Smithtown’s Creighton, Wehrheim on the mark for town board

Smithtown’s Creighton, Wehrheim on the mark for town board

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Bob Creighton and Ed Wehrheim. File photo by Rachel Shapiro

Experience and track record are the name of the game in this year’s Smithtown Town Board race, and on that note, we endorse Republican incumbents Bob Creighton and Ed Wehrheim.

The two work well as a team, and say they have downtown revitalization high up on both their lists of priorities for another term.

They’ve backed a proposal to restructure Smithtown government to lead to more accountability and cooperation. The plan would involve creating four commissioner positions that would oversee about five to six department heads, compared to the 26 department heads currently answering to the supervisor. That plan stalled due to opposition from Republican Supervisor Pat Vecchio.

When it comes to economic development, both men encourage it. Wehrheim said he helped facilitate the redevelopment of the Smith Haven Mall and assisted in bringing Bob’s Discount Furniture to the Smithtown area. With Wehrheim’s support, Creighton also pitched raising the minimum wage, which eventually made its way into the town’s 2016 preliminary budget.

It will be an uphill battle at the polls next Tuesday for Creighton, as he won’t be running on the Republican line. That spot belongs to Lisa Inzerillo, a Republican who narrowly beat him out in a primary election on a rainy day — the perfect storm for low voter turnout.

Inzerillo did not show up for a debate at the Times of Smithtown’s headquarters.

Democratic challenger Larry Vetter is a knowledgeable, nice man, who strikes us as creative, energetic, bright and pragmatic. It would be great to see him take on some government position. But we feel right now is not his time as councilman.

Vote Creighton and Wehrheim on Election Day.