Brian McGarry, John Mertz, Michael O’Connor and Bradley Littlefield filed a petition with the Schenectady County Board of Elections on Tuesday, Aug.18, to establish an independent party line called the No New Tax Party in the Town of Rotterdam and Schenectady County.
The four collected more than 900 signatures in support of the party. The Board of Elections requires at least 770. Opponents have three days to make a general challenge of the petition.
The party has one issue on its platform, and that is to vote against any tax proposals or increase in taxes for the next two years. After that time, if the country is out of its recession, the party proposes capping tax increases at the rate of inflation and submitting any new tax district proposals to constituents for a vote.
I think that when the four of us sat down and we vented out all the issues that are impacting our residents, taxes kept coming to the top of the list, said Mertz, who is hoping to run for Rotterdam Town Council on the No New Tax Party Line, as well as compete in the Republican primary.
O’Connor is running for Town Council and will also compete in the Republican primary. Littlefield is running for Schenectady County Legislature, District 4 (Rotterdam, Duanesburg and Princetown), and will also run in the Conservative primary. McGarry is running for Rotterdam Town Supervisor and will compete in the Conservative primary Sept. 15.
`One of our objectives for candidates that are running is for the people and not for the party. Our objective was, ‘How can we empower the people?’ It’s about getting the power back to the people,` said Mertz.
He said that the No New Tax Party candidates empower people by simply promising a 0 percent tax increase for the next two years.
`We’re not making five, six, seven, 10 different promises to the people. We’re making one clear promise, and it should be reflective of how we’re going to approach everything else,` said Mertz. `The one thing they can hold us accountable for is the tax rate that we’re going to hold on the line for the next two years.`
He said that the first thing the No New Tax candidates are going to do is look at the current budget.
He criticized current Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone for having enough `fat` in this year’s town budget to `find` $100,000 to fund the Rotterdam EMS.
`The town needs to back off with the taxes; give [residents] a little relief to get through this recession,` said Mertz.
McGarry said that the major political party bosses `do not want competition in the realm of political thought.`
`What we’re doing today is really the true form of competition when it comes to political thought and expression and the people’s ability to vote for the ideals they believe in,` said McGarry. `I don’t think either party is enjoying the fact that we have a third wheel here.`
Littlefield said that what all four members of the new party have in common is that they are fiscal conservatives with `a common objective.`
`That’s to bring something to all and some constraint to the spending that is causing our residents and businesses to leave the town and county and state,` said Littlefield.
He said that all four members went door-to-door collecting signatures for the petition and heard the `same thing` from everyone, from business owners to senior citizens.
`The taxes and regulation are causing them hardship. We hear from the old people on fixed incomes telling us they can’t afford to be paying higher taxes,` said Littlefield. `There’s only so far that their money goes, and meanwhile you have an arrogant establishment of these entrenched incumbents who are out of touch with their constituents,` said Littlefield, who said that they also `don’t appear to know how this economy is impacting the people in our communities.`
In a release sent out by No New Tax Party members, they said that `to date, the No New Tax Party has attracted considerable support. The Upstate Conservative Coalition, the Primary Challenge organization, and the New York Tea Party Patriots have offered financial contributions and volunteers.`
Check to the Rotterdam Spotlight or our Web site at https://www.spotlightnews.com for updates to this story. “