GOP Candidate For Town Supervisor Revealed

While Islip residents look to warm themselves from the cold February days, the race for the town supervisor seat currently held by Democrat Phil Nolan is heating up.

At this past Tuesday’s town council meeting, a heated exchange between Nolan and Republican Councilwoman Trish Bergin Weichbrodt and speaker Tom O’Hara of Brentwood led to revealing who is and isn’t running against the incumbent supervisor in November.

As Nolan was addressing a question initially posed by O’Hara that was expanded upon by Bergin Weichbrodt about an expenditure for a filter and treatment system design for the pool at Timberline Park in Brentwood,  the supervisor asked the councilwoman why she was making the issue “so political.”

“You just want to mention various things to further your political agenda?” Nolan asked.

Bergin Weichbrodt, who had been viewed by some as a possible GOP candidate for the supervisor’s race, shot back that she was not planning to run against Nolan.

Ironically, the person who is running against Nolan — O’Hara — stood quietly at the podium in the town board meeting room as Nolan and Bergin Weichbrodt finished their banter.

Following the meeting, O’Hara told Patch that he is running for town supervisor to bring “a new voice” to town hall.

“I have been a party stalwart for many years and was on the team along with [Islip GOP Chairman] Frank Tantone that helped set a new direction for the town’s Republican party,” he said. “I want to bring that same change to town hall.”

A long time civic activist in Brentwood who is making his first run for elected office, O’Hara currently works for Suffolk County’s Emergency Management Division.

As for Bergin Weichbrodt, she declined to comment on why she is not throwing her hat in the ring for the supervisor position.