We are pushing the village and Board of Elections to rectify this immediately," Stuessi said, adding: "If neither finds a solution we will proceed with legal action as a last resort."

Both the New York State and Suffolk County Board of Elections did not immediately return a call for comment.

Martilotta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.