Ryan Gregoire said his young age, 21, shouldn’t be seen as a sign of immaturity or naivety; in fact, it should be the very reason Malta residents vote for him for Malta Town Council.
I am going to be just as an effective leader as anyone else who is elected. I don’t see my age as being a deterrent to run, I think it’s actually probably more advantageous to have me run for office because I’ll make sure I’m completely dedicated to this town, said Gregoire.
Gregoire has lived in Malta his whole life, straying only to complete a degree in political science at College at Brockport. He said running for elected office has always been his dream so when the Democratic Committee in Malta asked him to run on their line, he gladly accepted.
`I think in the Town of Malta we have a historic opportunity to elect new representation, young representation, to the Town Council because we have a lot of new, interesting projects happening in our community and Malta is really growing at a huge rate,` said Gregoire. `I think it’s important to have people on the board that represent both sides of the issue and also that someone can represent a younger population as well.`
Cynthia Young, head of the Democratic committee and a candidate for supervisor, said Gregoire’s youth and `enthusiasm` is what impressed her.
`He’s smart. He has a lot to learn but I thnk he’s a quick learner and I think he adds a lot of balance to our ticket,` said Young. `We’re very excited that we finally have a good solid team running for Town Board seats in a community that’s bee historically a one-party system.`
Gregoire is looking to defeat incumbents Tara Thomas and Peter Klotz.
He’s only known Malta for 21 years, but Gregoire said in that time he’s seen it change `quite a bit` and has noticed there’s not a lot of diversity in the ideas of town officials.`
`We’ve had the same type of ideas and platforms all the way for the last 25 years, minimal. There hasn’t been a democrat elected into office I think in order for the town to move in a direction that the constitutents and residents want to see it move toward, we need to have a variety of voices on the Town Council,` said Gregoire.
There are three big issues Gregoire said are at the top of his list. The first has to do with expansion at GlobalFoundries.
`GlobalFoundries has approached the Cuomo administration about approving another round of tax subsidies to build a new chip fab plant and research center,` said Gregoire. `This is one issue I’m extremely passionate about and I think would be extremely advantageous for the town of Malta and New York State as a whole to approve these tax subsidies to allow GlobalFoundries to continue to expand.`
Gregoire said the additional businesses the expansion would attract and jobs it would create locally will be invaluable.
His second concern is a new fire station that needs to be constructed to reach the top of the Ellsworth Commons Complex currently under construction.
`I want to field from the residents to see what their ideas are. WE know we have to build it so we want to make sure we can find a good spot within the town that tries to benefit all the residents while not interrupting anyone’s current living situation,` said Gregoire.
Economic development in the town is his last issue of concern.
`I’m completely in favor of bringing in small business and making it as easy and accessible for them to grow in our town but we have to make sure we do it in a responsible manner,` said Gregoire.
His political experience in college has prepared him for this task, said Gregoire. He was a member of the Brockport Student Government and served on the Board of Directors to help manage a $1.4 million budget. He also completed an internship with former Congressman Scott Murphy, an internship with the Capital District Area Labor Federation and an internship with Sen. Chuck Schumer.
If his bid for Town Council is a success (and even if it’s not) Gregoire said he wants to pursue seats at the state and congressional level.
`I would welcome the opportunity to continue to run for office and represent the people of New York, whether that’s in Albany or DC,` said Gregoire. `I will definitely be running for higher office in the future, no matter what.`
Gregoire’s campaign site is www.ryangregoire.com and he also has a Twitter page @RyanMGregoire, a Facebook page to `like` and an email where people can ask questions, [email protected].
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