Councilman Tom Flight, who was first elected to the East Hampton Town Board in November 2023, will not be seeking an endorsement from the town Democratic Party to run again in November of next year. Mr. Flight shared the news in a phone call Monday afternoon ahead of a meeting of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee at which he planned to make the announcement. He is the board's liaison to the committee.
He will finish the remainder of his four-year term to "close out some big projects," he said.
Mr. Flight has been an outspoken critic of Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez in the last year and chose to endorse East Hampton Village Mayor Larsen over her when the mayor launched a primary challenge for the supervisor seat in June. After that, he said, he has largely been "scorned."
"I'm idealistic," he said. "I think residents of this town could be better served. I regret I haven't been able to instill that, but you can only beat your head against the rock so many times." He added he would also announce his intention to stand down in next year's race at the town board meeting on Tuesday.
"I'm not that aligned with the current board, and in terms of my time usage, it's not effective," he said. "I don't like the way we operate the town government, and they don't seem willing to change."
He added that he wouldn't be seeking an endorsement in this cycle from any other political party, but wasn't shutting the door on politics altogether. Mr. Flight owns two retail stores in Montauk, a bookstore and a clothing store.
"I think overall the way we treat the public, whether we're talking about the Building Department or other things, we're adversarial and distant, even with the press," he said. "Something just seems to be off. I appreciate the need to protect the town, but we've moved in a direction that's very confrontational."
He said he understands why some may feel the Building Department delays are "intentional."
While Richard Normoyle, the town's chief building inspector, who recently received a pay raise when he threatened to leave for Southampton Village, said his department would be caught up by Jan. 1, Mr. Flight said there are still 700 applications that don't have permits, some "dating back pretty far."
"Architects are submitting applications and then getting comments back that have clearly been written by A.I. and no one can make heads or tails of what they mean," he said.
Mr. Flight was the lone vote against legal action toward the owners of the Ranch L.L.C., where an art exhibition made out of shipping containers was erected this summer without a building permit. The board announced last month that a settlement was close, but details still haven't been released. Patrick Derenze, the town's public information officer, said last week they likely wouldn't be released until mid-December.
"Seems like a crazy use of resources to go after that," Mr. Flight said. "We should be figuring out how working people can live here, but we've made that more complex."
Michael Koegler, the chairman of the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee, said Mr. Flight had called him Monday morning. "He told me he was not going to seek re-election. Anyone that raises their hand to run for office, I have a lot of respect for. It's difficult. Tom has worked hard for the town. I may not have always agreed with all of his decisions, particularly to endorse Jerry Larsen, but I thank him for his service and wish him the best of luck."
Whichever Democrat runs for Mr. Flight's seat on the town board a year from now will first have to gain the endorsement of the Democratic Committee at its convention this winter.
"We have an open process," said Mr. Koegler. "Anyone can speak to the committee. No one has officially come forward and said they want to screen with us. No one on the committee has selected anyone to replace Tom Flight."
Councilman David Lys and Councilwoman Cate Rogers both spent years on the zoning board of appeals before making a move to the town board. Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte spent many years on the planning board. Supervisor Burke-Gonzalez came by way of the Springs School Board.
"The town would benefit from being run differently, but I don't think there's an appetite for that right now," Mr. Flight said. "I don't think it's the town board leading the town. It's certain people on the board and department heads who hold sway."
"I think it's important for the next candidate to come from outside the town. The Z.B.A., planning board route is too narrow in its focus. The town needs to be engaging its local municipal partners better."
Mr. Koegler said while advisory board experience is helpful, it's not the only factor. "There are a lot of people in town that are volunteering and working on different committees and C.A.C.s. All of that is great experience. It's not up to me to judge what the right résumé is or not. There are many factors that go into it, and I'm just one voice on the Democratic Committee."
Going forward, Mr. Flight said, the town needs to figure out a way to either pay municipal employees more, or build housing for town workers. "People are going to stop doing the commute," he said. "If there was a married couple, two department heads, they might have a combined income of $280,000 a year. Even in that unique example that wouldn't be enough to buy something here. We're becoming like Venice. If it's not local people who live and work here, that's a town lost. We have to be bold."
