Wooten, Walter Screen for GOP Supervisor Nomination

Councilman Jim Wooten and Supervisor Sean Walter were but two of a handful of people to screen Thursday night with the Riverhead Republican Committee for elected positions.

And according to Wooten's campaign manager, and the prepared text for Wooten's speech on Thursday, the councilman will seek the GOP supervisor nomination as both he and Walter make their second run for elected office.

The announcement came nearly a week after - and less than a day after Republican Committee Chair John Galla said .

"I am here tonight to offer myself as an alternative to what we have been seeing coming from the office of supervisor," reads the text of Wooten's speech, which he may have partially strayed from during his screening with the Riverhead Republican Committee. "I wanted to screen tonight because I know in my heart of hearts that we as Republicans can do a lot better."

But what, exactly, does it mean to "screen?"

That's what Jim Teese, Wooten's campaign manager, asked after the screening session.

"Honestly I don't even know what screening means," he said late Thursday night, after he was asked whether or not Wooten screened for the supervisor nomination. "Does that mean you suggest you'd be willing to run for that office when you put yourself in front of that committee? Did that happen? Absolutely."

Wooten made it clear on Thrusday afternoon he would attempt to screen for both seats, an effort Galla disallowed when he introduced Wooten to the committee.

"I said, 'Councilman Wooten would like to speak before us. I'm uncertain what he's screening for,'" Galla recalled on Friday morning.

Galla explained that in years past - "I don't know if you want to call it tradition, or norm" - when candidates met to screen for different positions, candidates for supervisor or council met a screening committee on different days. 

This year, Galla opened the process up to the entire committee - roughly 75 percent of whom showed up, Galla said - and screened for all seats on the same night. But he kept the norm of one screening per day the same.

"Where the issue arose was ... having those two groupings (council and supervisor) in the same night," Galla said. "But if it came down to it, I'd do it the same way again."

In an interview following the Republican screening process, which took place at the American Legion, Teese questioned the definition of "screening" more than once - an attempt to make clear that by screening for supervisor, Wooten should not necessarily be eliminated from running for his council seat should he fail to earn the nomination for the top line on the ticket.

"OK, say I want to screen for town council," he said. "Who am I talking to? The same people I would be talking to in 20 minutes later if I'm screening for supervisor. It's the same audience. Understand, the reason some people are doing that is because they're trying to create some kind of controversy. It's supposedly an open process - but your choice is being taken away."

By "doing this," Teese referred to what he called a "false dichotomy" - saying Wooten is seeking for two different nominations, when he is seeking one.

Wooten said in a statement himself that should he not earn the supervisor nomination, he hopes to earn a nomination as an incumbent councilman.

“I hope to receive the endorsement of my fellow Republicans for supervisor,” Wooten wrote. “If not, I humbly believe that my service will be recognized and respected by the committee and I will receive their endorsement for re-election [as councilman].”

GOP Chair Galla said on Thursday afternoon that Wooten's options to screen for both supervisor and town council were "being researched as we speak." Earlier in the day he told a reporter that Wooten would not be able to screen for both, which from Teese's comments appeared to be the case.

However Teese still considered Wooten's appeal a screening for both positions. 

"I guess my answer would be he screened for both," he said.

On Wednesday, that Wooten would screen for his expiring council seat. Galla was not available for comment following Thursday night's meeting.

Teese added that the committee screened three nominations for Wooten's council seat: Brian Mills, Mary Hartill, and Robert Weir.

In the text of his prepared speech to the committee, Wooten referred to the "first great quality of any leader" as the ability to communicate - a criticism he has made in the past against the current supervisor.

On Wednesday, Walter said that he "honestly thought [Wooten] would run for town council" after a meeting between the two and Galla at Walter's law office in Wading River. Walter said for Wooten, "the math doesn't make sense," adding that he is confident he will earn the Independence and Conservative Party lines come November. 

When asked why he thought he could earn the smaller party lines, the former Conservative Party Chair - who did not earn the Independence line in 2009 - said, "It comes down to having good working relationships. Good politicians work like that."