2 With Deep Southeast Roots Seek To Replace Longtime Town Supervisor

SOUTHEAST, NY — Southeast Town Supervisor Tony Hay won't seek re-election in November, and two Republicans with deep community roots are seeking to replace him.

"I’ll be 76 this year and have spent 31 years in service to my community and it’s time! No plans for the future," Hay told Patch.

The hats already in the ring belong to Paul Jonke, chairman of the Putnam County Legislature, and Nick Durante, a retired Brewster businessman and volunteer youth sports coach.

Jonke has worked for Southeast in one way or another for more than 30 years, including as tax assessor, planning board member and county legislator. He told Patch that when he became the town assessor in 1993, Hay was the first person to welcome him.

He said he thought the biggest issue facing Southeast was growth.

"I'm in favor of commercial development — they pay school taxes — but where's the limit, how big can they be?" he said. "The priority is finding a balance for what sorts of commercial properties and projects to expand with."

He said he is excited by the possibility of a sewer line extension from Danbury across the border along Route 6. An agreement to discuss the plan was signed in late December by MaryEllen Odell, former Putnam County Executive, and Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito.

SEE: Putnam/Danbury Agreement Could Provide A Big Economic Boost

Jonke was elected this year to the chairmanship of the Putnam County Legislature. He told Patch that he loved representing his hometown as a legislator, but that town-level issues interested him most.

"Tony Hay and I have been talking about this for the past four years," he said.

Durante, 54, is a retired businessman and a hockey coach who has lived in Brewster for 48 years.

"I met Tony Hay a few years back and I'm friends with a lot of people who work in town," he told Patch. "When I heard a year and a half ago that he might not seek another term I began thinking about it."

Durante, who worked for Verizon for many years before retiring in 2020, also owned a liquor store in Brewster, though his real love, he said, was the pizza parlor he owned for a few years in Somers.

"I've been here almost 50 years, I'm not going anywhere. I really love it here," he said. "I feel like this is a way to give back and make sure our future is secure."

He also feels the biggest issue in town is dealing with development. "It seems like a lot's going on real fast. We need to be on top of it."

He noted that the town is very much more built up than in his childhood.

"There's mountaintops that now have buildings on them," he said. "We don't want to lose our charm. But we can't not progress."

He also wants the town to work more closely with the county on children's mental health issues, many of which were exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

As for taxes, "Honestly, I'm going to try to stick to Tony's plan and keep taxes low," he said. "It's one of the first questions people ask me."

People don't always realize, he said, that the bulk of their property taxes goes to the school district, not the town.

Speaking of school, Durante graduated from Brewster; Jonke from Mahopac.