Four candidates will be facing off this November for two open seats on the Glenville Town Board with Democratic incumbent Ed Rosenberg sharing the field with three newcomers Sid Ramotar and Alan Boulant on the GOP ticket, and fellow Democrat Cathryn Bern-Smith.
Board member Valerie DiGiandomenico, who is finishing up her first term and is not affiliated with any party, will not be seeking re-election. Town Board seats come with four-year terms.
All of the candidates agree that town taxes are a priority this election year, but their ideas differ on how to maintain a steady revenue flow while providing needed services to residents.
Cathryn Bern-Smith
Bern-Smith said that as she has gone door-to-door to speak with voters, the No. 1 issue they are talking about is taxes.
My platform is to control taxes. The Democratic administration in Glenville has a proven track record,` said Bern-Smith.
She said that the average tax increase in 2007 and 2008 was 1.9 percent under the Democratic leadership.
She said she is still undecided about another hot topic in the town: the proposed use of FEMA funds to purchase a truck for the Highway Department.
`It is not an issue that I will probably have a vote in deciding since I hope the issue is resolved before I hopefully take office,` said Bern-Smith. `While I haven’t made up my mind totally, I am leaning towards waiting to see what the budget looks like before the money is spent.`
She said she sympathizes with the highway superintendent who has been saying the town is in dire need of the new truck and said she hopes to see the FEMA money used as closely as possible in the area for which it was given in the first place.
`We got it as a result of the ice storm. Hence the purchase of a truck for the Highway Department seems perfectly reasonable to me ` if the town is in the financial position to do so,` said Bern-Smith.
Bern-Smith lives in Glenville and serves as the director of policy for the New York State Senate Committee on Aging. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Mercyhurst College and a master’s from SUNY Albany.
Alan Boulant
Boulant, who is running on the GOP ticket, said that as a businessman, he wants to see if he can bring some `common sense and business practice approaches, as opposed to the political approach that’s being used by everyone` to town government.
Boulant has been a Glenville resident for almost 20 years and is a member of the Glenville Business Association. He is the founder and president of local manufacturing company Solid Surface Craftsman, which is located in Glenville.
`My main issues are development in the commercial tax base,` said Boulant. `Talking to residents and business people from Glenville, we’re tired of having to go to Clifton Park or Albany to shop. One of my main things is going to be economic development ` pro-business.`
He said he wants to attract more businesses and restaurants to Glenville, as well as maintain services provided by the town with little to no tax increases.
`They’ve raised taxes every year in office but decreased services,` said Boulant of the town’s Democratic leadership.
Boulant said he also wants to make sure public safety is maintained.
`The present administration is not really for maintaining the services. If you don’t maintain everything, then it’s not a safe community to be in,` said Boulant.
He said he wants to create a five-year business plan for the town to help eliminate `last-minute, irrational decision making.`
Sid Ramotar
Republican Ramotar lists his main priorities as spurring economic development in Glenville ` especially filling in vacant commercial spaces ` and controlling the town’s tax base, two things he believes go hand-in-hand.
`After living in Glenville for 17 years, I feel like I can play an active role in helping to contribute to the growth of the community,` said Ramotar.
He said that he wants to examine the potential of empty spaces throughout the town, such as the former Kmart on Route 50, for attracting new businesses.
He said the taxes brought in from these new businesses would help drastically with the tax base.
`We’re talking about economic development and taxes ` two things under one umbrella,` said Ramotar.
Ramotar has worked for the Schenectady Economic Development Corporation as well as a number of businesses within Schenectady County. He said those experiences have helped him understand how difficult it is for businesses to survive in a down economy.
`With my experience and knowledge in this field, it’s easier for me to do this and actually go through it as opposed to someone who’s not involved in any kind of economic development,` said Ramotar.
This is Ramotar’s first time running for public office. He lives in Glenville with his wife and two children and works as vice president of Key Bank N.A. and as branch manager for the Downtown Schenectady Key Bank branch.
Ed Rosenberg
Rosenberg, who is running for his second term on the Democratic line, said that the first thing he wants to do, if re-elected, is get the town back on track in terms of public safety and keeping the tax rate as low as possible, as well as `decreasing wasteful spending.`
`There are some public safety issues now. The condition of the highway fleet is something that we inherited almost four years ago. There hadn’t been a new truck purchase in a long time,` said Rosenberg.
In the past four years the town has purchased several trucks to add to its fleet. Rosenberg and others are now trying to put together a rotational plan where the town will purchase a new truck every year.
Despite the recent truck purchases, Rosenberg said the fleet is still in `rough shape.`
Rosenberg said that he is pleased with what the current Town of Glenville administration has achieved.
`Essentially everything that we’ve wanted to do, for the most part we’ve been successful [with]. We’ve increased communication within the town, and we’ve managed to get on schedule with the town and have people in certain departments working with people they didn’t work with before,` said Rosenberg.
He said he believes that the town has also managed to do more with less. They’ve had a reduction in staff and he also believes that tax increases have been low for the past several years.
Rosenberg lives in Glenville with his wife and children.
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