Frank Del Gallo said he is concerned with Rotterdam’s high taxes, lack of transparency in government and the way people are treated with they enter through the doors of Town Hall. He is also concerned with the way the current administration has handled job development and creation over the past several years, and that’s why he’s running for Rotterdam town supervisor.
In early June, the town’s Democratic Committee nominated Del Gallo, 70, to challenge incumbent Supervisor Steve Tommasone.
Del Gallo, a Rotterdam resident for 35 years, has never held political office before.
The bottom line is if they [voters] are happy with what they’ve got and who they have in office now, then there’s no reason for them to vote for me, but if they’re not happy and they want a change and they feel like I’m capable of changing the town, which I know I am, then they will vote for me and that’s that, said Del Gallo.
He said that if he is elected, one of the first things he wants to do is figure out why taxes are so high in the town and how they can become more affordable.
`I went to protest [tax rates] at a hearing. There were people who could hardly walk. There were people who are older than I am and not as healthy, and they were over there protesting their taxes,` said Del Gallo.
`What are you doing to these people? They collect a Social Security and a pension that’s 30 years old that doesn’t amount to anything,` said Del Gallo.
He said that he doesn’t want to see people leaving the Town of Rotterdam because their tax rates are too high.
Del Gallo said the current administration has shown `poor judgment` when it comes to working with businesses in the town and creating revenue and jobs.
When asked what Del Gallo would like to change if elected besides taxes, he said that he would like to wait until he is in office so that he can really see what’s going on, pinpoint problems and correct them.
`It’s like this: If I’m driving down a road and my truck breaks down, I call a mechanic in. He looks under the hood and he tells me what’s wrong with it,` said Del Gallo.
`Until I get into town and I’m elected as supervisor, I can tell you what’s wrong but I can’t tell you how to fix it,` said Del Gallo.
Another issue Del Gallo has is the lack of transparency with the current administration and the way residents are treated by town employees.
`Say you walk into my store and I mistreat you. Would you come back?` asked Del Gallo.
Del Gallo lives in town with his wife, Roxann. His two children, Christina and Michael, as well as a grandson, Francisco, also live in Rotterdam. He owns Del Gallo Pools and Spas, located on Mariaville Road.
Del Gallo said he looks forward to the coming election and debating the issues.
Del Gallo will be facing incumbent supervisor Tommasone in the fall election. Tommasone started as a councilman in 2003 and ran successfully for supervisor in 2005 and has held the position ever since. He will be running for his third term.
`As far as Steve goes, Rotterdam, out of all the towns in the county, has the lowest taxes, and under GOP rule we haven’t raised taxes like the Democrats have at the county level or in the city,` said Tom Buchanan, head of the Schenectady County GOP. `It’s really a testament of the fiscal management that the Republican Party offers, and we hope that Steve will do extremely well in the election. He’s very popular.`
Tommasone was unavailable to comment.“