Key to Clement’s economic development strategy is focusing on the Broadway corridor which connects the city’s Uptown gateway and historic district to the Rondout’s busy nightlife and waterfront attractions. Clement said that he sees great promise in a business improvement district, a quasi-governmental agency which levies fees on commercial property owners to pay for extra sanitation, security, marketing and other amenities, controlled by a board elected by district members. The project has been pushed by the Business Alliance of Kingston, but has drawn opposition from some small business owners who say that it amounts to another tax on an overtaxed commercial sector (Gallo has come out strongly against the BID proposal). But Clement sees the district not just as a valuable tool to help existing business and attract new ventures, but as an “agent” which could serve as a conduit of ideas and innovation to city leaders.
“I think it’s a small price to pay for something that could move the needle on Broadway in a major way,” said Clement noting that the estimated average yearly levy for the BID would total just $300 per member.
Clement has taken the perceived drawback of being a newcomer to the city and tried to turn it to his advantage by presenting himself as free from the unsavory influence of old-school Kingston politics — a contrast, he said, with Gallo.
“You can’t run on your supposed expertise on things you’ve been involved with for the past seven years and at the same time walk away from any responsibility for where its gotten us,” said Clement.
Gallo, meanwhile, argued that his opponent is casting himself as an outsider and reformer while running with strong support from the same Democratic committee which reigned over the Sottile administration. The committee backed Clement over Gallo at the party’s June convention; some members, notably former committee chairman and Ward 2 Alderman Tom Hoffay, are actively campaigning on his behalf.
Next week’s primary may not be the last time the two Democrats face off this election season. Gallo holds the Working Families and Independence Party lines and could run on both if he loses the primary. Clement, meanwhile, is running an active write in challenge for the Independence Party line. A successful bid for the line would offer him a hedge in the event he fails to secure the Democratic nomination.
