Family Values: Politics in Port Jefferson

Politics in Port Jefferson has become a family affair recently.

The current mayor, Margot Garant, has been in the office for a little under a year. Her mother, Jeanne Garant, is a former mayor who served 1999-2005.

Margot was thrown into the position when her friends had suggested that she run in the 2009 campaign. “It was really weird,” she says, “the timing felt right for change.”


She knew what it was like to run for office. Margot acted as campaign manager for all four of her mother’s campaigns.

Jeanne was in office for three terms. On her last campaign she lost to Mike Lee, who had served as a fire commissioner to the village since 1991.

Standing on the second floor of the renovated Village Center Jeanne looks out into the harbor.

“This building is why people didn’t re-elect me,” she says, “it was very controversial.”

While she received grant money for the project she had to borrow an extra one million dollars from the state to help finish it.

But Jeanne wanted to preserve Port Jefferson’s legacy.  She pushed for it and finished the project. The center is made of the same foundation and steel that was used in 1911 during the height of the shipbuilding era.

Jeanne is a visionary. The center was only one of her many projects created to help the downtown area look more appealing.

And like mother, like daughter – Margot has her own visions for the village.

One of the major tasks at hand this year is updating the village master plan. The last one was updated in 1987 so it needs to be revised. Cameron Engineering has been named as the consultant brought on board and should have a plan prepared in the next few weeks. Phase one of the plan deals directly with village revitalization, specifically the uptown area between the Long Island Rail Road and North County Road/Sheep Pasture.  It will be an 18-month project with the first six months dedicated to the uptown section and a full year to integrate the master plan. “That’s a huge accomplishment,” Margot says, “Our south gateway really needs a facelift, that’s for sure.”

Jeanne and Margot also used to be business partners in real estate. Jeanne gave up her license when she became the mayor. Margot on the other hand moved into her own law practice. She continues to work full-time as a lawyer and part-time as mayor.

“For a part time gig, there is a lot going on,” she says.

Margot’s weekly schedule is jam-packed. She has office hours at Village Hall twice a week. She works five days a week at her law practice. And there are meetings at night at least once a week, if not more. Aside from that most of her weekends are spent at village events.

Amy DeVito is a paralegal at Margot’s law practice and works with her on a day-to-day basis. “[Being the mayor] definitely impacted her on social and personal levels,” she says, “She gets extremely stressed at times.”

It’s something that a lot of people who work close to her see firsthand. She takes on so much and wants results right away.

“She has done more in her six months than I did in my first year,” her mother says, “she’s grabbing the bull by the horns, its taking a lot out of her.”

Make no mistake her mother is not involved in the politics anymore. Jeanne has since joined several medical boards and is a member of the Stony Brook University council. She won’t impose her opinions on her daughter. Margot is a different person.

Her mother said it’s daughter’s time now.

Politics don’t really come up unless Margot needs a fact checked.

Jeanne says her daughter called last week asking how many grants they had received from the county the past couple of years because someone asked a question at the most recent budget hearing.

“This is her administration,” Jeanne says, “She knows the direction the village needs to go.”

But Margot and her  mother are close friends. They try to meet up at least once or twice a week for cocktails.

“If anything, it’s a place I can go and totally vent,” Margot says, “Mom totally gets it.”