GUIDE: Voters to Pick Dem Candidate for Supervisor

Democratic voters will go to the polls on Tuesday to choose either former town supervisor Phil Carninale or newcomer Greg Fischer to be nominated on the Democratic party line for town supervisor in the general election this November. Riverhead Patch recently spoke with each of the candidates about their background, their plans for Riverhead and what they can offer the town.

Phil Cardinale

Phil Cardinale spent six years behind the town supervisor's desk from 2003 to 2009, when he lost a re-election bid to current Supervisor Sean Walter. Cardinale said that his experience as supervisor makes him the ideal candidate.

"I think I'll bring to the town experience, intelligence, integrity and vision which is always in short supply and is badly needed in Riverhead," he said. "I believe that in order to accomplish anything we need to have a town board that respects each other … that's something I tried to do in my 6 years that this supervisor isn't doing."

Cardinale added that the recent openings of restaurants and the Hyatt Place East End were all due to initiatives he started while in office two years ago.

"Every single project down there that has succeeded … all of those had commenced under my administration," he said. "That was all there, that was all underway."

Now, Cardinale said, Riverhead needs to continue to court developers to fill the rest of the blighted stores downtown.

"Those areas are not going to see redevelopment without comprehensive redevelopment that would benefit everyone downtown," Cardinale said. He said he would consider using the town's power of condemnation to open up land for redevelopment and would pursue public-private partnerships with "major developers" to redevelop the area.

Cardinale also said the town must cut down on wasteful expenditures, such as a study on EPCAL he called "useless."

"What we need is to get that property on the tax rolls right away," Cardinale said of EPCAL. "Get it on the market, get it sold for fair value. Once you sell that you get 3,000 more acres on the tax rolls."

Greg Fischer

Greg Fischer, the third-party candidate who created the Riverhead First Party and said he was running to change the established political powers in town, thinks he can offer a different perspective on how to revitalize the town.

"I come from a business perspective, not just a legalist perspective," he said. "That's a big advantage to have this from a business and efficiency standpoint for at least 2 years."

Fischer's plan calls for the redevelopment of EPCAL into a "mixed-use entertainment and biotech center" as well as a zoo and an animal rescue operation. Fischer also wants to abolish LIPA, claiming the town could save money by establishing its own power authority.

"The power authority is at the top of the list, because it'll turn the town around," he said.

Fischer, a Calverton resident who forced the primary after securing over 1,000 petition signatures to be included on the party line, has not had an easy road through the campaign. He drew ire from Democratic leaders in town, who accused him of . Fischer fired back by vehemently denying the claims, , Riverhead First, and accusing his opponent Cardinale of abetting the alleged abduction of Fischer's children by his wife in 2007. Fischer said the town should be held responsible for breaking federal law as they refused to report the children missing at the time of their disappearance. Cardinale has denied this accusation, saying it was a matter of parental custody. A lawsuit is currently pending against the town resulting from this allegation.

Suffolk County court records show Fischer currently faces charges of second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor, a failure to obey a police officer infraction, and an improper turn infraction resulting from a driving incident in Huntington two years ago.

Fischer admitted that when he was signaled to pull over, he "kept driving to the police station" because he had become distrustful of police after his children's abduction. He said he is confident he will be cleared of the charges. His court case was recently adjourned to Oct. 17.

Fischer briefly recruited Marlando Williams to join him on his party line before Due to his independent party, Fischer will be eligible to run in the general election under the Riverhead First party line no matter what the result of Tuesday's election.

Fischer and his running mate, Ruth Pollack, recently rented Polish Town Hall to

Fischer said he thinks his opponent's decision to forgo the debate shows the signs of "secret government" and promised that as supervisor, he would put public records, meetings, and other documents online for the public to view.

"If I can make the records more accessible to the people, if I can get the permitting process online, those are all long-term positive changes," he said.

Who is your pick for the Democratic primary? .

Riverhead Patch also spoke with the Democratic candidates for town council about their positions on the issues affecting Riverhead.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m at regular polling places across Riverhead. To find your polling station, check the New York State's Board of Elections' search tool.