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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Marlborough Republicans choose November slate
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
At last week’s caucus, the Marlboro
Republican Party chose their candidates
for the November election. Party
chairman Mike Dovitch led the caucus.
He indicated there are 2,091 registered
Republicans in Marlborough.
The only contested seat was for Town
Supervisor, with Tom Coupart securing
his party’s nomination with 69 votes to Ed
Molinelli’s 32.
The party also nominated Sherida
Porpiglia Sessa and Andrew Nicola for
the two Town Council seats and Colleen
Corcoran for Town Clerk. The party did
not field a candidate for the position of
Highway Superintendent.
Coupart highlighted his past public
service: two years as a Town Councilman,
three years on the Planning Board and
two years on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
He was then elected Town Supervisor in
1997 and served four consecutive terms in
that office. He said after his term in office
“the people of Marlborough were left in
great financial standing,” pointing out
that a balance of more than $700,000 was
in the General Fund, $280,000 in the Water
District Fund, $43,000 in the Marlboro
Sewer District and $900,000 remaining
in the town’s Water Tank Reserve Fund
that was earmarked for the construction
of a water standpipe to provide better
water distribution and fire protection
while complying with the requirements
of the NYS Department of Health. He also
pointed out that $1.1 million was set aside
in a Town Hall Capital Fund, earmarked
for renovations to the TOMVAC building
for a new Town Hall.
Coupart said during his tenure as
Supervisor a new sewer system was
installed in the hamlet of Milton and
the Cluett Schantz Park was expanded
to include a new ballfield and baseball
courts and walking trails. Planning began
then for a new riverfront park that is now
the Milton train station.
Coupart said the majority of these
improvements were paid for through
grants that brought “your hard-earned
tax dollars back into our community.”
Coupart said his administration
passed the “Right to Farm Law’ in 2000
that helped to protect local farmers from
encroaching development.
“Today our farmers are our towns
most treasured resource and biggest
tourist attraction,” he said.
After two years of living in Florida,
Coupart and his wife Sara returned to his
The Marlborough Republican slate for 2017. L-R Andrew Nicola and Sherida Porpiglia Sessa
for Town Council, Tom Coupart for Town Supervisor and Colleen Corcoran for Town Clerk.
hometown in June 2016, in part to spend
more time with his aging parents.
After being back for just a brief time,
neighbors and friends stopped by to
welcome him home and inquired if he
would consider running for office again.
Coupart told the caucus that he has
been the owner of a successful building
contracting business in town for the past
35 years “specializing in commercial and
industrial buildings, roads and water and
sewer lines.”
Coupart assured the public of his
qualifications for the town’s highest
elected office.
“I have the business and financial
skills needed to manage all the town’s
fiscal affairs and I bring a great deal of
knowledge and experience to the table,”
he said.
Coupart said much more has to be
done to develop the Route 9W corridor
that would add to the town’s tax base. He
believes the town has the expertise and
the needed resources to expand growth
“without losing our small town roots.”
“We can no longer wait for highway
road improvements. We need attractive
landscaping, expansion of our water and
sewer lines along the strip of Route 9W
[and] we need it now,” he said. “We are
falling way, way behind in our surrounding
communities, such as Highland, the Town
of Newburgh, Plattekill and Modena.”
Coupart told the public that he is
running for Supervisor “for one main
reason, and that is you; protecting your
main investment you have made in your
town. I will work diligently making sure
you receive a return on your investment
by moving forward with intelligent,
organized planning.”
Colleen Corcoran was nominated for
Town Clerk, a position she has held for
the past four years.
“The years have gone by quickly and
I have enjoyed working with all of you in
this room and the entire community,” she
said. “I believe together we have made
Marlborough a better place to live, in a
community that we could all be proud
of.” Corcoran took a moment to thank
her Deputy, Danielle Cherubini “who is
wonderful and I could not live without
and the rest of the Town Board for their
support. I look forward to serving the
people of Marlborough for many more
years to come…and I look forward to
continued service to this community that
I love so much.”
Sherida Porpiglia Sessa said she is
“humbled and very honored” to receive
the nomination of her party for Town
Council. She is a native of Marlborough
“and my family has a very long and proud
heritage here.”
Sessa said she is running for Town
Council “to make sure that Marlborough
stays a viable place for us all to raise our
families. I truly believe we can preserve
what makes our town great but also
enhance it by bringing in new businesses
and amenities that will both expand
our tax base and keep Marlborough
competitive with our neighbors.”
Sessa said she has worked in corporate
America for more than a decade and
currently manages a $30 million trade
show business, a position she said that
has allowed her to learn from many
brilliant people in her field.
Sessa said inspired leadership, as the
late scholar Warren Bennis (1925-2014)
preached, is not just about ideas but is
more about the ability to “translate vision
into reality”
Sessa said today Marlborough is a
“crossroads” and needs a Supervisor and
Town Council “who are willing to roll up
their sleeves, make tough decisions and
do the work [and] translate our towns
great vision into reality.” Sessa told the
audience that if they are satisfied with
the status quo “then I’m probably not
your girl but if you are not, please support
myself in this nomination and I will work
very hard.”
Newcomer Andrew Nicola was
nominated for the second seat on the
Town Board.
“I love where we live. I didn’t grow
up here but I want to maintain the
uniqueness of who we are,” he said.
Nicola said caucus night is the first
step toward unifying the Marlborough
Republican Party. He said he and the
party will need the help of the party
rank and file “as we progress toward
the November election [and] believe me
we’re going to be very grateful for all
the support you give everybody here this
evening.”
Nicola said Marlborough has
“challenges and opportunities.”
“Being a teacher I’ve learned to not use
the word problems as much as to use the
word challenges. If there are challenges,
we need to come up with solutions. I
feel the solutions to the challenges and
opportunities in our town is leadership.”
Nicola said Marlborough “more than
ever needs leaders, not more managers,
not more consultants and not more
studies. Leadership is what it will take
to bring economic development to our
community [and] leadership is what it
will take to increase infrastructure in
our town. Leadership is what is needed
for bringing smart growth to our town
and that is why I am running for Town
Council.” He said the Town Board must
look ahead and plan for a future that is at
least two decades out.
Nicola described his thought process.
“I listen with an open mind [and]
I analyze the facts before reaching a
decision. I am a quick study and am
fully committed to the best outcome,” he
said. “With your support, I along with
others, will implement fiscal policies that
enhance our Marlboro-Milton experience.
I will be honored by the trust you place in
me and I will justify it to the best of my
competence and knowledge.”