For the East Hampton Village Board

The election of two out of five trustee seats in East Hampton Village does not carry with it the power to overturn the majority, which is led by Mayor Jerry Larsen, but is important nonetheless as village government continues to evolve under the current leadership, for better and worse.

Arthur “Tiger” Graham, an incumbent board member, has certainly earned the right to another term. A member of the Fish Hooks Party, Graham often offers the only dissenting opinion on the board — a one-person opposition party. That’s essential as the mayor pushes forward, hard and fast, with sweeping changes in village government: Change isn’t bad, and in many cases it’s terrific, but it should not be sung in by a chorus of support. There must be a voice at the table offering counterpoints.

We would love to see more robust conversations and diverse opinions in East Hampton Village government. For now, it’s up to Tiger Graham. He has proven particularly adept at peeling back the layers of rhetoric on issues to expose potential problems, and as a board member he sits comfortably between a village demographic that would say “no” to most any change and the Larsen camp. He’s outside both but has a foot in each.

Graham has rightly opposed Larsen’s approach of crafting village policy within his own inner circle, rather than hashing issues out in public work sessions, which absolutely should be returned to the board’s schedule of meetings. Voters should see the sausage being made, as he always says. Graham often serves as the lone board member to offer pushback to the majority opinion. Larsen has proven, in some cases, to be responsive to that criticism, making Graham’s tenure on the board even more important as he flags issues that deserve more thought and attention.

The remaining two candidates seeking the two open seats on the board are Sarah Amaden and Carrie Doyle — both carry the support of Larsen and are running on his NewTown Party ticket.

No matter how you feel about the direction the Village of East Hampton is moving in, it is a disservice to dismiss Amaden and Doyle simply because they have the support of Larsen. Amaden, a local resident with deep connections to the community, has supported the return of monthly work sessions, and both she and Doyle — a member of the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals — have committed to trying to find ways to make a languishing downtown, where stores are often shuttered for several months in the offseason, more vibrant.

Both women are clearly capable and intelligent and have the potential to be good additions to the board, but our support goes, just ever slightly, to Carrie Doyle, whose work on the zoning board gives her the kind of experience that can only benefit the village while it grapples with increased development pressure in the months and years to come.