Rotterdam residents came out for the primaries on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and voted in some fresh faces to the scene of Rotterdam Town and county politics.
Outgoing Schenectady County Legislator Joe Suhrada, R-Rotterdam, who is running for one of two open seats on the Rotterdam Town Board, was the highest vote-getter with 512 votes in the Republican primary. Incumbent board member Joseph Signore received the second-highest number of votes 474. Republican incumbent John Mertz, who will appear on the No New Tax Party line, did not receive enough votes to stay on the GOP line.
Michael O’Connor, who received 352 votes, will also be on the Republican line in the November election, vying for a Town Board seat left vacant by Democrat John Silva. O’Connor is also running on the No New Tax Party line.
I’m pleased that the people recognized the hard work that I’ve done for eight years at the county,` said Suhrada. `My desire to serve the town is as great as ever, and I expect that they will see that the Republicans are the real No New Tax Party in town, and I will work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, who is on the board with me, but I certainly will not change my fiscal conservative views.`
O’Connor was unavailable for comment, and Signore could not be reached by press time.
Francis DelGallo, who already has the Democratic line in the Rotterdam town supervisor race, bested Republican incumbent Steven Tommasone in the Conservative primary 287-134 votes. Brian McGarry, part of the No New Tax Party line, lost his bid for a spot on the Conservative line with 116 votes.
The two will run against each other in the November election Tommasone was elected to the Rotterdam Town Board in 2003, and has held the position of Rotterdam town supervisor since he was elected in 2005.
Despite his loss in the primary, Tommasone said he is confident heading into the November election.
`I signed the fair campaign pledge and therefore will not react in kind to the negative campaign run by DelGallo, nor will our town’s image be damaged by him or those who want a return to the corrupt days of the former Democratic administration led by his party bosses,` said Tommasone.
DelGallo said he is focused on improving the attitude in Town Hall. He said he thinks there needs to be more politeness coming from the people who work there toward the residents who come in.
`We have to get the taxes straightened out,` said DelGallo. `They treat some people well, [but] everyone should be treated the same. There’s nobody better than anyone else. We’re all the same and we ought to treat everybody the same, and it’s not happening.`
DelGallo said that while he’s `really not a politician` he runs several businesses besides his main business, the Rotterdam-based DelGallo Country Pools, Inc.
`I know how to run a business. If you only have so much money coming in you can only spend so much of it and when you run out of it you can’t tax the people to death,` said DelGallo.
DelGallo said he’s not interested in getting paid for the job if he wins. Instead, he would like to donate his salary to charities throughout Rotterdam.
For Schenectady County Legislature, Democrats Judith Dagostino and Holly Vellano will take the Conservative line in the District 4 race. Dagostino had 343 votes and Vollano had 332. Dagostino also won the Working Families line. No New Tax Party member Bradley Littlefield received the fewest votes with 181.
Dagostino said she plans to regroup as she prepares to run for her third term on the Schenectady County Legislature.
`[I want to] see where I am as far as volunteers and workers, and go back to the people again,` said Dagostino. `It’s always challenging and it’s hard work, and if you’re enjoying it you should do it, and I do.`
Vollano is returning to local government after a hiatus she took after serving on the Rotterdam Town Board for eight years. She took time off because she `believes in term limits` and wanted time to spend with her family.
`I have the concerns that the whole Capital Region has,` said Vollano. `We have to keep our taxes lower than they are now, and we have to create jobs.“