The Clifton Park Democratic Committee has announced its endorsements of candidates for the November 2009 town election, and the party’s leadership is praising it as a strong and viable slate in the traditionally Republican town.
Dems are backing Bill Casey for supervisor, as well as Margaret Catellier and Wanda Zygmuntowicz for the two open town board seats.
The committee held informal interviews that involved eight or nine candidates, said Committee Chairman Todd Kerner. All elected offices in the town are held by Republicans, but Kerner said he is optimistic about his party’s chances in November.
I strongly feel that this year there’s some real choices, he said. `Clifton Park is moving towards being overdeveloped, and there has been no long-term planning for the infrastructure. The people on the slate have a background that would provide leadership for the future.`
Casey is a former New York state deputy comptroller and has served in the state Office of General Services as executive director of its Building Design and Construction Program. He previously served on the Shenendehowa Board of Education for eight years before quitting that seat to pursue the position of supervisor. He resides in the Clifton Knolls neighborhood with his wife, Betty.
Casey said that he would use his time as supervisor to provide the town with a long-term plan.
`My goal would be in the first three or four months of an administration to fully engage our public who want to get involved in this to develop a plan for the future of Clifton Park,` he said. `I want 20/20 vision for Clifton Park not just clarity, but I want to know what we want to be looking like in the year 2020.`
He said he would also like to reexamine the town’s contingency fund, which stands at about $10 million. Casey said that amount is excessive, and some of the surplus should be used to reduce residents’ county property tax payments.
He will be 62 at the end of May, and said he would make the role of supervisor a full-time job and would avoid a long-running incumbency.
`I don’t want to be a supervisor of Clifton Park for five terms,` he said. `I want to get in, get some things done, and get out. If it takes me five terms, I’ve been in too long.`
Catellier is a sales/service representative with Northeast Controls, Inc. She is a founding member of Friends of Clifton Park Open Space and is involved with volunteer work in the community.
Zygmuntowicz works as the managing partner and president and chief operating officer of CUSTOMERcity. She is a member of the Southern Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the Women’s President Organization, the American Marketing Association and the Human Rights Campaign.
The town’s Republican Committee has presented a full slate of endorsements, including five-time Supervisor Philip Barrett but not Sandford `Sandy` Roth, who is stepping down after 16 years on the board.“