As election season switches into high gear, Democrat Frank Quinn is seeking a second term as Glenville town supervisor with Republican Chris Koetzle, a current town board member, challenging him for the seat.
Obviously being on the board and being quite close to a lot of the budget issues that are going on in the town, it became clear to me that the town supervisor is an important position, said Koetzle.
Quinn, who will be running for his second term on the Democratic and Working Families lines this year, agreed that the town finances are a top priority.
`The No. 1 issue in the Town of Glenville is taxes. Whether you’re talking town taxes, school taxes, county taxes ` one issue is taxes and control of spending because revenues are flat,` said Quinn.
Koetzle said he would like to play a larger part in shaping the town’s budget and also wants to `hold the line` on taxes while preserving the town’s services to residents.
`I think the trend we’ve seen in the past four years is tax increases and service decreases. I want to reverse that trend, and as supervisor, I think that gives me the best opportunity to effect that change,` said Koetzle.
He said that in an effort to make that happen, spending across the board has to be examined.
`We have to look at Town Hall in particular, and we have to look at new ways of doing business in Town Hall. We can’t do the things we’ve always done,` said Koetzle. `Secondly, very close to that is that we have to engage our residents more.`
He said he wants residents to be more involved in the budget process and wants what happens in Town Hall to be `more accessible` for residents. Koetzle has suggested extending Town Hall hours or establishing `non-traditional hours.`
`Those are the kinds of things we need to start looking at,` said Koetzle.
He said that he also wants to extend budget outreach to the community, which would include twice-a-year meetings where the budget is shared with community members at the Senior Center and Town Hall.
He said that they used to hold budget discussions for the community off of regular town board meeting times, but nobody knew they were going on.
His other concern is economic development.
`I don’t believe the town has been focused enough on developing our commercial corridors to the level that we should. Here’s the key. The only way we’re going to lower taxes to our residents is by getting that broader tax base to the town,` said Koetzle.
Koetzle currently lives in Glenville with his wife, Beatrice, and three children, who attend the Burnt Hills Central School District.
For information his campaign, visit http://www.koetzleofglenville.com.
Quinn said he is seeking reelection in order to continue his efforts to control spending in Glenville.
`If revenues are flat in your household and costs go up, then what do you do? You have to control spending. We don’t have control over the revenue side so that’s the No. 1 issue bar-none in Glenville,` said Quinn.
He said the current administration is getting the Scotia-Glenville Industrial Park freed up from the General Service Administration of the Federal Government.
`That frees up 55 acres of space. It’s in the middle of an Industrial Park. On each end you have businesses, and then the heartland of it all. For nine years we’ve been trying to get the federal government to let loose of that land,` said Quinn.
He said that the land is contaminated and the federal government has to clean it up, but `we finally got the government to cross the T’s and dot the I’s to control the contamination,` said Quinn.
Quinn said his financial experience in the private sector serves him well as town supervisor.
`The No.1 job that makes the town supervisor different from other board members is you are the CEO and it really requires someone who understands and knows finances,` said Quinn.
Quinn has served as CEO of hospitals and home health-care companies, and has served as vice president of a nationwide personnel outpatient agency. He lives in Glenville with his wife. He has two grown children, one who lives in Glenville with her family, and one who lives in Germany. He previously held a position on the Glenville Town Council from 1992-1996.
“