Challengers Oust Greenport Mayor, Trustee

Political sea change is coming to the Village of Greenport, where voters replaced three fifths of the village board as challengers ousted the mayor, deputy mayor and filled a vacancy on March 21.

Kevin Steussi, a restaurateur and developer who founded Peconic Holdings, unseated four-term Mayor George Hubbard, who has held the village’s top job since 2015 and served another eight years as trustee before that. And a pair of challengers, Patrick Brennan and Lily Dougherty-Johnson, ousted Trustee Jack Martilotta, who was also the deputy mayor, and won an open seat vacated by Trustee Peter Clarke, who declined to seek re-election.

The election followed a campaign controversy. Village of Greenport officials had left seven candidates off ballots, leaving no challengers to incumbents Hubbard or Martilotta, but the aspiring board members were restored after the omission stirred local outrage. Officials blamed the omission on a paperwork error.

The new administration will be sworn in at the village’s annual organizational meeting scheduled for April 6. Most other East End village elections will be held in June.