Dems Tap Rothman, Eisenstein for Town Board

Southold Town Democrats held their nominating convention Wednesday night, tapping a pair of local business owners to fill two town board seats up for grabs.

Mediator Mary Eisenstein – owner of Melmar Enterprises – and Ron Rothman, longtime owner of Rothman's Department Store, will run on the Democratic ticket to fill the seats of Councilmen Chris Talbot and Jim Dinizo.

Talbot and current County Legislator Al Krupski won a 2009 election for town board, and Krupski won a special election last fall, clearing a seat for Dinizio, who was appointed to his current position in early 2013.

Sally Kahn, chair of the screening committee which vetted the nominees, called the pair an "interesting ticket for town board ... Mary is a very strong candidate. She's very dynamic and a wonderful speaker. And Ron represents a very old time family in Southold, he's a small-time businessman."

The town Democratic Committee was surprised Wednesday morning to hear that Pete Harris – the only remaining elected Democrat in town government – has decided not to seek re-election this fall, so the party has yet to decide who will run.

Longtime Town Justice William Price, Jr., looked over by Republicans, was endorsed by Democrats to run this fall, and Southold native Jason Petrucci will run to fill the unexpired term of Darlene Duffy for town assessor.

For Town Trustee, Democrats will run Bill Funke, a semi-retired Southold resident who formerly worked in the marine insurance industry; financial writer Joe Finora, Jr., who has been active with the North Fork Ospreys; and Geoffrey Wells, who has worked in the production and information technology field for Disney, Fox News, and CNBC.