Kate Stevens aims to bridge Fishers Island-Southold divide on town board
Kate Stevens has spent summers on Fishers Island since the 1970s. In 2020, she officially became a “year-rounder.”
Now, she is running as the Democratic candidate for the Southold Town Board seat being vacated by Republican incumbent Louisa Evans, a unique position that also serves as Fishers Island Town Justice.
Ms. Stevens is a twice-elected Fishers Island Waste Management District commission chair and executive director at the Henry L. Ferguson Museum. A licensed architect, she also volunteers on the island’s zoning, community and energy resiliency committees.
She considers herself a “helper,” someone who looks to her neighbors and asks how she can best assist them — embodying the jack-of-all-trades spirit common among islanders.
Ms. Stevens sees Southold and Fishers Island facing parallel challenges: housing shortages, development pressures, aging infrastructure, coastal resiliency and seasonal economic cycles.
“We do have a lack of year-round housing because it has tipped from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s. So much year-round housing has shifted into the seasonal housing column,” she said. “So we have to figure out how to shift that back.”
The island’s aging, privately owned utility company and deteriorating electric infrastructure are also priorities. She would consider microgrids in the event of power failures.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), currently blocked by the town’s moratorium, could offer one solution. Ms. Stevens said she’d need to evaluate data on BESS to assess the moratorium should another vote arise.
Communication is what Ms. Stevens would champion most between Southold and Fishers Island if elected. The disconnect has left the island “siloed” from the rest of town.
“It’s been a big disadvantage long term in terms of having a real sustainable pipeline of information with the rest of the town,” she said.
This story is part of The Suffolk Times’ 2025 election coverage. Visit suffolktimes.com for more on this year’s candidates.
