Justice is Only Race in Village Election on Tuesday

Tuesday, in the village of Port Jefferson and the the office of the mayor, two trustee seats and a jugeship are all up for grabs but the race for court justice is the only one with any competition.

Village Court Justice

The judgeship in the village court has three contenders. The incumbent judge, Peter Graham is being challenged by Patricia Issberner and William Glass.

Peter Graham

Incumbent, Peter Graham is and specializes in contracts, wills, estate and trusts. He has been a judge for the village of Port Jefferson for more than ten years, according to the village clerk’s office. A message was left with a person who answered the phone at his law office.

Patricia Issberner

Patricia Issberner is an attorney with a family law practice located at 407 East Main Street in Port Jefferson. She's a resident with three children, two of which are in Port Jefferson school district, a 9th grader and a 2nd grader. She also has a daughter in Hunter College who graduated from nearby Mount Sinai school district. 

"I think there is a big problem in Port Jefferson,” said Issberner when asked why she was running. “The quality of life issue is huge.”

Issberner did a ride-along with village constables and saw what “Port Jefferson village looks like at 2 a.m. in the morning on a Friday night.” She said that she witnessed fights, public urination and many other instances of bad behavior on the streets.

She wants to make the village court tougher on issuing warrants for individuals with multiple outstanding offenses and show people that there are consequences to breaking village codes in Port Jefferson.

“Regardless of what happens tomorrow I hope the court will take things more seriously,” she said. “Something needs to change.”

William Glass

William Glass is an attorney with a general practice at 503 Main Street in Port Jefferson. Glass said in a telephone interview that he has worked mostly with municipalities and fire districts.

Glass has also been an active volunteer with the Port Jefferson fire department for 38 years saying he started when he was young and it became “a part of my life.”

He was also a village trustee for one year of a two-year term, resigning to become village attorney, a position he held for four years. Glass also was also appointed as a prosecutor for the village, prosecuting local ordinance violations in the court.

Glass said that he believes he can do a good job as village justice.

“I’ve always been involved in community service,” he said and with his youngest child out of high school now he thinks it’s a good opportunity to be active on the village level again.

He said that as a judge he will “focus on a profession and courteous atmosphere in the village court.”

Mayor

Margot Garant

Mayor Margot Garant is running unchallenged for re-election, assuring her another term, according to Port Jefferson village administrator Bob Juliana.

Village Trustees

This year there are also two village board of trustee seats open. Current board member Adrienne Kessel whose term is expiring in June will run for one of the open seats and Larry LaPointe also submitted a petition.

Trustee Leslea Snyder has decided not to run again for her position on the board. With two open seats and two candidates, Kessel and LaPointe will slip into those positions unchallenged.

The will take place on June 21 at between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

We will update this article with more information about the candidates if it becomes available.