Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - Southampton Trustees: Who Are These People?

In the village of Southampton's recently held elections for town trustees, Richard Yastrzemski and Bonnie Cannon handily won positions to join Nancy McGann and Paul Robinson along with Mayor Mark Epley to make up the five-member Board of Trustees. It is interesting to look into the background of these individuals, all of whom ran for office on the "Citizens with Integrity" ticket.

Bonnie Cannon was a marketing manager of the telephone company Bell Atlantic for 20 years, and worked for Verizon. A single mother, Cannon was the first black woman to be elected Southampton Town Trustee in the village's 348-year history. She was born and raised in Southampton and has been a shining example of what is good about Southampton. Her re-election by a wide margin, with more votes than she had in the first go-round, has proven that her connections to the town's electorate only grew stronger after she won her historic election two years ago. She is cost-conscious and protects the less fortunate.

Newly elected trustee Richard Yastrzemski is another lifelong Southampton Village resident and distant cousin to the Hall of Fame ballplayer Carl Yastrzemski, who still holds many Suffolk County baseball and basketball records. Richard Yastrzemski is an employee of Merrill Lynch, where he holds a position as an assistant vice president with the firm. Yastrzemski garnered the most votes of any candidate in the most recent trustee election. His platform is fiscal responsibility, advocating the elimination of unnecessary spending.

Trustee Nancy McGann is a 27-year veteran of the Southampton real estate scene who began her career with Allan Schneider and worked her way through the Corcoran takeover before assuming a managing partner role just this last month with Town and Country Real Estate. There she joins Judi Desiderio and Janet Hummel at the fast growing firm. McGann was very up front and center during the "bury the cables" fight with LIPA. Her famous remark is that in 27 years in real estate, she doesn't remember a single client requesting "a home with a huge power line tower in front." Active on Community Preservation Fund and Peconic Land Trust isuses, McGann has her eye on the future of Southampton's development and how it will be done. She has been coming to Southampton since 1954, when her parents began vacationing there.

Veteran trustee Paul Robinson has long roots in the Southampton community, beginning with his graduation from Southampton High School. With his wife Joan, he has two grown daughters, who also graduated from Southampton High. Robinson's vast experience comes from a long career as a Social Services administrator, from which he is retired.

Mayor Mark Epley has stood up against the tide on occasion, but mostly represents the will of the majority enough to have been re-elected mayor, and thus a Trustee. He was also on board for the LIPA fight from the get-go and has been in the forefront on confronting the realities of illegal immigration and jobs in his village. A former Naval Submarine Officer, he is presently the executive director and founder of the Seafield Center, which is dedicated to treating addiction.

These Trustees of Southampton are citizens from different backgrounds with one purpose: to tackle the issues of the Village and do what, in their judgment, is best. The collective wisdom of an African-American single mom working most of life in the telecommunications business, a financial man, a former naval officer who now manages a rehab center, a woman who is a long-time real estate professional, and a retired social services administrator represents an interesting combination of interests to represent the people of Southampton.