Candidate Profile: Susan Vorpahl For East Hampton Town Trustee

East Hampton NY

03 November, 2019

12:07 PM

Description

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Suffolk County residents will be hitting the polls soon 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. Susan Vorpahl, 55, of East Hampton, is an incumbent Republican running for East Hampton Town Trustee. Her opponents are Francis Bock, Bill Taylor, Susan McGraw-Keber, Richard Drew, Benjamin Dollinger, Tim Garneau, John Aldred, Mike Martinsen, James Grimes, Rona Klopman, David Talmage, Michael Havens, Fallon Nigro, Dell Cullum and Stephen Leste. Her family includes her mother, Mary Vorpahl, 80, her son Kyle Ballou, 30, and her daughter Meghan O'Connell, 23. Her son is the secretary for the East Hampton Town Republican Committee. She graduated from East Hampton High School and has worked as an East Hampton Town public safety dispatcher for six years. She is also currently serving as a trustee. Check out Patch's full Q&A with Susan Vorpahl below. Patch: The single most pressing issue facing our community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it. Vorpahl: Water quality: Supporting ideas and working toward immediate solutions that will improve and restore our waterways. P: What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post? V: I believe the trustees should govern as a non-political board, serving the public as a whole. P: Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform: V: Maintaining the public's right of access. Supporting our commercial fisherman, especially regarding their concerns related to offshore wind projects. Researching and cataloguing all trustee properties. P: What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job? V: I worked for many years in management positions for a building/lumber cooperation before becoming a public safety dispatcher. A job which requires working under pressure, multitasking, quick thinking, concentration, communication, etc. I am also an active volunteer member of the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association as an Emergency Medical Technician. I believe in giving back to our community. P: The best advice ever shared with me was ... V: "Stand up for what you believe in." P: What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions? V: I was born and raised in Amagansett, coming from a multi generation family of commercial fisherman. I was taught to respect our environment and all its creatures. My late father, Stuart B. Vorpahl Jr., also a former East Hampton Town Trustee, always maintained the trustees remain persistent in their sovereign authority granted to them under the Dongan Patent to protect the town's commons for the benefit of all citizens. If re-elected I promise to continue upholding my responsibility as a trustee for the benefit of all.