In a town still ringing with loud and clear public criticism of political alliances, Tuesday’s votes brought two newcomers to the town board, one a Democrat and one a Republican daughter of a town official.
The Rev. Peter Klotz, a Republican, running on Democratic and Republican lines, earned 2,195 votes, while newcomer Republican Tara Thomas, daughter of Town Clerk Flo Sickels, earned 1,526 votes. Incumbent council member Donna Gizzi received 1,161 votes.
Klotz handily won the party primaries for the Republican endorsement in October. He caused a stir when he bucked partisan traditions by teaming up with Cynthia Young, Democratic candidate for town clerk, and Gizzi, who placed third in the primaries behind Thomas with a slogan, Hands across the parties.
At a gathering late Tuesday, Nov. 6, at Andy’s in Malta, Klotz thanked his family, volunteers and supporters, but said the night wasn’t a complete celebration because his campaign team didn’t sweep the polls.
`I’m certainly disappointed for Cynthia and Donna,` said Klotz. `I look forward to working with the board as we move ahead. Throughout my career, and with the Malta Ambulance Corps, I’ve been known as a consensus maker, and I hope to bring those abilities to the town board now.`
Klotz is currently the town’s planning board chairman, Malta ethics board chairman, member of the Malta planning and zoning update committee, Malta Greenspace and Economic Development Study steering committee, Malta emergency planning committee and Saratoga County emergency planning committee.
Tuesday night at Bentley’s Tavern in Malta, a celebration party was held for Republican winners, including Thomas for a town council seat.
`I think my mother and I have made history for being the first two-generational elected officials,` said Thomas. `The Thomas campaign was about being positive and bringing change, but putting families first. This message registered with voters.`
Asked about the tension currently evident between town board members, Thomas said she hopes a new face will bring change.
`We all need to carry a professional rapport as board members,` said Thomas. `We need to leave our personal feelings at home.`
Thomas is as a graphic artist in the state Assembly Minority Office of Member Services. She serves as chairwoman of the Malta Trails Committee and was a member of the town’s planning and zoning review committee. She also served as a teen representative to the Malta Youth Commission and as a youth recreation counselor.
Gizzi said she did her best to bring light to the issues in the town, but felt the election results spoke for themselves.
`It’s been a lot of turmoil for me, and the people will get what they asked for now,` said Gizzi. `In some ways, this is a relief for me, but I really had hoped the people of Malta were better informed and turned out at the polls to bring change to local government.`
Sickles stays on as town clerk
Republican Flo Sickels earned 1,485 votes, beating Democrat Cynthia Young, who took 1,351 votes.
Sickels started as deputy town clerk for the town of Malta in 1991, and is now finishing her eighth two-year term as clerk.
`It’s just a great night,` said Sickels at a party at Bentley’s Tavern with fellow Republicans including town Supervisor Paul Sausville. `I couldn’t be happier.`
`This is a great night,` Sausville agreed. `We’ll all come together now to build our relationships and work cooperatively together. There were some mean, nasty things said during the campaigns, but we’re getting new players who won’t use the town board for political weapons.`
On Thursday, Nov. 8, the current town board will hold a public hearing on a 2008 town budget that includes decreasing the hours of the deputy town clerk from full-time to 20 hours per week, representing a 19 percent decrease in the overall budget for the office of town clerk.
The town clerk’s office has been under fire in recent months by longstanding board members Cliff Lange and Sue Nolen, who questioned the hours Sickles was working as town clerk, and whether her employment with Saratoga County was overlapping with her town job.
Sickels fired back with her own statement, saying the cuts were politically motivated, and `the only ones truly hurt by the cuts are constituents who will have less service at the clerk’s office.`
Sausville publicly endorsed Sickels and took part in numerous mailings in the days leading up to elections.
At a party uptown in Malta, Young said she would not likely pursue another run for town clerk. Her past employment for the town includes serving as deputy town clerk, data collector for the assessor’s office and Web master.
`I still have the same happy life I had before the elections,` said Young.
She campaigned on the platform of creating an environment of cooperation and sharing the resources of the clerk’s office and the other offices of the town. She also vowed to work full-time for the town of Malta and to keep politics out of the town clerk’s office.
Cynthia’s husband, Doug, said late Tuesday night the Democrats were clearly the underdogs in every race.
`We were outnumbered 10-to-1 in terms of signs and mailings alone,` said Doug Young. `I traveled with the Klotz-Gizzi-Young group, and their message was very positive; it wasn’t about the other team at all. The Republicans are like a machine in Malta, and once it got going, there was no stopping it.`
In other Malta races, Paul Sausville, town supervisor, running unchallenged, earned 1,809 votes. Highway Supervisor Thomas Adriance earned 1,764 votes; town justice James Nichols received 1,449 votes, and tax collector Sylvia Sievers earned 1,854 votes.“
