12 candidates for office put their platforms on display on Monday, Oct. 24, during a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Albany County and The Spotlight.
Perhaps the most intriguing race involves four candidates vying for two spots on the Bethlehem Town Board. They include the sole incumbent, Democrat Joann Dawson, Democrat Jeffrey Kuhn and Republicans Jeremy Martelle and Jeremy Near.
The candidates were asked how they would invigorate economic development in the town.
“It’s important to remember that we have a strong network of existing businesses in this town,” said Dawson, who talked about how past development gave away some of the quality that town residents have come to expect while living in Bethlehem.
Kuhn pointed to two projects: the Vista development off Route 85 and the need for development at the Selkirk Rail Yards.
“Both those projects for whatever reason have gone sideways over the past several years,” said Kuhn, who expressed some optimism regarding movement on financing for the Vista campus.
Near then painted a picture that wasn’t as rosy.
“Unfortunately for Bethlehem, the truth is that the town is regionally known as anti-business. That’s not because of residents in the town, but it is because of town hall, and a lot of red tape and bureaucracy,” said Near.
Martelle said re-examining the town’s comprehensive plan would be a good start, an idea that received plenty of support among candidates throughout the debates.
“We need to prepare for that next growth period,” said Martelle, who spoke about tax-exempt businesses in the town. “Right now, we are shouldering the brunt of the taxes, the citizens of this community.”
The candidates shared varying opinions on the need for a plan to protect open space. Near said the town’s comprehensive plan needs to be shredded, while Martelle said the plan should be revisited. Kuhn was concerned with proposals to implement an open space tax, while Dawson said that an open space program doesn’t necessarily mean that the town is going to spend millions on land acquisition.
Finally, the candidates were asked about the town’s aging infrastructure, including repairs to the crumbling portions of Town Hall.
“It comes back to funding. First and foremost, we need to develop, adopt and promote a capital plan,” said Near, who added that the town has to grow its way out of the situation.
“We can take advantage of a very good economic situation in terms of the town’s bond rating, which is excellent,” said Dawson, who stressed that the town had to come up with some kind of plan to address the issues.
Martelle echoed the sentiments about long-term preparation.
“Economic development, getting the Industrial Development Agency involved in attracting businesses, that can help support this infrastructure and help support a capital plan,” said Martelle.
Kuhn called it unacceptable that Bethlehem has not put together such a plan.
“What happens when you don’t have a capital plan is that you have basically unorganized and inefficient borrowing and spending on a year-to-year basis, with no logic and no forethought,” said Kuhn.
Supervisor
The three candidates for Supervisor were cordial during their nearly hour-long debate.
Democrat John Clarkson, Kyle Kotary (a Democrat appearing on the Republican line) and Richard Reeves-Ellington of the Working Families Party also tackled the open space topic, as well as discussing the growing number of developed and proposed apartment and hamlet-style projects in the town.
“The basic question we have to ask ourselves is, ‘What kind of community do we here in Bethlehem want?’” asked Reeves-Ellington. He said it comes down to a question of what kind of investment the town wants to make, and whether it should be in projects, for example, that don’t pay a living wage to workers.
Kotary ran down a list of points, starting with the need to revisit the town’s comprehensive plan and to put together a cost-benefit analysis of all projects, while also asking for more communication between town hall and residents.
“We’ve been doing a real good job of that, specifically, with the Wemple Road project,” said Kotary.
Clarkson talked about the importance of diversified housing in the town.
“If you have housing that appeals to seniors and younger people, you often get families that don’t have children in school,” said Clarkson. “From a fiscal stand point, that can help us tremendously, because we have taxes coming in, and we don’t have that expenditures for that particular population (students).”
The candidates then tackled the issue of budgeting, and how to better prepare the town for years to come.
“I think we’ve made the budget discussions more accessible. We’ve had more meetings. We can always do more and communicate more, but I think we have a really good process,” said Kotary, who emphasized the need for more citizen involvement, and to start the budget discussions earlier in the year.
Kotary and Clarkson agreed on the need to think beyond the next year’s budget.
“We have to look at the budget in more than a single year’s time frame. When you solve a problem a year at a time, you’re not really solving it,” said Clarkson, who added that the town has made some progress this year in reducing its use of reserves.
Reeves-Ellington stressed that the town should focus on programs that the community wants and can afford, while also gathering more public comment.
“Rather than just meetings such as this, or the monthly meetings of the board, there are a number of modern and more technological ways of getting citizen input,” said Reeves-Ellington.
Albany County Legislature
There wasn’t much agreement among the three candidates vying to represent the 36th District in the Albany County Legislature.
However, all three candidates stated they wouldn’t support a 19.2% tax levy increase that goes along with County Executive Michael Breslin’s proposed 2012 budget.
“I will not vote for anything over the two percent tax cap,” said incumbent Richard Mendick, a Republican, who went on to say that the county needs to adopt a new budgeting philosophy that bases spending on revenues, rather than coming to residents when a budget shortfall develops.
“I’m not for that tax increase, and I’m not for any tax increase whatsoever,” said Democrat Leo Dorsey. He suggested creating a position of Director of Economic Development for the county to bring in and expand business within the county. Dorsey also added that the county could save money by taking action on its nursing home.
“In my first term on the legislature, I was the only Democrat who voted no on a tax increase,” said former legislator Howard Shafer, who formed his own line this year under the title Notice Our Priorities. He joked that there was a gasp in the audience of legislators when he cast that vote. Shafer expressed a need to look at shared services between municipalities for services like road plowing to help save the county money.
The candidates were also asked about the long-term proposals for the closed Bens Bridge over the CSX rail yard in Selkirk.
“Those people down there are the people that I am concerned with because of the economy the way that it is. People traveling back and forth are spending more time and more money to go to work and come home,” said Dorsey. The former Bethlehem police officer expressed concern that emergency crews haven’t been able to get to people because of flooding on other access roads.
“The problem is the bridge costs too much money,” said Mendick, who cited a long record of meeting with officials at all levels to try and find a solution for the bridge. “As it sits now, the bridge will not be rebuilt.”
“We’ll be long deceased before we see that bridge re-built,” said Shafer, who said there are alternatives, including the acquisition of property to build an alternative route.
Receiver of Taxes
Candidates for the position of Bethlehem Receiver of Taxes were each given five minutes to make a statement to the audience.
“I’d like you to think of me as ET,” said Nancy Mendick, Republican, who has held the position for the past 16 years. “Not ET as in the movie, but ET as in experienced and trustworthy.”
Mendick cited a record of 24 years in the receiver’s office. Her opponent, George Harder, Democrat, highlighted his 20 years with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
“One of the duties I enjoyed most was working directly with taxpayers and their representatives to solve the problems they encountered while trying to meet their tax obligations,” said Harder.
