For detailed information about next week’s candidates, visit www.spotlightnews.com. Here is a synopsis of the candidates.
A three-way race for mayor and a contentious public works race are among some of the many choices Saratoga Springs voters face on Nov. 6.
Mayor
Incumbent Democrat Valerie Keehn faces Republican Scott Johnson and Independent Gordon Boyd, whom Keehn defeated in the Democratic primary.
The mayor of Saratoga Springs receives an annual salary of $14,500.
Commissioner of public works
Former County Supervisor Anthony Skip Scirocco hopes to unseat 30-year City Council veteran Thomas McTygue for the position of commissioner of public works.
Scirocco, 59, a Republican, has taken McTygue, 66, a Democrat in his 16th term in office, to task for a string of investigations into the department and inactivity on a city recreation center.
The city has $6.5 million in funding for the project, but McTygue has recently come out in favor of building a smaller, $2.5 million facility on the West Side.
Scirocco said the land and money are ready to go and should be used.
The commissioner of public works receives an annual salary of $14,500.
Commissioner of finance
Retired educator Jane Weihe and technology consultant Ken Ivins are facing off for the position of Commissioner of Finance.
Ivins, the Republican candidate, offered up his business acumen as the reason why voters should choose him this November. Ivins runs his own technological consulting firm and ran the Southern Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce for seven years.
Commissioner of public safety
Incumbent Democrat Ron Kim is challenged by Republican Richard Wirth.
Kim said when he took office amid controversy and scandal two years ago, the goal was to get the public safety department out of the newspaper headlines and take the politics out of public safety. `I think we’ve done that,` he said.
Wirth said he favors rehabilitating the City Hall structure, immediately fixing the code violations and downsizing the current plan and seeking ways of providing a new public safety facility that would be more affordable.
County supervisors
Three candidates are seeking the two Saratoga Springs county supervisor seats in the at-large election.
Incumbent Democrat Cheryl Keyrouze said she will continue to fight for affordable housing at the city and county level and to address reservations she may have with the Republican-controlled county board of supervisors.
Incumbent Democrat Joanne Yepsen has been active in clarifying the memorandum of understanding with the state and the New York Racing Association. Se is a proponent of keeping the property on the tax rolls and preserving its historic nature.
Both candidates voted against the $67 million county water project.
Republican challenger Matt Veitch said he supported the county water system. He said he would have voted for the county plan for economic and job-related reasons, noting Advanced Micro Devices’ plan to build a facility in Malta and be the water system’s largest customer.“
