All four candidates vying for the position of highway superintendent in the Town of Bethlehem believe it would be inappropriate to make budget cuts to the department at its current staffing level.
The candidates met at a forum held at Bethlehem Town Hall on the night of Thursday, Aug. 22. The event was sponsored by Spotlight News, the Albany County League of Women Voters and the Capital Area Council of Churches.
Both the Bethlehem Democratic Committee and the Albany County Independence Party have endorsed Democrat and City of Albany Director of Recycling Frank Zeoli. Resident Brent Meredith, an engineer, will primary Zeoli on the Democratic line. Bethlehem Republicans and county Conservatives have endorsed the town’s Coordinator of the Development Planning Committee Terry Ritz. Howard Hyer, the director of administrative services and fleet manager in the town’s Highway Department, will primary Ritz on the Republican line. In addition, members of the Independence Party will choose between Ritz and Zeoli on primary day.
“Essentially, when you look at the Highway Department budget, out of a $6.6 million budget, $4.6 million goes to personnel,” said Meredith. “So really the only way to deep cuts in the department is to lose people, and at this point where the department is, we can’t afford to lose any more people.”
Hyer and Zeoli echoed those sentiments, while Ritz said he would not commit to cuts until an analysis was done to see if efficiencies could be found.
The superintendent position has been vacant since former Superintendent of Highways Gregg Sagendorph retired in April. The Bethlehem Town Board appointed Public Works Commissioner Erik Deyoe to act as interim highway superintendent until January.
This followed a referendum vote put forth by town officials that would have abolished the office of highway superintendent as an elected position, clearing the way for a civil servant to be hired to help manage the Highway Department under the public works umbrella. That referendum failed 3,086 votes to 1,969.
Members of the audience provided questions for the candidates, who were not asked how they felt about the referendum’s outcome, but many of the questions revolved around how the new boss would treat his employees. One question dealt with morale, while another asked about a four-day, 10-hour workweek.
Most of the candidates said they would be willing to look into making schedule changes, as long as they didn’t conflict with getting work done on time. Hyer said he wasn’t sure if four-day proposal would be favored by residents.
Others also said they were aware of issues with vacation time.
“For those of you who don’t know, the Highway Department schedules your vacation period for you,” said Ritz. “Those weeks might not line up with school or family vacations, so I would eliminate that policy that required vacations and institute a normal policy that would allow you to pick and choose your days.”
Zeoli said a good manager should be able to balance staffing to allow for vacations, while Hyer said he and Deyoe are working with the town’s Human Resources Department in an attempt to find compromise.
All of the candidates agreed that the town should not bond for paving, and work toward getting those costs within the department’s budget. Zeoli, however, said sometimes borrowing may be needed to fix an underlying issue to preserve the town’s roads.
Candidates also agreed it was important to work hand-in-hand with town officials towards common goals.
“The citizens have to come first. Regardless of what party you come from or who you were endorsed by, at the end of the day we’re all Bethlehem citizens,” said Zeoli. “We all care about the town, and we need to keep that in mind while we’re interacting.”
Ritz said he would like to evaluate the department’s equipment to see what could be shared with other departments, and also suggested sending highway staff out to do projects in small teams to be more efficient.
Zeoli said it would be his goal to restore hours at the town’s compost center, and possibly find a way to open it unstaffed through an honor system. He felt the facility has the potential to “be a money-maker” if it was given more attention. Meredith shared similar views, and said he would seek out state and federal grants to help fund programs.
Hyer said he would like to see the department advance its use of technology. He said he helped to develop a pavement assessment program for the town, which is now in use.
“The superintendent’s main function is really to balance the demand of the public, within the limits of his budget and the capacity of his employees,” said Hyer. “And it truly is a balancing act to get that all done equal.”
Bethlehem Town Justice candidates were also each given five minutes to speak before the forum began.
In September’s primary, Democrats will have the option to choose between Matthew Kelly and Andrew Kirby, while Conservatives will have the choice of Kelly or Dale Desnoyers. All three candidates will appear on the ballot for those registered Independent.
Desnoyers is a founding member and partner at Allen & Desnoyers in Albany and has 25 years of experience practicing law. He was formerly the director of the Division of Environmental Remediation for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He lives in Glenmont with his wife, with who he has five grown boys.
Kirby has served as the Bethlehem town prosecutor since 2004. He is also a partner at Conway & Kirby, LLP. He lives in Delmar with his wife, Amy Conway, and their three children.
Kelly works at Roemer, Wallace, Gold and Mineaux in Albany. He is also past president of the Albany County Bar Association.
BCN-TV will be broadcasting the forum until the primary. Tune in to see the two-hour program on Aug. 29 at 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; Sept. 3 at 5 p.m.; Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; Sept. 7 at 5 p.m.; Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.; and Sept. 9 at 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The primary is Sept. 10.