Candidate Profile: Nick Krupski For Southold Town Trustee

SOUTHOLD, NY — Suffolk County residents will be hitting the polls Tuesday to elect local representatives.

The race is on in local town and village races leading up to Election Day, which, this year, falls on Tuesday, November 5. Patch asked those running for office to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles in the days leading up to the election.

Incumbent Nick Krupski, 31, of Cutchogue, is a Democrat running along with Glenn Goldsmith, a Republican, for two Southold Town Trustee seats. Krupski and his "supportive wife" Rachael have a daughter Victoria, who is 8 months old. His father Al Krupski is a Suffolk County Legislator. He has a Masters in biology from CW Post and a BS in geology with a concentration in environmental science from SUNY Cortland. He has worked on Krupski Farms for 20 years and recently started at Brookhaven Lab.

Check out Patch's full Q&A with Nick Krupski below.

Patch: The single most pressing issue facing our community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Nick Krupski: I would say there are two important general issues. 1) The first is the influx of people moving into our area on a daily basis. Applications are becoming far more complex. From this the trustees are working far more often and harder to ensure we protect the environment while balancing that with property rights. At times we see up to 60 applications a month. And 2) with intensifying storms and sea level rise the trustees need to take that into account with every application. What seems okay on a sunny day in August may turn into a disaster during a winter storm later in the year or may be underwater in the near future. Planning for this is key to preserving our waterfront.

P: What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

K: I wouldn’t say differences so much as I'd say I lean on my education when making determinations. I have always been interested in science and environmental issues and I constantly use my background including some environmental remediation and restoration work when voting on an application.

P: Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

K: Another issue I take very seriously is shoreline hardening. On the sound in many locations it has become a necessity with intensifying winter storms. However I feel strongly about using rock armoring or solo revetment structures which break up and absorb wave action rather than wipe out surrounding beaches. Conversely on the bay and in creeks I feel very strongly that bulkheads or other hard structures are often a last ditch effort while a living shoreline/planting plan will often do the trick. This can help the wetland line move with the water level while not restricting wildlife from traversing their nature habitat.

P: What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

K: The last four years have been a great success for the trustees. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Cornell Marine extension on a number of grant projects restoring local wetlands, applied and received grant funding for a new pumpout boat using some county water quality money, and talked with local middle school students about the importance of the environment. Aside from that I have approached every application with a clean slate and stuck to my principles. Using the wetland code and my environmental background I have worked hard to strike the balance between homeowners and the natural ecosystem.

P: The best advice ever shared with me was ...

K: "A trustee has no friends.” Years ago a former trustee shared this information with me. What he essentially meant by it was to approach every single application the same way. Living in a small town there is going to be some overlap between personal and work lives. However doing the right job for the community has to come first as a trustee.

P: What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

K: I thoroughly enjoy being a trustee in this treasure of a town. My best childhood memories when not working on the farm all center around the wetlands. Snapper fishing with my father at Fleets Neck or crabbing in August. I’d have to say it’s the place I enjoy the most and a major part of why I choose to call Cutchogue my home.