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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Shawangunk candidates gather at town forum
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life,” Ronk told the residents. “I’ve lived here 34 years,
every one of my 34 years spent within 200 yards of this
building (Town Hall). In my 12 years in the Legislature,
I spent three years as the chair of the Legislature, which
was an eye-opening experience. It’s interesting to be chief
among equals, because even though you’re supposed to
lead the Legislature in a certain direction, you still only
have one of 23 votes. That’s how I spent most of my time
in the Legislature - trying to build bridges, trying to bring
people together, rather than to drive them apart. In local
government, even though we have to run on a party line,
there’s very few instances in local government where you
find a Republican or Democratic issue.”
Ronk said that his role in securing funding for the
renovation of the Wallkill Bridge was one of his proudest
achievements during his tenure in office and noted the
Legislature’s efforts at reducing taxes. “People are being
taxed out of our state and taxed out of our area,” he
said. “They’re being taxed out of upstate New York. It’s
important for us, especially at the local level, to be able to
hold the line where we can.”
Domenech, who has lived in Shawangunk for 32 years,
currently serves as the coordinator of the town’s Climate
Smart Committee and volunteers with the Ulster County
Office of the Aging. “I always feel as voters you should
have a choice of candidates,” he told the locals. “It’s
important, so that you have a chance to pick someone who
you feel will do the best job for you. The other reason I’m
running is because I believe in public service. I worked
for 31-plus years with the Orange County Department
of Social Services. At that time I worked in both public
assistance, children’s services and Medicaid. During that
time I met people from all walks of life, all situations.”
The challenger said that he wants to implement new
plans for economic development that could specifically
benefit the town.
Supervisor’s race
Shawangunk Town Supervisor John Valk is seeking
his 12th two-year term as supervisor, and the official
has spent three decades on the town board. “Over the 30
years I’ve worked with many different people and we’ve
accomplished many different things,” he told the crowd.
“One of the things our state government did in 2012 was
to impose a tax cap. They did that when the economy was
at its lowest. So in nine budgets now, this is the ninth
coming up, our town board has made a commitment
not to override the tax cap. We’ve stayed under the tax
cap, and by doing so, the state will issue a check to our
residents if the school board, the county and the town
have not overrode the tax cap. They’ll get a refund of the
difference in the increase in the taxes.”
The supervisor said that the municipality has worked
diligently to not waste taxpayer money. “In our town I
think we present a lot of good services on a tight budget,”
Valk said. “We’re not a big town, we don’t have a lot of
industry. We’re a bedroom community. Many years ago,
people wanted industry, but where are you going to put
it? Because nobody wants it in their backyard.”
Valk also mentioned that the municipality plans to
release its draft comprehensive plan this month after the
town gathered input from residents this spring about the
future of the town. “That will inspire us to make some
zoning changes to enhance business,” Valk said.
Joseph Frangione, who is challenging Valk in
the supervisor’s race, is hoping to use his wealth of
experience as a local business owner to attract new
shops to the town. “I think the town is moving in a
direction that needs a little pushing,” he told the voters.
“I appreciate what the people from VOW (Vision of
Wallkill) are doing. I believe that they took over for the
Chamber of Commerce, of which I was a member when
I had my business. VOW is doing a wonderful job. They
have the energy and enthusiasm, and I think they’re
making a nice effort to change to whole atmosphere.”
Frangione, the former owner of the Wallkill Stationery
& Candy Store, is also focused on bringing more senior
housing to the town. “I live in a senior complex, and there
are people always approaching me and saying ‘Do you
have any apartments?’” Frangione explained. “I always
say ‘There’s nothing available. There’s a waiting list.’
So what I’d like to see is more senior housing. Whether
it’s assisted living or it’s what I’m living in, we need it.
Because we’re not getting younger, we’re getting older
and there’s people who just can’t afford it.”
Town Clerk runs unopposed
Town Clerk Jane Rascoe is running unopposed for
her fourth two-year term as clerk. Prior to her current
position, Rascoe worked for 15 years in the Shawangunk
Assessor’s Office. Rascoe noted that she handles a host of
duties in her role as clerk, including collecting property
taxes and serving as the custodian of records for the
town. “I can tell you that the most enjoyable part of
the job is helping people,” she told the voters. “I stand
here tonight to tell you that I love the job and I’m
grateful for the opportunity to serve as your town clerk.”
Shawangunk Highway Superintendent Joseph LoCicero
is also running unopposed for his second two-year term.
Legislative races
In the race for District 14 of the Legislature, Republican
Ulster County Legislator Craig Lopez, who represents
Shawangunk and the Town of Wawarsing, is being
challenged by Adriana Magana. The local farmer is
running for public office for the first time. The Democratic
candidate said she wanted to bridge the divides fostered
by politics, and Magana, who runs an ecological design
business, wants to protect the sanctity of the local
environment. “This is one of the reasons why we live
here - we want to keep this area beautiful,” she told the
residents. “We don’t want rampant overdevelopment,
nothing like that. How do we keep this area beautiful and
healthy, and how do we keep our children here if they
want to stay here? A lot of times there aren’t jobs, and
people over the hill where I am (Warwarsing) sometimes
just can’t afford to stay. There’s no more manufacturing
jobs, things like that. So when I think about these issues,
I think about the jobs of the future. I’m not necessarily
thinking about manufacturing coming back to our towns,
because I think that if you all are engaged in watching the
news, that is something that is a very common theme.”
Magana added that the district needs investment in the
green jobs of the future to revitalize the local economy.
Lopez, who is vying for his fifth term in the Legislature,
pointed towards his fiscal accomplishments in his time in
office. “During my tenure in the Legislature, I think we’ve
gotten some really good things done,” he said. “Working
under the leadership of my friend and colleague Ken
Ronk, we’ve been able to consistently lower the property
tax levy for seven years. We’ve been able to balance seven
consecutive budgets, which is really unprecedented.
We’ve been able to shrink the size of government without
sacrificing the vital services needed.”
Democratic Ulster County Legislator Tracey Bartels,
who represents Shawangunk and Gardiner in District
16, was not in attendance at last Wednesday’s forum,
and Republican challenger Jordan Manley took the
opportunity to make his case for the residents’ votes. The
Southern California native bought a farm house in the
area 18 months ago and said he wants to help develop the
region. “I had seen in visiting Kerhonkson and Kingston
that industry has been totally gutted, and you have a lot
of people who don’t have sufficient work,” Manley said.
“Some of them are not people that are able to create
their own jobs or their own business. They need business
owners to come in and either expand businesses they
have or open new businesses in our county. With that in
mind, I decided to run against Tracey Bartels.”
The computer programmer says he has fresh ideas to
grow the local economy. “We can grow tourism,” Manley
told the voters. “Fifteen percent of the county economy
is tourism. We can easily push that to 22 or 23 percent.
These are actual actionable ideas that can pave the way
for businesses to come in here or making it easier for
people to expand their existing businesses.”
Town council seats
Three candidates are on the ballot in November for
a pair of seats on the Shawangunk Town Board, as
challenger Charles Beach and incumbent councilmen
Robert Miller and Brian Amthor are all running this fall.
Amthor, who owns businesses locally and in Virginia,
and whose family has deep roots in the area, is hoping to
secure his fourth full term on the board. “In this position
we have as town councilmen, it’s not a Republican or
Democratic position, it’s just to do what’s right for the
citizens and residents of our town,” Amthor told the
residents. “As a town board, we’re a cohesive unit and
we work very hard for the town. It’s an honor to serve
everybody in this town and to listen to people. I’m
finishing up my third full term, but it’s actually been my
17th year and it’s been a truly humbling experience to
meet so many people over the years and to be involved
in so many different projects. I serve on the Police
Committee, and we’ve worked with the school district
on getting police officers in the schools. That’s very
important. They’re called School Resource Officers, and
they help with the safety of our children. We’ve also
done the sidewalks here in the hamlet a couple of years
ago through a major grant that we worked on for several
years.”
Councilman Miller is seeking his fifth four-year
term on the council. Miller serves on the board’s Parks
Committee, and is passionate about the issue. “We talk
about how to get people to come into the area and we
have two really great assets in our area,” he said. “We
have the Wallkill River that runs right through town.
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