Meet The Candidates: Ann Welker For Southampton Town Trustee

SOUTHAMPTON, NY —Suffolk County residents will be heading to the polls Tuesday to elect local representatives and make their voices heard.

Residents will weigh in on the race to represent one of the 18 legislative districts in Suffolk County, vote for Suffolk County District Attorney and Sheriff — and choose their local town elected officials.

In advance of the election, Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaign — and the results will be published as candidate profiles in the days leading up to the vote.

Ann Welker is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines for one of five open Southampton Town Trustee seats. She is running with fellow Democratic and Working Families candidates Bill Pell, Will Peckham, Andrew Brosnan and Martha Reichert, Jr. Running on the Republican and Conservative lines for the seats are Scott Horowitz, Edward Warner, Jr., William Parash and Robert Savage.

Following is Patch's full Q&A with Ann Welker:

<b> Name <b>

Ann E. Welker

<b>Age (as of Election Day)</b>

58

<b>Position Sought</b>

Southampton Town Trustee

<b>Party Affiliation</b>

Democrat

<b>Family</b>

Vinny McGann, lifelong East End waterman, and daughter Whitney , now a resident of Boston.

<b>Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?</b>

N0

<b>Education</b>

BA Adelphi University — finance. MA Adelphi University — Exercise physiology.

<b>Occupation</b>

Exercise physiologist, cardiac rehabilitation department, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital — 5 years

<b>Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office</b>

Southampton Town trustee. Elected, November 2017

<b>Campaign website</b>

annwelker.com

<b>Why are you seeking elective office?</b>

The Southampton Town trustees are charged with the preservation of the maritime heritage of this coastal community, the protection and enhancement of water quality in our bays, ponds, and ocean, and the defense of the right of the public to access our beautiful beaches. The town trustees protect the reasons we all choose to live here. It is a privilege to sit on this historic board. I am deeply grateful to have had this opportunity and would be honored to continue this critically important work.

<b>The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.</b>

The Town trustees are confronted with a multitude of challenges as we look to the future. Sea level rise and warming waters in the face of climate change; the onset of lawsuits by deep-pocketed waterfront homeowners; land-use practices that ignore the impacts of runoff on our surface waters; hundreds, if not thousands of antiquated septic systems leaching excess nutrients into our marine and freshwater bodies fueling harmful algal blooms, or HABs; the loss of control over traditional maritime practices to far reaching regulatory agencies, to name but a few.

Singling one out is difficult, but it must be sea-level rise. Collaboration, communication and creative thinking are the tools that I used to help bring about living shoreline projects in the Town of Southampton. Living shorelines are nature-based solutions to traditional shore hardening structures, such as bulkheads. Living shorelines allow adaptability to natural forces and sea-level rise, permit the maintenance and creation of natural salt marsh habitat and are less costly to install and maintain. It takes courage to look at new options and to pilot them, but working collaboratively and learning from each other, and from our mistakes, allows us to face these challenges head-on.

<b>What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?</b>

I am a native of the East End, an environmental advocate, and a lifelong water woman. With two terms under my belt as a town trustee, I have built relationships, opened lines of communication, and educated our residents about the importance of the town trustees and our fragile marine ecosystem. In the face of climate change, we have much work to do. When I was first elected, I attended a forum sponsored by Eleanor's Legacy. Eleanor's Legacy is a group founded by former East Hampton Town Supervisor Judith Hope, which supports women running for elected office. I learned a great deal that day from many remarkable women, but one statement in particular resonated with me: " Women govern in a responsible, bipartisan way. " I have kept those words close to me these past four years, and intend to do so if I am reelected. These words have made all the difference in my actions.

<b>How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?</b>

As a healthcare professional during the continuing pandemic, I am on the forefront. Local officials stepped up quickly and well, organizing, supporting and finding much-needed supplies for hospitals and our local community, as well as getting the word out to residents. The rollout of the vaccines, although swift, might have been made more efficient with a dedicated phone number, or link to a website, with current information about vaccine availability. Perhaps this might have eliminated some of the chaos and confusion that was present initially, but hindsight is always easier. Overall, I am so proud of the resiliency at all levels, in government, healthcare and in our coastal community,

<b>Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.</b>

Harmful algal blooms, in both our marine and freshwater bodies , pose a significant challenge with increasingly warmer summers, as temperature is a driver for algal blooms. A pilot program in one of the 90 freshwater bodies in the Town of Southampton, targeting the diminishment of microcystin levels found in cyanobacteria, the bacteria, which cause HABs, has much potential for replicability and scalability in other heavily impacted water bodies, not only on the East End but globally. We must look to others going forward, all the while attempting new projects ourselves, to solve the formidable challenges the future holds. . .

<b>What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?</b>

As a Southampton town trustee having served two terms in office, the learning curve has been at times straight up and down. Persistence, determination, and sheer grit have served me well during my time on this historic board.

<b>The best advice ever shared with me was:</b>

A former elected official shared these words with me: "When you run for elected office whether you are successful in the run or not, you learn a great deal about the law, about the environment, about politics, about your community, and especially about yourself." He could not have been more correct. I have kept those words close to me, as I have navigated not only running, but holding elected office, and have been most grateful for them.

<b>What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?</b>

It takes courage to run for elected office, especially in these days of political turbulence and with the proliferation of social media. I have weathered the first two terms as an elected official and am committed to holding my course for the future of our East End waters.